Redondo Beach’s 45-year-strong civic Holiday Music & Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Civic Center — holiday music, student performances, and the official tree lighting.

The City of Redondo Beach‘s Annual Holiday Music and Tree Lighting Ceremony is one of the longest-running South Bay civic holiday traditions — now in its forties as a sustained Redondo institution. The ceremony anchors at the Redondo Beach Civic Center and brings families together for an evening of holiday music, student performances, and the official tree lighting.
The program is deliberately built as a community concert with the tree lighting as the closing moment. Student performances from local schools fill the program; the music is the point as much as the lighting itself. The ceremony feels distinctly Redondo: civic, multi-generational, and built around the kids in the city.
For families across Redondo Beach — from the Pier through the Riviera Village and into North Redondo — and the broader South Bay coastal area, this is the official start of the holiday season. The separate Riviera Village Holiday Stroll (a few days earlier) and the Civic Center ceremony together cover both sides of the city’s holiday character.
At the Redondo Beach Civic Center, 415 Diamond Street, off Pacific Coast Highway.
At 4:30 PM on the scheduled date, with the program running through the early evening and the tree lit toward the end.
No — the Riviera Village Holiday Stroll is a separate event on a different day in the Riviera Village commercial district. The Civic Center Holiday Music & Tree Lighting is the official civic event. Many families do both.
Yes — the music, student performances, and tree lighting are free to attend.
Civic Center parking and surrounding side streets are the most reliable. Diamond Street and the nearby arterials work; arrive early for the closest spots.

The Redondo Beach Civic Center at 415 Diamond Street anchors the city’s civic life — City Hall, the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, the police department, and the central library cluster on a single campus just inland of PCH. The plaza in front of City Hall serves as the city’s main civic gathering space for events through the year. Downtown Redondo itself extends a short distance south, with the Redondo Beach Pier and King Harbor a few minutes further toward the water.
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