Golden hour washes over Big Basin Way as guitars twang, kids dance near a stage and neighbors drift between booths. Every first Thursday from April to October from 5-8 p.m., Saratoga Village shuts down the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce parking lot and transforms into Saratoga Nights, a casual street event created for families, teens and anyone who wants to involve themselves with the community.
The Saratoga Chamber of Commerce hosts the series to support small businesses and create a space for connection among neighbors. Alongside the chamber, Saratoga Vitality, a parent volunteer group that helps organize city events and youth involvement, also plays a big part in planning, working with the chamber to recruit volunteers and manage setup.
Saratoga Vitality parent coordinator Mahshid Agahi sees it as a way to bring the community together and enjoy the city’s historical village.
The format is simple: Live music, wine and beer tents, pop-up vendors, and seasonal themes all take place around downtown. While the main target audience is adults, organizers are trying to reach out to younger audiences through fun activities like line dancing and chalk drawing.
Planning starts a week in advance for each month’s festivities when the chamber books the Village Parking Lot along Big Basin Way and plans the layout, booths and runtime. Vendors sign up through a monthly Google form on the chamber site. Returning vendors receive a reminder to re-register, and booth placement is coordinated with Saratoga Vitality.
According to Ilaria Keogh, a Saratoga Vitality parent coordinator, the chamber covers permits and logistics such as clearing the parking lot, laying out the stage and putting up car barriers. The most difficult part of each month is recruiting volunteers to set up and take down all the stage elements and tents.
Beyond helping with these logistics, SHS students are finding ways to contribute and improve Saratoga Nights by showcasing their business offerings to the public.
SHS junior Sia Chowdhri spotlights her small cookie business
To junior Sia Chowdhri, Saratoga Nights grew from a simple gap that came from noticing that Saratoga’s downtown lacked the activity and popularity of Los Gatos and San Jose.
Chowdhri has since been involved through a booth for her own business, Sia’s Cookie World, where attendees can receive mini macaron samples in exchange for writing thank-you notes to the local fire station.
“Saratoga Nights is great exposure and a way to give back to people in the community,” Chowdhri said.
The chamber is also finalizing a food license to allow limited on-site sales, opening the door for local cafes and student-run businesses like Chowdhri’s to gain more exposure from the public.
Nonprofit Fruitera gains attention
Senior Vedant Padhi started Fruitera in 2024, a nonprofit that helps neighbors trade homegrown produce. The project began in Saratoga but is open to any neighborhood in the Bay Area.
“We’ve had around 600 unique visitors to our site and have already completed a few trades,” Padhi said. “It’s a way to build community and reduce food waste, which our generation faces.”
He has held a booth at Saratoga Nights for three months so far. June brought the strongest response. Padhi secured about 50 signups at his booth; the other months drew smaller crowds but the interest was still steady in his ideas.
“The most important thing was going out and talking to people, seeing what the community wants,” he said.
The last scheduled Saratoga Nights event is set to take place on Oct. 2. While October was set as a trial endpoint because of the end of daylight savings time and a lack of staffing, organizers are considering extending the events to go on throughout the whole year after strong consecutive turnouts.
“Compared to Los Gatos and San Jose, our downtown was kind of dead,” Chowdhri said. “Saratoga Nights is a way for small businesses to get exposure, and for people to interact.”
