Starting Friday, November 20, a small paper booklet will be sitting next to registers around San Carlos. It's the City's Holiday Passport. You pick one up free at a participating business, collect a sticker each time you buy something, and turn it in for a chance at a $250 gift card. If you filled one out last year, you'll find the timing has changed. The 2026 passport runs from November 20 through December 13. That's nine days past Night of Holiday Lights on Laurel Street, instead of ending the same day.
So the December evening that used to wrap up the downtown season now falls in the middle of it. That changes how the weeks between Thanksgiving and mid-December play out, and it's worth knowing before you start collecting stickers.
Last year, everything ended on one Friday
In 2025, San Carlos Life reported in late November that the passport was "in its final stretch" and would close on December 5. That was also the date of the raffle, and you needed at least five stickers to enter. Night of Holiday Lights took place that same evening, December 5, 2025, on Laurel Street. The shop-local deadline and the town's biggest December night fell on the same date.
Here's how this year compares:
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Night of Holiday Lights | Friday, December 5 | Friday, December 4 |
| Last day to submit a passport | December 5 | December 13 |
| Raffle drawing | December 5 | December 14 |
| Stickers needed to enter | At least five | At least six |
| Days between the event and the passport deadline | None | Nine |
The extra sticker and the extra week go together. You need one more purchase than last year, but you have more time to make it, including the stretch after the street festival when downtown is quieter.
Who can hand out a sticker
According to the City's Shop Local page, the passport is open to food, service and retail businesses anywhere in San Carlos, not only downtown. Formula businesses and corporate chains aren't eligible. A business also needs an active City business license and no outstanding debts with the City, and joining is free. As many as 300 businesses can sign up, first come, first served.
So the stickers come only from independents, and they're spread across the whole city. Participating businesses get printed passports, sticker sets and a poster for the window. The list of participants goes up on the City's page and is printed on the passport itself. Once you have a passport in hand, it doubles as a map of the independent shops, restaurants and services taking part this season.
The steps, as the City lays them out:
- Pick up a free passport at any participating business.
- Make a purchase there.
- Get one sticker per transaction.
- Collect at least six stickers.
- Email a clear photo of the completed passport to [email protected] with the subject line "San Carlos Holiday Passport 2026," and include your full name, phone number and email address.
Each passport counts as one entry, and you can fill out more than one. City staff contact the winner directly, and the $250 gift card can be spent at any participating business. The City's reason for running the program is that local spending helps small businesses and "helps keep sales tax revenue in San Carlos."
The first two weeks, before the lights
From November 20 to December 4 is the part of the season that's new. Thanksgiving falls on November 26, so the long weekend lands right in the passport window, and that's two weeks of stickers before the street party.
Laurel Street has at least one storefront that wasn't there last December. Muditā, a shop selling Indian art and home goods, opened at 653 Laurel St. with a grand-opening weekend on September 12 and 13, as the San Mateo Daily Journal reported.
Harrington Park is still fenced. The City's downtown revitalization page, last updated in October 2026, says the park at 753 Laurel St. is under construction and expected to be finished in early 2027. Crews work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and Laurel Street storefronts stay open. The project removes four public parking spaces behind the park to make room for a new drop-off and loading zone. That's useful to know if you usually park back there for a quick stop. Weekend visits run past the work hours, so Saturdays should be quieter around the fencing.
December 4, now in the middle of the season
Night of Holiday Lights runs 5 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, December 4, on Laurel Street from San Carlos Avenue to Cherry Street. The main stage is on Cherry. The construction doesn't change the setup. The City's notice for the 14th annual event, held on Friday, December 6, used the same stretch of Laurel with the main stage on Cherry, and the 2025 event did the same.
Here's the 2026 lineup the City has posted:
- 5 p.m. Emcees Lori & RJ kick things off
- 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wild Child closes the night
- Also on the bill: The Tide Note Singers led by Emily Bender, Broadway Babies & Kids, San Carlos Children's Theater, Peninsula Lively Arts, the Tap Dancing Christmas Trees, and A Tribute to Stevie Wonder
Santa Claus and the Snow Queen are scheduled to appear. The event is free and also has kids' activities, arts and crafts, hot chocolate, beer and wine sales, festive lights and snow. The San Carlos Parks & Recreation Department presents it with the Parks and Recreation Foundation of San Carlos, and young people in grades 4 through 12 run a youth vendor program.
In 2025, that evening was the last day to turn in a passport. This year it's just one of the nights in the window. If you're down on Laurel anyway and stop into an independent shop, that purchase is a sticker, and you still have more than a week to get the rest.
The nine days after
From Saturday, December 5 to Sunday, December 13 is the new part of the calendar.
On Sunday, December 6, the Royal Court Brass plays a free Holiday Family Concert from 3 to 5 p.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1106 Alameda de las Pulgas. Deborah Del Mastro joins them on vocals and trumpet, according to San Carlos Life's listing. The church is off Laurel, and the passport counts businesses across the city, so a Sunday afternoon on that side of town can still fill a line or two of your booklet.
The weekend after that is the last one. Passports have to be submitted by December 13, and the drawing is on December 14. You submit by email, so you can send the photo the same evening you get your sixth sticker.
Putting the season on one calendar
- Friday, November 20: Passports become available at participating businesses
- Thursday, November 26 to Sunday, November 29: Thanksgiving weekend, inside the passport window
- Friday, December 4, 5 to 8:30 p.m.: Night of Holiday Lights on Laurel Street, main stage on Cherry Street
- Sunday, December 6, 3 to 5 p.m.: Royal Court Brass Holiday Family Concert at Trinity Presbyterian Church
- Sunday, December 13: Last day to email a completed passport
- Monday, December 14: Raffle drawing for the $250 gift card
The full list of participating businesses will be on the City's Shop Local page and printed on every passport, so the first one you pick up tells you where the other five stickers can come from.
If you're trying to plan a busy December around a move, a sale or just a better sense of what's changing on Laurel Street, Sandra Darrow is happy to talk it through. Schedule a free, personalized market consultation, and we'll start with the parts of San Carlos you already know best.
