Fourth Street's busiest holiday stretch in 2026 lasts 16 days. Harvest on Fourth fills Makers Row on Saturday, Nov. 7. The three blocks of holiday lights switch on Saturday, Nov. 14. POJ Studio's Japanese crafts pop-up at The Gardener closes Sunday, Nov. 22, four days before Thanksgiving. The pop-up is open for both Saturday events, and for nine days the lights and the pop-up run together. It's also the first holiday season for a Fourth Street that changed a lot over the past year.
The lights stay up until February. The overlap ends much sooner.
A street that turned over before the lights went up
If you last walked Fourth Street in late 2025, several storefronts have changed hands. Berkeleyside's Shop Talk column tracked the changes through the first half of the year.
- Paraíso Plant Studio moved into the former Market Hall Foods space at 1780 Fourth St. Owner María Blum-Sullivan told Berkeleyside the bigger store gives her room for more plants and more workshops.
- American Giant closed its shop at 1801 Fourth St. after nearly five years, and Vans closed at 1915 Fourth St.
- Free People opened at 1799 Fourth St. on Jan. 30, according to Berkeleyside's March 2 Shop Talk.
- Aiken came back to 1842 Fourth St. on Valentine's Day, with co-owners Randy Brewer and Fred Whitefield.
- Divan soft-opened at 1788 Fourth St. on June 22, starting with lunch only.
Divan matters most for a November evening. It comes from the team behind San Francisco's Taksim, and co-owner Serkan Sozen told The Mercury News that it's a Turkish kitchen inspired by how he grew up. The same August report said Divan had started dinner service that month. So this is Divan's first holiday season serving dinner on a street where the lights now come on around 5 p.m.
Nov. 7 is a market at the north end of the street
The first event is Harvest on Fourth, a free artisan market at Fourth Street Makers Row, 1901 Fourth St. It's scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, from 1 to 5 p.m. Prikli Agency is presenting it with a lineup of local makers, seasonal activities and a tote-making station, and the listing says dogs are welcome.
Harvest on Fourth is a daytime market built around small local sellers, while the light festival a week later is an evening event at Delaware. Together they make the first two Saturdays in November a pair, and both are free.
Nov. 14 is the night three blocks switch on
The Dazzling Holiday Lights Festival 2026 is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. It's centered on Delaware at Fourth Street, and Fourth Street's official listing calls it the start of the holiday season on the street. Here's the published program:
- 5 p.m. The lights come on across three blocks. Peet's Coffee, Mexican hot chocolate, cider, regular hot chocolate and cookies are free at the outdoor tables.
- 5:45 p.m. First of two 20-minute Brian Scott magic shows.
- 6:15 p.m. Second magic show.
- All evening. Live music from The 3 Elements. LED-lit costumed characters walk the street, including a large puppeteered arctic snow wolf, a snow fairy on stilts and a roller-skating elf. Kids can make night trains or any other design on black paper with thin washi art tape.
Parking is paid, at Fourth and Virginia. After opening night, the listing says the lights will turn on at about 5 p.m. every night of the season and turn off in February 2027. Visit Berkeley's guide gives the same February end date.
That 5 p.m. start makes the timing simple. A late lunch at Divan or a stop at Paraíso can run straight into the lights. The festival is the only night with performers and free drinks, but the street is lit every evening after that.
The pop-up with a hard stop on Nov. 22
POJ Studio is the one item on this calendar that won't be around for the rest of the season. It's a Kyoto company founded in 2020 by Tina Koyama, and it represents 80 craftspeople across Japan. Berkeleyside reported in October that it had opened a pop-up at The Gardener, 1836 Fourth St., selling traditionally made Japanese housewares and teaching kintsugi.
Kintsugi repairs chipped and broken ceramics with urushi, a tree sap, and 24-karat gold, so the break shows instead of being hidden. Tomoka Hayashi, who leads POJ's U.S. operations, told Berkeleyside why the material matters:
"Glue gets weaker over time. But urushi gets stronger over time … so in kintsugi the break actually gets stronger and stronger."
POJ offers three class formats at The Gardener:
| Class | Format | Price |
|---|---|---|
| The Scene | One two-hour introductory session | $170 |
| The Act | Three sessions | $450 |
| The Ensemble | Six sessions, repair up to four cracked or broken items | $780 |
Berkeleyside also notes that kintsugi is slow, and a single piece can take up to two months to finish. If you just want to shop, the pop-up's housewares are for sale through Nov. 22. Hours are Sunday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Class dates are posted on POJ Studio's Berkeley class page.
The weekday hours end at 5:30 p.m. and the lights come on around 5. That gives you about half an hour each day from Nov. 14 to Nov. 22 to browse the pop-up after dark and walk out under the lights. On Saturday, Nov. 21, the pop-up stays open until 6 p.m., which adds another half hour.
After the 22nd, the street runs on the lights
When POJ packs up, Fourth Street switches to a slower holiday routine. The lights keep coming on every evening, and the remaining dates are mostly aimed at families.
Santa's Mailbox, a big red mailbox, sits outside Peet's Coffee at 1776 Fourth St. Kids can drop in a letter to Santa and get a reply back from his elves, per Visit Berkeley.
The next scheduled event is Holiday Crafting Like Never Before on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Delaware and Fourth. It's planned with wreath making, glass ornament decorating, glitter pinecones, snowflakes and charm designing. Santa and his elves will be there for photos, and the Grinch is listed to show up too.
Here's the full season, laid out by date:
- Sat., Nov. 7, 1 to 5 p.m. Harvest on Fourth at Makers Row, 1901 Fourth St. Free.
- Sat., Nov. 14, 5 to 7 p.m. Dazzling Holiday Lights Festival at Delaware and Fourth. Free.
- Nov. 14 to Nov. 22. Lights on nightly and the POJ pop-up still open.
- Sun., Nov. 22. Last day of POJ Studio's retail pop-up at The Gardener.
- Sat., Dec. 12, 1 to 4 p.m. Holiday Crafting at Delaware and Fourth.
- Through February 2027. Lights on at about 5 p.m. every night.
Much of the street's 2026 lineup is new for this season, including Divan's dinner service, Paraíso in the old Market Hall space, Aiken back at 1842 and Free People at 1799. Between Nov. 7 and Nov. 22, those places, the free events and the Kyoto pop-up all fall on the same three blocks.
If you live in the blocks around Fourth Street and have wondered what your place would be worth this season, Joey Hoisescu and The Lighthouse Collective will give you a straight answer. Get a free home valuation.
