San Ramon's Halloween Week Happens in Two Places: a Victorian Farm and City Center
"Victorians had a close relationship with death and as such had extensive mourning traditions for their loved ones."
That line is from the City of San Ramon's Forest Home Farms events page. It describes the most unusual Halloween event in town this year, a guided tour of the 1877 Glass House that covers the hazards Victorians faced. It takes place on a Friday night in a historic park on San Ramon Valley Boulevard, not at a big civic carnival.
As of early October, the City's parks calendar shows no Halloween carnival or trunk-or-treat for the last week of the month. The City's Halloween programs are listed on the Forest Home Farms page instead, and they run alongside a busy weekend calendar at City Center Bishop Ranch. Each calendar covers what the other leaves out, and Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, so the two line up neatly from October 24 through October 31.
Forest Home Farms Historic Park sits at 19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd. The City lists regular hours as Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with self-guided walks of the grounds. Besides the Glass House, the site includes the 1900 Boone House, barns, old ranch equipment, a tractor museum and a railroad depot display.
Most of the farm's fall calendar comes from its free Saturday series, Fun on the Farm, which runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's a partnership between the City and the San Ramon Historic Foundation. October's Saturdays build toward Halloween one week at a time. October 10 is Indigenous People's Day. On October 17, the Iron Horse program covers the history of trains and the Iron Horse Trail in the San Ramon Valley, with a take-home craft. The last two Saturdays are the Halloween ones.
The two calendars share this Saturday, with the market opening two hours before the farm. The San Ramon Farmers Market at City Center runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is in its 20th season. City Center's event listings include October 24. Trick or Treat on the Farm starts at 11 a.m. Kids come in costume and work their way around the farm to activity stations, picking up treats to take home.
The market and the farm overlap from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., so a family can do both by starting early:
The farm's public programs run on Saturdays, and City Center takes Sunday. The free Howl-O-Ween Costumed Pet Parade starts at 2 p.m. in Alexander Square and runs for an hour. Pets get treats from George San Ramon, and there's a Halloween selfie station, a mini obstacle course and a sniff-patch pop-up from The Hub by Pack Animals.
The Hub is also bringing back its Haunted Hub for a third year, with Halloween activity stations at its Level 2 store from 1 to 5 p.m., so the parade falls in the middle of a four-hour window. If your dog can't make Sunday, BARKADE at The Hub runs September 24 through October 31, 1:30 to 6:30 p.m., with reservations or drop-ins. Schedules vary, and the listing doesn't give a price.
Sunday is the one day of the week that's mostly about pets. The farm programs are built around kids and crafts, and the Friday tour is built for adults.
The Victorian Mourning Tours run in four one-hour slots starting at 6, 6:30, 7 and 7:30 p.m. They're open to ages 12 and up, cost $10 for residents and $12 for nonresidents, and require registration through the City. The City calls it "darkly educational" and says it's "geared for adults." Children 15 and under must come with an adult who keeps them from disrupting the tour.
None of the other City Halloween events this week happens after dark or is aimed at grown-ups, which makes these slots the easiest to miss. Each slot has its own registration link on the Forest Home Farms events page.
The same Friday kicks off a two-day offer at City Center. Salt & Straw's Halloween page says scoop upgrades with black-and-orange sprinkles, whipped cream and a sugar cone are free on October 30 and 31.
Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026, so it lands on the normal schedule for both places, with the same 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. overlap as the week before. City Center lists the farmers market for October 31, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with local growers, food vendors and live music. Forest Home Farms holds Pumpkins, Gourds, & Squash from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors learn about the many uses of pumpkins and gourds and go home with a winter squash recipe and a craft.
Salt & Straw wraps up its seasonal run the same day. The flavors include The Great Candycopia, Jack O'Lantern Pumpkin Bread, Creepy Crawly Critters and Chocolate Graveyard Cookie Crumble, and Halloween stickers are handed out on October 31 while supplies last. The event listing runs through November 1, but the description says the flavors end October 31.
| Date | Where | What | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Oct 24 | City Center | San Ramon Farmers Market | 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | No admission listed |
| Sat, Oct 24 | Forest Home Farms | Trick or Treat on the Farm | 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | Free |
| Sat, Oct 24 | San Ramon Library | Library Foundation Jazz Series | 7:30–9 p.m. | Not listed |
| Sun, Oct 25 | City Center, Alexander Square | Howl-O-Ween Pet Parade | 2–3 p.m. | Free |
| Sun, Oct 25 | City Center, Level 2 | Haunted Hub | 1–5 p.m. | Not listed |
| Fri, Oct 30 | Forest Home Farms, Glass House | Victorian Mourning Tours | Slots 6–8:30 p.m. | $10 resident, $12 nonresident |
| Fri–Sat, Oct 30–31 | City Center | Salt & Straw free scoop upgrade | Store hours | Free upgrade |
| Sat, Oct 31 | City Center | San Ramon Farmers Market | 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | No admission listed |
| Sat, Oct 31 | Forest Home Farms | Pumpkins, Gourds, & Squash | 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | Free |
If you've been to City Center since spring, you've seen some new storefronts. Three of them work well for filling time on a Halloween weekend.
lil sweet treat. The Bay Area Telegraph reported on October 5 that this TikTok-inspired candy shop is open at 6000 Bollinger Canyon Road. The story doesn't say exactly when it opened. It's a convenient candy stop the week of a Saturday Halloween.
Rico Rico Taco. This taco shop with Oakland roots is in Suite 1207 at 6000 Bollinger Canyon Road. According to a September report, it soft-opened in late July. It's an easy lunch between the market and the farm.
Meyhouse. This Turkish restaurant and jazz club took over the former Dumpling Time space. It soft-opened April 30 and started lunch service May 2, as DanvilleSanRamon.com reported. If you book a later Victorian Mourning Tour slot, it's a dinner option before the drive down San Ramon Valley Boulevard.
Both calendars keep going after Halloween. City Center lists the farmers market on November 7 and 14. On the same two Saturdays, Fun on the Farm offers Quality Quilts and then Bread & Jam, where visitors thresh, grind and sift wheat into flour.
City Center's evening events start up again on Friday, November 6, with the Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Rink opening ceremony from 6 to 7 p.m. The rink is open for skating through January 3. The Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony follows on Friday, November 20, 6 to 7 p.m., with the Monte Vista Band and singers performing before Santa arrives. The farm's next specialty tours after the mourning tours are on Saturday, December 19, when morning Victorian Christmas Tours at the Glass House, with slots from 10 a.m. to noon, end with carols on the walk to the Boone House and mulled apple cider.
At Evolve Real Estate, we keep track of how San Ramon's year actually runs, from Saturday mornings at Forest Home Farms to Friday nights at City Center, because that kind of local knowledge comes up every time we help a neighbor think about their home. If you're curious what your San Ramon home is worth this fall, reach out and we'll put together a quote based on this market.
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