Christmas Tree Lane

If you haven't done the walk at Christmas Tree Lane, you definitely need to do it.Christmas Tree Lane is celebrating 102 years this year. It started with one tree and grown into a family tradition.Opening night is a walk night where no cars allowed and people fill the streets walking to enjoy the holiday decorations.Vendors are also out selling food and toys. People bring kids and dogs. It's recommended to bring your dogs on a leash and make sure they are comfortable with crowds. Some people will bring wagons. It is a bit crowded for bikes. It was nice cool night for walk to really help bring in the holiday season!

It's a great tradition and I do appreciate the neighborhood going through all the effort of accommodating the massive traffic. However, it's lost its magic. The last time I went through was 10 years ago and that experience was wonderful. A short line in, about 30 minutes through, 45 all together and every house was lit up beautifully. This year (2024) it was a three hour line in and an hour to get through for some reason. Only about a third to half the houses were lit and most of those were signs. The final grand finale house is still there and looking great but by that time we just wanted to get home.While this street is full of beautiful homes, there are plenty of better lit neighborhoods. I would drive through if there was no wait but never again otherwise.

This is one of many traditions we have in our little family. My daughter is older now and I have to persuade her to continue with the tradition. I love to come when on the walk night. A lot of people come and just walk and admire the Christmas decorations that every year they put and keep the old decorations and year after year they add new ones. I don't really know how link the walk is from beginning to end. But you need to come prepared. Put some confit shoes and a thick jacket. It gets cold. It is a nice tradition that they stared after a child die in one of the houses after that the tree in front of the house they started decorating it and more families started to decorate their houses. It has become one of the nicest things to do as a Comunity. Love coming here! Also be prepared to give a donation. They need help for the resources. Very pretty every year!

Before I go All-In.Thank you neighbors for sharing your homes with thousands of people every year to shut down your neighborhood, for hours and weeks, for the goodwill of smiles. Kudos to the City of Fresno for structuring the event planning in a safe and organized manner and communicating with the community about the expectations of maintaining this traditional event to be respectful,safe, and family focused.Wow! Can I stay awake through this drive. Sleepy Mom Driving. If you have visited any magical Christmas Lane then you will be bored. I'm a visitor to the city. And lights, camera, action is my thing. Actually if you got bundled up to go see Christmas lights it's probably your thing too. The Fresno bowling alley had more Wow.When kiddos and cars go to sleep and it's only 6:10 that is telling. If this was a walking event, I would demand foot massages at the end. And a refund. Oh yeah it's free. Well, refund my time.I have no proof but I noticed a pattern:No mechanical decorations.Period.The most dramatic a house could be is stand-ups that were cardboard or wood decorNo awesome lights spectacular.Most homes had one light or it could have been the already lawn lightsDo not expect any Christmas Light Fight competitionTwo hours later between waiting in line and passing last home, I would recommend a pass on this one. High FivesBeautiful trees. Actual trees, not Christmas trees.Monetary donations at the end are appreciated "Don't compare the measure of giving of your heart to another. Each of our circumstances vary."

The story behind Christmas Tree Lane makes Christmas Tree Lane a lot more special! I have only gone a hand full of times. The neighborhood is the Old Fig Garden area. It's amazing to see a community come together for 99 years to celebrate Christmas Cheer.I went with the dude his first time on 12/20/21 and Mr. Grinch (The Dude) was not impressed. I agree the WOW factor wasn't there but it's definitely a Fresno /Clovis BIG deal, you have to go at least every few years. He said he wouldn't come back but wants to next year as it will be 100 FRIKKIN YEARS of a community banding together turning something tragic to something memorable and heart warming. Can we please shine some light on to that!I honestly think for the WOW factor for ultimate Christmas Cheer is Candy Cane Lane in Clovis. My opinion but I still LOVE Christmas Tree lane. Some of the houses were not decorated and some looked like they just threw the lights on. I'm not hating on any of the houses as MY little apartment doesn't have lights up at all so I'm not judging. COVID has been rough and we locals and travelers understand it does take time and resources to put up lights and even pressure to have thousands drive through your neighborhood - that's a lot of pressure and I probably wouldn't put lights up! it's not an easy task and cost money especially with no help from the City of Fresno or local organizations. I do DONATE each time I go as the city of Fresno doesn't help with financing this event -_- and even the police department are out there too making sure people are safe . I was glad to see cops stationed at EACH of the rail road tracks as unfortunately people lost their lives :( there were a few cars who STOPPED on the tracks and the police would run or walk over IMMEDIATELY to let them know GET OFF THE TRAIN TRACKS as there are REAL trains that come by periodically throughout the night or evening so pay attention! Don't stop on the tracks! Make sure your car can clear the tracks - even if you think it can JUST WAIT until you are confident it CAN. Like seriously no rush.I came again on 12/22/21 with my mom, dad, older niece, and uncle while my middle sister, older sister, her daughter, and husband were behind us. We all couldn't fit in one car. But it was fun. Dad fell asleep and the older niece was beyond thrilled and my mom and uncle LOVED the huge houses although some looked creepy xD but a lot were nice. It was beautiful.I would recommend to go on rainy nights as the line moves faster and quicker . Monday was 3.5 hours and yesterday 12/22/21 was under 2 hours minimal traffic or it could be due to holiday who knows! The second time went a lot smoother.Cannot thank the Van Ness and Old Fig Garten community, law enforcement, and volunteers enough for continuing to bring Christmas or Holiday Cheer to the community!See you for celebration in 2022 for 100 years!

