Santa Clara's Fall Calendar Keeps Coming Back to One Stretch of Homestead Road

One man was so set on being first in line for the Randy's Donuts opening that he put out his folding chair on Homestead Road at 10 p.m. the Thursday before, The Silicon Valley Voice reported. The Los Angeles shop opened its first Northern California store on Friday, July 31, 2026, across the street from Stan's Donut Shop. At its peak, the line ran to about 450 people.

That story is close to three months old. What matters this fall is where it happened. The stretch of Homestead Road where Randy's chose to open is also where the City of Santa Clara and its library hold most of the season. From SpooktaClara on Oct. 24 to the tree lighting in December, nearly every free community event on the fall calendar is at Central Park or Central Park Library. Those two donut counters are part of the same short drive.

The addresses, side by side

These are the four places that carry the fall calendar. The street numbers on Homestead run close together:

• Randy's Donuts, 2595 Homestead Road
• Stan's Donut Shop, 2628 Homestead Road
• Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Road, home of this year's Community Ofrenda Display
• Central Park, 909 Kiely Blvd., where the city holds both SpooktaClara and the Holiday Tree Lighting

The park and library were already the city's main fall venues. Randy's added a second famous donut shop beside one that has served the area for decades. So the calendar now has a food stop built in.

What the opening did for Stan's

The weeks after the opening went better for Stan's than "Donut Wars" would suggest. Palo Alto Online reported that Randy's arrival brought business to both shops, plus a wave of support for Stan's, a 67-year-old Bay Area institution. Owner Julie Clark is the youngest daughter of founder Stanford Wittmayer. She told the outlet that business picked up a little the week before Randy's opened, then "exploded" on opening day. Most people in her line were longtime customers. Others came because they had heard about the rivalry.

"When we went through COVID, we saw how much people appreciated us. But that's nothing compared to now," Clark told Palo Alto Online.

One of the owners of Randy's Santa Clara store told the same outlet, "We are here to coexist." He added that the two shops use different dough and mixing recipes. He estimated that Randy's sold about 6,500 donuts a day on opening weekend and ran out hours before its 9 p.m. close, so it cut back its hours until production could catch up. Since hours were still changing in August, check each shop's current hours before you plan an early stop.

Stan's still has hand-painted menu signs. Randy's says four more Bay Area locations are in the works. For now, though, the Homestead store is the only one, and it sits on the same stretch of Homestead Road as the events below.

Halloween week fills the library and the park

Halloween week starts Saturday, Oct. 24. The Children's SpooktaClara Halloween Party runs from noon to 4 p.m. at Central Park. The city lists it as free for children 10 and under, with Trick-or-Treat Row, a Pumpkin Walk, games, crafts, music and food.

The library carries the week from there. According to the Santa Clara City Library's October calendar, Central Park Library has "Beware! Scary Stories & Craft" at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The next morning, Thursday, Oct. 29, it holds Halloween Storytime & Trick or Treating at 10:30 a.m. If you have young kids, that's three Halloween outings in six days, all at the same park and library.

Ofrenda photos are due the day after SCU's altars

The library's Día de los Muertos display is the one event you can add to yourself. The Community Ofrenda Display is in the first-floor lobby of Central Park Library. Residents are invited to add a photo of a loved one who has died, and pets are welcome too. Bring the photo in, or email it to [email protected] with your name, your phone number and your loved one's name, and staff will print it. The library supplies 4x6-inch frames.

The library's listing gives the photo drop-off window as Oct. 15 to Nov. 2. The display stays up for viewing through Nov. 3.

Those dates fit neatly with the season's other big Día de los Muertos event. Santa Clara University holds its 4th annual Camino de los Muertos on Sunday, Nov. 1, on campus. It runs from 3 to 8 p.m., a time SCU still lists as tentative, with a Spanish-language Mass at 5 p.m. inside Mission Santa Clara. The event is free and open to the whole community. It includes a tour of altars from SCU and local community organizations, live music, a Catrina competition and cultural foods. SCU first held it in November 2023, together with the Mexican Consulate of San Jose and Univision 14.

So the SCU celebration comes one day before the library stops taking photos. If the altars on campus Sunday remind you of someone you'd like to honor, you can still bring a photo to Homestead Road on Monday, Nov. 2. The library's event page has the details.

Two dates elsewhere, then back to Central Park

After Día de los Muertos, the calendar goes quiet for most of November. Then the Triton Holiday Art Fair runs Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Triton Museum of Art. The Discover Santa Clara listing says it's free and features 25 to 30 local vendors. The art fair and the SCU event are the only two dates on the season's main calendar that aren't at Central Park or its library.

The city's Holiday Tree Lighting is Friday, Dec. 4, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Central Park. The city's event page promises a visit with Santa, food, holiday music, live performances by local groups, booths, kids' activities and the tree lighting itself.

The season in date order

1. Through Nov. 2: Bring or email photos for the Community Ofrenda, Central Park Library. Viewing runs through Nov. 3.
2. Sat., Oct. 24, noon–4 p.m.: Children's SpooktaClara Halloween Party, Central Park.
3. Wed., Oct. 28, 4 p.m.: Beware! Scary Stories & Craft, Central Park Library.
4. Thu., Oct. 29, 10:30 a.m.: Halloween Storytime & Trick or Treating, Central Park Library.
5. Sun., Nov. 1, 3–8 p.m., times tentative: Camino de los Muertos, Santa Clara University.
6. Sat., Nov. 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.: Triton Holiday Art Fair, Triton Museum of Art.
7. Fri., Dec. 4, 5:30–8 p.m.: Holiday Tree Lighting, Central Park.

Five of these seven dates are at Central Park or Central Park Library, and both donut shops sit on the same stretch of Homestead Road as the library.

If your home is near Central Park and you're wondering what living this close to the city's busiest fall venue means for its value, Jill Chen & Oliver Huang can walk you through it in English or 中文. Request a free home valuation, and we'll build it from recent comparable sales near Homestead and Kiely.