"I think it came out really well," Marv Giambastiani told a reporter for Marin Local News in May 1997, after the weekend Novato held its first Nostalgia Days. At the time he was described as someone who had been customizing cars and showing them all over the West Coast.
Twenty-nine years later, the Downtown Novato Business Association is billing the October 2026 edition as the 30th annual Nostalgia Days Cruise + Car Show. The Friday evening cruise is "proudly named in honor of Marv Giambastiani." The organizer's site credits him with leading the show for many years and with playing "an important role in shaping the event throughout its 30-year history."
The show on Grant Avenue looks like it has never changed. Its history says otherwise. Nostalgia Days has had a different format, a different month and different people in charge over the years. The person this year's cruise is named for is one of the few who connects 1997 to today.
The first one was a three-day fundraiser
The 1997 event looked very little like today's single Saturday on Grant. It ran three days with more than 200 custom and vintage cars: a Friday night cruise, a Saturday night sock hop, and a show of the prize vehicles on Sunday afternoon. It was also a fundraiser for the Novato Human Needs Center, which was marking its 25th anniversary that year, and a thank-you from the center to the community.
Coverage of that first weekend named Skip Tozzi as an event organizer. Tozzi said, "For the first time, I think it went real well," and added that there were some things they could have done better, "but we learned." The same story quoted Giambastiani, but it didn't describe him as an organizer. He was a customizer who came to show cars.
The 2026 materials from the organizer don't name a beneficiary, and the 2026 sponsor packet still lists the title sponsor as "TBD." The Saturday sock hop is gone too. One thing carried over from 1997 is the Friday night cruise, which still opens the weekend.
How the event moved around the calendar
The dates in the record show how much the show has moved:
- May 1997: First Nostalgia Days, over a three-day weekend.
- May 2009: In a video interview uploaded that month to YouTube, Giambastiani says he has owned "30 or 40" cars and calls customizing his passion and hobby. He prefers custom cars to stock restorations.
- August 2014: Novato Patch describes him as a Point Reyes native and longtime Novato resident who made a career restoring classic cars. That year was his sixth running the show.
- August 2015: The Marin Independent Journal identifies him as the show's chairman.
- August 2016: Patch reports he is event chairman, in his eighth year in charge.
- October 12, 2024: The City of Novato lists the show for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on a Saturday in October.
- October 9 and 10, 2026: The 30th annual cruise and show, with the cruise in his name.
So the show went from a spring weekend, to summer news coverage in the mid-2010s, to the second Saturday in October, the slot the Downtown Novato Business Association now gives it. Giambastiani appears at almost every point on that list. He was a customizer quoted at the first show in 1997, and Patch was calling him the show's chief organizer by 2013. In that 2009 interview, the name "Precious" on the door of his 1955 Chevy 210 Delray referred to his toy poodle.
The 2026 registration form includes the words "The Marv Giambastiani" among its category and award text, but the layout doesn't make clear what that line refers to. That's all that has been published about this year's tribute.
The Friday cruise, October 9
The cruise starts away from Grant Avenue. Cars stage at Our Lady of Loretto, 1806 Novato Blvd., entering the lot from the Grant Avenue side or from Virginia Avenue at the back. The organizer notes there are no bathrooms at the staging area. Novato Police lead the procession through downtown.
The published times don't match. The organizer's schedule has lineup at 4 p.m. and the cruise starting at 5:15 p.m. The registration form lists staging at 4:30 p.m., and the City's calendar shows a slightly later evening window. For spectators, plan on early evening and check the organizer's site that afternoon. No turn-by-turn route has been published. Organizers suggest watching along Grant Avenue from Machin Avenue to 7th Street.
Saturday on Grant Avenue, October 10
The show fills Grant Avenue between Redwood Boulevard and 7th Street from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is free. The organizer describes the footprint as seven blocks of Grant. The business association's events page calls it ten blocks with more than 300 classic cars.
The day's schedule from the 2026 information sheet and the event site:
| Time | What's happening |
|---|---|
| 6:30 a.m. | Show-car gates open at 1st Street and Grant Avenue; entrants come in on 1st Street from Vallejo Avenue |
| 10 a.m. | Show opens; food, artisan and craft vendors open until 2 p.m. |
| 11 a.m. | Beverage area opens |
| 1 to 3:30 p.m. | Mitch Polzak and The Royal Deuces play rockabilly and 1960s country |
| 3:30 p.m. | Awards in more than 20 categories, plus Best in Show and People's Choice cash prizes |
| 4 p.m. | Show closes |
If you live on or near the side streets, the 6:30 a.m. load-in is the part that affects you. Show cars are routed in on 1st Street from Vallejo Avenue because the other access streets are closed for the show. No public schedule of closures and reopenings has been posted, so expect downtown to be busy from early morning. Downtown Novato advertises two-hour free parking throughout downtown. The Novato Downtown SMART station is at 695 Grant Avenue.
The cars change every year. Last October, Marin Independent Journal coverage named Gene Vomotti's 1957 Chevrolet Delray and Barry Thorsson's 1956 Dodge mail truck among the entries. There was also Ron Simon's replica of a 1929 Mercedes-Benz. Stephanie Koehler, the association's executive director, described the People's Choice ballot as a chance for attendees to pick a favorite on personal taste. So the cash prize decided by attendees is the one that depends most on who shows up.
Two weeks later, cars on the Civic Green
This October has a second event built around parked cars, and it is new. The City of Novato's DÃa de los Muertos celebration on Saturday, October 24, runs 3 to 6 p.m. on the Novato Civic Green at 901 Sherman Avenue. This year it adds the City's first-ever car ofrenda display. Participants turn the trunk or rear of a vehicle into a traditional altar honoring loved ones, decorated with photographs, marigolds, LED candles and papel picado. Applications closed September 25. The celebration also includes traditional food, music, face painting and a community ofrenda open to anyone.
The rest of the month in town:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesdays through Oct. 27 | Downtown Novato Community Farmers' Market, 4 to 7 p.m. in October, one hour shorter than in summer | Sherman Avenue between Grant and De Long |
| Sat., Oct. 10, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Repair Fair and Halloween Costume & Decor Swap, the same morning as the car show | City listing |
| Sat., Oct. 17, 10 and 11:30 a.m. | Not-So-Scary Halloween Magic Show, free | Novato City Hall |
| Sat., Oct. 24, 3 to 6 p.m. | DÃa de los Muertos with car ofrenda display | Novato Civic Green |
| Through Oct. 31 | Grossi Family Farm pumpkin patch; free Wednesday to Friday, $5 on weekends for ages 2 and up | 3666 Novato Blvd., across from Stafford Lake Bike Park |
| Sat., Oct. 31, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Safe Trick or Treat at downtown businesses | Downtown Novato |
The Repair Fair overlaps the car show on October 10, so plan for crowds and parking that day. The farmers' market ends its season on October 27, three days after DÃa de los Muertos on the same Civic Green block. For dinner after the Friday cruise, Fox Pizza moved from pop-up to a permanent pizzeria at 528 Alameda del Prado in August, open Wednesday to Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m. as of its opening report.
If you've owned your Novato home for as long as Nostalgia Days has been running and you're thinking about what comes next for your house, Brannan Palmer Group can give you a clear starting point. Request your complimentary home valuation, or read more about the town on our Novato neighborhood page.