Another year with another good variety of beautiful homes decorated for Christmas! It will never get old and always helps bring out the holiday spirit! A really long line to get in to see. Cops posted everywhere to make sure rules are being followed! Be aware! The line moves pretty quickly to get in and then it moves at a medium pace. It looks like it starts at Shields & Blackstone. They provide a Christmas music channel to listen to while driving through. Adding to the holiday spirit! A lot of new stuff! Pretty great! Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Highly Recommended!

Went to visit family in Fresno and told my mom that I wanted to see Christmas sights. I am lucky that this was recommended and a cousin was kind enough to guide us to the route. There were tons of lights and the houses along Van Ness we super decked out. The line was long at it took us more than an hour to finish the whole thing. It was delightful and something that should not be missed for sure. We also read that this was not funded by any public or private organizations and this has been happening for about 90 years now. Christmas spirit and festive tradition indeed.

I still love the tradition, but it's just not what it used to be (20 years ago) a lot less crowd then.

If you're from Fresno you know that you want to walk or come early because those car lines waiting to get in can be ridiculous. We chose to walk this year on a driving night on a Sunday, ended up being better for us and our daughter.

Man oh man! Was feeling some Christmas spirit today after some shopping and decided to take the kiddos to drive through Christmas Tree Lane on a Wednesday night. We have lived in Fresno for only 5 years and this was our first time going. I wanted to be prepared and looked for info on the website about directions on entering Christmas Tree Lane. Didn't find much other than the entrance is on Shields and Van Ness. So off we go and come upon tons of traffic. After driving around, I find myself eventually waiting to turn left onto Blackstone from Dakota Ave. Like all of the other cars in front of me, at a green light, I wait for traffic to clear the intersection before I make the left turn, but still end up with the end of my car sticking out into the intersection for a few seconds before I'm able to finally clear it. As I'm waiting I see other cars cutting into the queueing lane in front of me and I think "wow!" Everyone is just trying to get in. Suddenly a police car pulls up next to me and has me roll down my window. The officer proceeds to tell me that I cut the line when I turned in at the intersection. I told her I did not realize there was a line of order especially since there were other cars in front of me who made the same left turn into the line as I did. She says "who did that?" Uh, basically all of the cars in front of me that turned as well. She says "well, there is a line." Ok? Thanks for the limited info. Nothing about where the line starts. And how was I supposed to know this? What about all the other cars in front of me who did the same thing? There were no signs saying there is a line and no info on the website about a line. She also then tells me that the BUTT of my car was still sticking out into the intersection after I turned which I agree. But there were so many cars in front of me that blocked the intersection WAY worse than I did!! Guess the cars in front don't matter since I was the one who she stopped. Then she goes and flashes her flashlight toward my kids in the car saying I'm endangering them by doing that and then lets me continue on. Ok lady! Merry Christmas to you! You're doing such a good job! Keep up the great work! I saw so many vehicles on Christmas Tree Lane with their kids hanging 3/4 of their bodies outside of their car windows and practically sitting on top of their cars through the sunroof while driving. Yet, I'm endangering my children for the few seconds my car's BUTT was barely in the intersection. I'm surprised the are no officers parked or patrolling the actual Christmas Tree Lane since there's people driving AND walking. Afterwards, I go on Facebook and find a post on the Christmas Tree Lane page that "encourages" drivers to enter Blackstone from Ashlan and proceed south to Shields. Hmmm..."encourages." Does that necessarily mandate a line??? If so, maybe you should find a way to make others more aware of this info. I posted a photo of the "encouraged" route to hopefully help first timers or out of towners who may not know this info. Since apparently "there is a line" and you are not allowed to cut in line. All in all, we probably won't make a trip down to Christmas Tree Lane again. Definitely was not a good experience. And that was just trying to enter. The kids said the wait was not worth it. Hopefully this info helps others to have a better experience.