The official City of Santa Monica tree-lighting ceremony — performances by local ballet, choirs, and middle-school groups along Third Street Promenade, with Santa lighting the official city holiday tree.
The Official City of Santa Monica Tree Lighting Ceremony is the city’s anchor holiday evening — the night the Official City of Santa Monica Holiday Tree is lit on the Third Street Promenade with Santa Claus pressing the count. The ceremony runs in early December each year (typically the first Thursday), 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, with special holiday programming beginning at 5:00 PM around the Promenade.
The program is built around local performance: past lineups have included Westside Ballet (Nutcracker excerpts), Lincoln Middle School Madrigals, Samohi High School Choirs, SMC Emeritus Concert Band, and the AcaPali Choir. Around the tree and through the Promenade blocks, the city runs free photos with Santa, artificial snow on the walkway, holiday-themed crafts, hot cocoa, a holiday market, and a DJ-hosted holiday dance party as the evening builds. The Big Blue Bus rolls out a wrapped holiday bus for photos.
The lighting kicks off a multi-week stretch of weekly Toyland Brass Band performances at the tree through December — drop-in afternoons running on subsequent Thursdays for hot cocoa, holiday crafts, and shopping with local vendors. Two blocks east, ICE at Santa Monica is open for skating; two blocks south, the Pier’s holiday programming runs through the same season.
The Official City of Santa Monica Holiday Tree sits on Third Street Promenade between Broadway and Wilshire — the central block of the pedestrian district. The ceremony spreads up and down the Promenade with performance and craft stations across all three blocks. The Promenade is closed to vehicles year-round.
Early December each year (typically the first Thursday). The ceremony itself runs 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Special holiday programming around the tree begins at 5:00 PM.
Yes — the ceremony, photos with Santa, the snow on the Promenade, hot cocoa, the holiday crafts, and the live performances are all free. Holiday-market vendor purchases are paid separately.
ICE at Santa Monica is open at 5th and Arizona, two blocks east — the outdoor downtown rink runs daily noon to 10 PM through the season. The Santa Monica Pier‘s holiday programming runs three blocks south. Downtown Santa Monica restaurants run holiday menus the night of the ceremony, and many families pair the tree lighting with a Promenade dinner.
Yes — Third Street Promenade is one block east of the Downtown Santa Monica Metro E Line station, the end-of-line stop. The E Line runs from Downtown LA through Mid-City to Santa Monica. This is one of the most Metro-accessible major LA-area tree lightings. If you do drive, the Downtown Santa Monica parking structures along 4th and 5th Streets are within a block.
Third Street Promenade is Santa Monica’s three-block pedestrian shopping and dining district, running between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard — closed to vehicles, paved as a wide walkable boulevard, and lined with restaurants, boutiques, and street performers year-round. It’s the city’s primary public-event street and the historic center of Downtown Santa Monica’s holiday programming. Two blocks from the Pier; one block from the Downtown Santa Monica Metro E Line station.
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