It rained on December 13, 2014, the day of Woodlake's first Christmas parade. The Homegrown Project still signed up 71 entries, and according to the Sun-Gazette's 2015 profile of the group, residents were "lining the streets as early as 9 a.m. that morning." The group also ran a Santa's Workshop that day and gave out more than 600 toys. City Manager Ramon Lara told the paper, "It didn't get out of hand, but we were definitely overwhelmed."
Eleven parades later, the 12th Annual Woodlake Christmas Parade is set for Saturday, December 12, 2026, at 7 p.m. The city calendar has it running from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The most telling detail about the event sits on page two of the entry form. It's the rule that decides who gets to be Santa.
The Rule on Page Two
The 2026 parade application has twelve entry guidelines. Number four reads:
Absolutely no Santa costumed characters allowed in the parade. There will only be one Santa and that will be provided by The Home Grown Project.
That covers marching bands, horse units, antique cars, dance troupes and lit floats alike. Nobody else gets the red suit. The 2025 application had the same rule for the 11th parade, so this year isn't new.
Here's what the rule tells you. In Woodlake, Santa isn't a float theme that any entry can borrow. He's a role the parade's organizer fills, and the same organizer has hosted the Santa's Workshop that comes with the parade since that rainy first year. One Santa means one place to find him, and on parade day that place moves on a schedule.
The Group Behind the Suit
The Homegrown Project is a Woodlake nonprofit. The city lists it among the local service clubs and organizations. The Sun-Gazette reported that a group of Woodlake natives started it in December 2013, with Luis Lopez and Noe Ibarra among the founders and Ramon Lara closely involved.
The parade wasn't the group's first project, and in its first year it wasn't even the largest. That year volunteers spent Saturdays in March helping build two new baseball and softball fields at Willow Court Park. They spread 40 tons of red clay, and the fields opened April 5, 2014. They also held Woodlake's first Mariachi Festival at Miller Brown Park, which the paper said drew more than 1,500 people. The city named the Homegrown Project its Organization of the Year.
That history explains why the parade works the way it does. It started as a volunteer group's holiday project, not as a city production that hired performers. The Workshop and the toy giveaway are the group's work too. The Santa who hands out gifts and the Santa on Valencia are the same person, provided by the same people.
Where Santa Has Been, Year by Year
The parade's basic shape has stayed the same since 2014. What has changed is when and where families can sit down with Santa.
- 2014: First parade, in the rain, with 71 entries. Santa's Workshop gave away more than 600 toys.
- 2015: About 60 entries, as the Sun-Gazette recapped the next December.
- 2016: The parade started at 7 p.m. at Valencia and Whitney and ended at the roundabout at Valencia and Naranjo Boulevard. Santa's Workshop came right after, at 8 p.m., at the new Woodlake plaza on north Magnolia across from Miller Brown Park. Every child who sat with Santa got a gift, and photos were printed on site.
- 2024: The city listed the parade along Valencia Boulevard on December 14. That year the Homegrown Project held Santa's Workshop at the Woodlake Plaza from 4 to 6 p.m., before the parade, billed as "Meet Santa & take a family photo!"
- 2025: The Workshop was scheduled for 4 to 6 p.m. on December 13 at the Woodlake Downtown Studio, 157 N. Valencia Blvd., with the 11th parade at 7. The Sun-Gazette's holiday roundup said Santa would be joined by Mrs. Claus and the Grinch.
- 2026: The 12th parade is Saturday, December 12, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The flip matters more than the list shows. In 2016 the Workshop came at the end of the night, when kids were tired and the plaza filled with families walking over from the route. In 2024 and 2025 the Workshop ran first, from 4 to 6, then there was an hour off, then the parade. One Santa can't be in two places at once, so the order of the evening decides which part gets him first. In recent years the photo line has come first and the ride down Valencia has come last.
For a family, that changes the planning. Under the recent schedule, a Santa photo means showing up downtown in the late afternoon rather than staying after the last float goes by. It also leaves time between 6 and 7 for dinner or to claim a spot along the curb.
December 4 Is Two Dates in One
The Friday before the parade is busy, and much of it happens at the same address.
The Woodlake Fire District holds its Christmas Tree Lighting on Friday, December 4, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Woodlake Fire Station, 216 E. Naranjo Blvd. The city's event listing gives the district's number as 559-564-2181.
Parade entries are due that same afternoon. The application says they must be "received (not postmarked)" by 4 p.m. on December 4, 2026, and it lists The Homegrown Project at 216 E. Naranjo, with phone numbers 559-804-5203 and 559-909-2923. If your business, church, team or family wants a spot in the lineup, the paperwork deadline lands two and a half hours before the tree lights come on.
The entry rules also show what the crowd will see on the 12th. Each unit must:
- Be decorated or have working lights, and reflect the parade theme or the holiday season
- Be pre-registered and come with a written description, including any animals
- Keep moving, with no more than 50 feet between units, and no stopping to perform
- Leave out political campaign signs and not ask spectators for cash or goods
Candy may be handed out. That makes a steady, lit, rolling parade. Kids along Valencia should expect candy from the floats and expect to see exactly one Santa.
Parade Saturday, in Order
December 12 falls on a Saturday. Here's how the day can run, based on how the Homegrown Project set up its last two parades:
- Morning at the garden. The Woodlake Botanical Garden is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 342 E. Naranjo Blvd., just east of Highway 245. The garden lists citrus tasting season as December through March, so parade weekend is also the start of citrus season there.
- Late afternoon downtown. In 2024 and 2025, Santa's Workshop ran from 4 to 6 p.m. downtown, at the Woodlake Plaza and then the Downtown Studio on Valencia. The city calendar lists this year's Homegrown Project events.
- Six to seven. Dinner, then a spot along Valencia Boulevard, where the parade has run in recent years.
- Seven o'clock. Bands, horses, lit floats and candy, with the single Homegrown Project Santa as the one Santa in the lineup.
The garden on that first stop is new this winter in its current form. As the Sun-Gazette reported, city officials cut the ribbon on the Woodlake Botanical Garden: Los Jardines on August 7, 2026. The project cost about $4.8 million and included an underground drainage system. Mayor Rudy Mendoza said it was 90% grant funded, largely through Clean California along with Measure R funds through the Tulare County Association of Governments. Woodlake Pride Director Manuel Jimenez said at the ceremony that the garden covers more than a mile. On publish day, the garden's sunflowers are still in their October and November window. The citrus is due by the time the floats line up.
At Sean Harper Real Estate, we like local traditions that run on clear rules and volunteer effort, and Woodlake's one-Santa parade is a good example. If you're planning your December around the Homegrown Project's schedule, or thinking about what the next few years in Woodlake look like for your family, Let's Connect.
