Monrovia used to light its holiday tree on the same night as the Holiday Parade. Then one year it rained, and the City canceled both. As the City Manager's Update of November 21, 2025 recounts, the fix was a new November event called the Thankful and Grateful Holiday Gathering. It gave the tree lighting its own night, separate from the parade.
The same update shows that the fix didn't fully work last year. Weather that week meant the City could not hold the 2025 Gathering.
So Thursday, November 19, 2026, is a rain check. Old Town's holiday season is now set up as two Thursday nights, two weeks apart, on a short stretch of Myrtle Avenue. Weather can take one of them without taking the other, and the 300 block across from Library Park is the busiest part of that plan.
What Library Park hosts on November 19
The Thankful & Grateful Holiday Gathering and Tree Lighting runs from 5 to 8 p.m. at Library Park, 321 S. Myrtle Ave. It's free. According to the City's October 30, 2026 update, the evening includes:
- live entertainment
- library story times
- community booths
- arts and crafts
- photo opportunities
- horse-drawn carriage rides
The night ends when a special guest helps light the Holiday Tree. The Monrovia Chamber of Commerce will have a booth serving hot chocolate.
The community booths explain why this night is different from the parade. When the City created the Gathering, it described the booths as a showcase for local groups: nonprofits, school-based organizations, vendors offering public services and others. The parade puts floats on Myrtle. The Gathering puts the groups that serve Monrovia year-round in one park for three hours. That's the half of the season residents lost in 2025, and it comes back this month.
For questions, the City lists the Community Center at 626-256-8246.
Fourteen days later, Myrtle closes for the parade
The Annual Holiday Parade is Thursday, December 3. It starts at 7 p.m. and travels north on Myrtle Avenue to Palm Avenue, according to the City's 2026 event listing. The Monrovia Old Town Advisory Board sponsors it. The listing promises floats, marching bands and a special guest in a big red suit.
The tree lighting stays mostly inside Library Park. The parade closes much of Old Town. The City's Holiday Parade page lists road closures from 5 to 10 p.m. in three tiers:
- Full closures with police-monitored barricades: Myrtle Avenue from Huntington Drive to Foothill Boulevard, plus Maple, Chestnut and Palm avenues between Ivy and Primrose avenues.
- Mid-block closures with parking still available: Walnut, Olive, Colorado, Lemon and Lime avenues between Ivy and Primrose. These blocks are closed to through traffic, and "Road Closed Ahead" signs go up along Primrose and Ivy at each intersection.
- Open for through traffic: Foothill Boulevard, Huntington Drive, Ivy Avenue and Primrose Avenue.
The City also notes that, where appropriate, the mid-block parking lots stay open for merchants and patrons. In practice, Ivy and Primrose are your way around Old Town that night. The five mid-block streets in the second tier are where you can park and still walk a short distance to Myrtle.
The closures start two hours before the parade. If you're driving to dinner on Myrtle that evening, Myrtle itself will already be barricaded by the time most dinner reservations start.
Groups that want to march can contact Tiffany Peterson at the City, [email protected] or 626-256-8233.
The Saturday and the Fridays in between
The two Thursdays bracket Thanksgiving week, and the Saturday after the holiday belongs to Old Town's shops. Small Business Saturday runs November 28 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the corner of Myrtle and Lemon avenues. It's free. The Chamber booth hands out a passport and tote bag while supplies last.
The Friday Night Street Fair & Market runs on the 800 block of South Myrtle, between Olive and Chestnut. The City's October 30 update lists it every Friday at 5 p.m., and it ran from 5 to 9 p.m. that night. Last year's holiday weeks interrupted it. In 2025, the City canceled the market on November 21 and November 28 and brought it back Friday, December 5. If the Friday after Thanksgiving is part of your plans, check the City Manager's Update that week before you head out.
Across the street from the tree, the Community Center moves in
The 300 block's role grows after the parade. The Monrovia Community Center is scheduled to close Sunday, December 6, for a renovation. Its operations then move into a temporary home in the City-owned building at 324 S. Myrtle Ave. Library Park is at 321 S. Myrtle, across the street.
The Community Center renovation project is out to bid, according to the City. A groundbreaking date is expected by the end of the year, and the City plans to share details over the coming months about the clubs, programs and activities that currently meet at the Center.
The City lists that same Community Center number, 626-256-8246, as the contact for both the tree lighting and the parade. Starting in December, that office will operate from the same block as the tree. The block already hosted the end of last year's season, too. On December 31, 2025, the City held Noon Year's Eve at Library Park, a 10 a.m. family morning of crafts, face painting, a jumper obstacle course and a countdown at noon.
A new walk in from the A Line
Some holiday visitors may arrive by train this year. The City scheduled a ribbon cutting for Wednesday, November 4, at 9 a.m. for a new pedestrian entrance to the Metro A Line at Station Square, 225 W. Duarte Road. The entrance is part of the Trestle development and gives the public another way to reach the light rail.
The City's Station Square South Specific Plan covers a 3.79-acre site approved for 296 homes. It includes a public drop-off plaza at the station, a paseo of about 475 feet leading to that plaza, and public open space facing Magnolia Avenue. From there, Myrtle runs north toward Huntington Drive, which is the southern edge of the parade's full closure.
What last December looked like
Last year, the weeks after the parade filled up with these events, according to the City's November 26, 2025 update.
- Holiday carolers in Old Town: Saturdays, December 6, 13 and 20, 2025, from 3 to 6 p.m.
- Winter carriage rides around Old Town: Sundays, December 7 through 21, 2025, from 3 to 6 p.m. Rides cost $5 per person, or one ride was free with a receipt showing $25 spent in Old Town.
- Santa Tour: nightly from December 8 through 12, 2025. Santa toured a different part of the city each night with Fire & Rescue, Police and Public Works.
- Santa Storytime at Monrovia Public Library: a Saturday morning in December 2025 with stories, crafts and photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The Friends of the Monrovia Library held a $2 kids' book sale the same morning.
- New Year's Eve on Myrtle: December 31, 2025, from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. in the 400 block of Myrtle Avenue, with music, dancing and a midnight ball lighting.
Each of these events was small and spread across a different day. That's the same approach the City took when it moved the tree lighting off parade night. The City's Santa Tour page is where last year's tour map and Santa Tracker were posted.
Save the dates for November 19 at Library Park and December 3 on Myrtle, and park on one of the open mid-block streets on parade night. If you're also wondering how the busy season on Myrtle shows up in what Old Town homes are worth, Justin Tye Real Estate Group can put together a free home valuation for your Monrovia address.
