Gardnerville's Holiday Season Opens This Saturday, Weeks Before the Kickoff

In 1864, a five-year-old named George Ferris moved with his family from Illinois to a ranch in Carson Valley. The way Visit Carson Valley tells it, he spent hours watching a big water wheel on the Carson River lift buckets of water for thirsty livestock. Almost 30 years later, he built a giant wheel for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago that carried people instead of water.

This Saturday, November 7, the first runners in a race named after him leave the Douglas County Fairgrounds at 6 a.m. It's still dark. Three hours later, a holiday market and a craft fair open their doors in Gardnerville. By 11, Heritage Park is filling up for the Día de los Muertos Festival.

The Town of Gardnerville's 21st annual Christmas Kickoff isn't until December 3. In practice, though, the season starts this weekend, almost a month early. And nearly every table you'll stop at on Saturday is run by a volunteer group, a church or a civic organization that keeps the money in the valley.

The weekend, hour by hour

Everything on Saturday overlaps, and two pieces start Friday evening, so here's the whole weekend in order of start time before we get to the details.

Most of the day falls between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Fit in the markets early, and you can be at Heritage Park around lunch, then drive up to the Carson Valley Inn to watch the kids' race finish.

The morning belongs to the fundraisers

The Heavenly Holiday Market has been around for more than 40 years. It's sponsored by United Women in Faith at Carson Valley United Methodist Church, and all profits go to charities serving women and children. It's one day only, and the shopping is mostly handmade: holiday wreaths, table centerpieces, home-baked goods and candy, plus a section called Timeless Treasures for gently used gifts and decor. The organizers' advice is to come early for the best selection and the warm cinnamon pecan rolls. This year there's also a new Santa's Fun Zone with activities for kids. Heads up: one part of the online listing says Saturday, November 6, but Saturday is the 7th, which is the date the listing gives everywhere else. If you want to double-check, the organizer's contact number is on the Visit Carson Valley events calendar.

Across town, Young at Heart is holding its annual Holiday Craft Fair at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center. Admission is free, there are more than 100 vendors, and the listing calls it the biggest free indoor craft fair in the Valley. All proceeds support services at the Douglas County Senior Center. It also runs Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. That's the easy way to get the first pick without fighting Saturday's crowds. You can learn more about the group on its Douglas County page.

Neither of these is a store sale. When you buy a wreath or a handmade gift here, the money goes to a church women's group's charities or to the senior center, not to a national retailer's quarterly numbers. Black Friday is still three weeks away.

Heritage Park at midday

The day's emotional center is Heritage Park. The Día de los Muertos Festival is in its fifth year, presented by Main Street Gardnerville, Douglas County Community Services and the Carson Valley Arts Council. It's free and runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You'll find mariachi music, folklórico and Aztec dancers, food and drink vendors, arts and crafts, face painting, altars, and a 12-foot Catrina doll presented by Latino Arte and Culture of Reno.

It started with one person's idea. The Record-Courier reported last year that Georgianna Drees-Wasmer envisioned the festival, and that Main Street Gardnerville and the Carson Valley Arts Council backed it in 2022. According to Douglas County's announcement at the time, the first one was on November 5, 2022. From that first year, people were invited to bring photos, messages and offerings for loved ones, and families or businesses could reserve free space for an altar of their own.

The community ofrenda is still part of it. Speaking to The Record-Courier in 2025, Main Street Executive Director Jen Tune described it as a place where people bring photos of their loved ones. "It's not a day of mourning but celebrating those who have died and keeping their memories going," she said. In the same article, she said the 2024 festival drew its biggest turnout yet, and she described how first-time visitors tend to return: "by the next year, they come dressed up, get their face painted, and are really participating."

If you'd like to add a photo, check the details for this year first. Main Street Gardnerville posts them on its annual events page and on the festival's Facebook event.

Two of Saturday's biggest draws are a holiday market built on 40 years of church volunteers and a festival built on remembering family. The Ferris 50 is named for a boy's memory of a wheel on the Carson River.

The afternoon, at the finish line

The Ferris 50 is in its second year, and it's organized by Visit Carson Valley. Runners choose 50 miles, 50K or 15K on a mix of single-track trails, OHV trails and a little pavement through the eastern valley foothills, with Job's Peak in view much of the way. The start is at the Douglas County Fairgrounds arena in Gardnerville, and the finish is in TJ's Corral at the Carson Valley Inn, 1627 U.S. Highway 395 North in Minden. The runner guide also clears up a question about the name before anyone asks: it's not Ferris Bueller.

Last year's first race was fairly small. The Record-Courier counted 135 participants: 28 in the 50-mile, 37 in the 50K and 70 in the 15K. In its own recap, Visit Carson Valley put the number at 130 and said every one of them finished. It also mentioned that one fast runner reached an aid station before it was fully set up, because organizers had gotten stuck on a sandy road.

The new event this year is the one most local families will care about. The 1.5K Youth Race is open to ages 5 through 17 and starts at 1 p.m. at TJ's Corral. Kids run out on the Martin Slough Trail behind the Carson Valley Inn to a turnaround just before Lucerne Street, where there's a water station, and then come back. They run the opposite direction from the longer races, so they won't meet adult runners on the trail. One parent or guardian may run alongside each child, and every finisher gets a Ferris 50 medal, a smaller version of the one the adults earn, plus a race bib. Registration runs through UltraSignUp.

Even if nobody in your house is running, the finish is worth a stop. Organizers are hosting a free Finish Line Festival in TJ's Corral with music, food, drinks, vendors and awards, and spectators are welcome to come cheer. If you're driving to watch, keep in mind that the free shuttle from the Carson Valley Inn is for runners only. It isn't available to spectators or after the race. Parking at the Fairgrounds is limited to the far-west lot.

A simple route for the day

1. Go to the Young at Heart craft fair Friday night if you can, and leave Saturday morning for the Heavenly Holiday Market and its cinnamon pecan rolls.
2. Have lunch either at the church's chili lunch, which ends at 1 p.m., or from the food vendors at Heritage Park.
3. Spend the early afternoon at the Día de los Muertos Festival, and bring a photo for the ofrenda once you've checked this year's details.
4. Head north on 395 to TJ's Corral to catch the Youth 1.5K and the finish-line festival as the 15K runners come in.

After Saturday, the calendar spreads out

Once this weekend is over, there's a lot more breathing room. On Thanksgiving morning, November 26, the 10th annual Carson Valley Turkey Trot starts at Minden Park. The kids' Turkey Dash is at 8:30 a.m., the 5K follows at 9, and the race benefits the Carson Valley Community Food Closet. The Town's Christmas Kickoff fills Heritage Park on December 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. with carriage rides, caroling, local dancers, fireworks and Santa. Then on December 5, Main Street Gardnerville's Candy Cane Main shopping event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Chamber Parade of Lights goes down U.S. 395 at 5 p.m. Downtown businesses that want to join Candy Cane Main need to register with Main Street Gardnerville by November 25.

The Turkey Trot, the Kickoff and Candy Cane Main all come after this Saturday, which falls three weeks before Black Friday.

I've called Carson City home since 1992, and the first weekend of November is a good time to get to know Carson Valley's community calendar. If you're new to the valley and want help planning your first season here, or you'd just like to talk about what makes Gardnerville tick, I'm happy to help. Kari Breuer is always glad to grab a cinnamon roll and talk. Let's Connect.