Visit Paso and be merry
The Vine Street Victorian Showcase celebrates its 39th annual event on Dec. 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. The event is free. For more information, contact the Downtown Paso Robles Main Street office at (805) 238-4103.
When Norma Moye bought her Victorian home on 18th and Vine in 1975, she never imagined it would grow into a community-wide holiday spectacle. Today, her vision is the Vine Street Victorian Showcase, a festive celebration that draws thousands to her Paso Robles neighborhood each December.
“I thought it might be kind of neat to have a Christmas right there on Vine Street,” said Moye, who’s organized the event since 1986 alongside a small army of volunteers. “It reminded me of that old-fashioned, Victorian era, and I just thought, ‘Wouldn’t that be fun?’”
That simple idea grew into the Vine Street Victorian Showcase, a 39-year-old holiday celebration that for one evening closes the street to cars and transforms the neighborhood into a living Christmas card with glowing porches, brass bands, snow slides, children pulling decorated wagons, and neighbors bundled in holiday attire.
The first showcase in 1986, Moye recalled, was a much smaller affair but festive nonetheless, with decorated homes and Christmas carolers in coats.
“Crowds were not that thick. We had hayrides, and people would sing Christmas carols in the hayrides,” she recalled.
Since then, the event has grown to span from 8th to 21st streets. Today, it’s one of Paso Robles’ most beloved holiday traditions, organized by the residents of Vine Street and the Paso Robles Main Street Association—which Moye helped found more than three decades ago.
From the beginning, Moye knew she couldn’t put on the event alone. So she walked down Vine Street to another Victorian home on 14th Street, where a woman named Grace Pucci answered the door.
“I said, ‘Hi there honey, how would you like to help me do a Victorian party?’” Moye recalled with a laugh. “And Grace said, ‘Sure, come in and talk to me.’ So I went in, we had a long talk, and by golly she said she’d help me.”
Pucci still lives on Vine Street and still helps organize the showcase each year. It was her idea, Moye said, to call the event the “Vine Street Victorian Showcase.”
The pair started small, handing out flyers to neighbors and encouraging residents to decorate their homes, bake cookies, and host small performances.
“The neighbors were so cooperative,” Moye said. “They’d decorate their houses and serve popcorn or hot chocolate, and some would have entertainment right there on their lawns.”
One home, nicknamed Grandma’s House, became known for serving cookies baked by members of the Paso Robles Historical Society—another organization Moye helped establish years ago alongside Paso Robles historian and educator Virginia Peterson.
“It’s grown a lot,” Pucci said. “It grew from a couple of hundred the first year and now goes into the thousands. Norma estimates it at about 8,000.”
Today, Vine Street comes alive each year with a mix of old and new traditions. The Paso Robles High School band opens the night promptly at 6 p.m., marching down the hill and playing Christmas tunes. City officials ride in a trolley, followed by floats from the Downtown Christmas Parade, which takes place earlier in December.
A live nativity scene—complete with goats and donkeys—is hosted by a local church, and businesses along the route hand out free treats.
“It’s such a family affair,” Moye said. “People bring their kids in wagons, decorate them with lights, and just walk down Vine Street wishing each other Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Everyone’s so happy.”
Over the years, Moye has watched the showcase touch visitors in unexpected ways.
“I was standing on my porch once, and a lady was crying,” she recalled. “I said, ‘What’s the matter with you, lady?’ She says, ‘Well, I came from England, and this whole thing reminded me of home.’ She was so touched.”
While the showcase remains free and open to the public, Moye and Pucci are asking for small donations this year to help cover rising costs for insurance, portable restrooms, and sound equipment.
“All we’re asking is a dollar,” Moye said. “Grace will be on 14th Street with a big jar. If everyone who comes by drops in a dollar, that would sure help. We just want to keep Vine Street going.”
Moye’s home, a white two-story Victorian, remains one of the event’s landmarks. This year, she’ll host a brass band on her front porch while volunteers offer free coffee and hot chocolate to visitors.
Even decades later, Moye said she looks forward to the showcase with the same enthusiasm she had at the beginning.
“I started when I was very young,” she said with a laugh. “And I’m still kicking!”
For Moye, the magic of Vine Street comes from the strong sense of community that has shaped Paso Robles for decades.
“We’ve been through a lot as a town,” she said. “When Main Street started, downtown was all boarded up, but we worked together and it came back to life. That’s what this is about too.”
As Vine Street fills once again with families, music, and holiday cheer, Moye said she still stands on her porch each December, watching the crowds go by and remembering how it all began.
“It’s magical,” she said. “Just magical.”
Pucci agreed.
“It’s such a wonderful family event,” she said. “It’s a gift to the community, and I think you could only do this in a town like Paso Robles.”
Reach New Times Staff Writer Chloë Hodge, from the Sun’s sister paper, at chodge@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Nov 20 – Nov 27, 2025.