Manhattan Beach's Holiday Season Runs Between Two Nights on the Pier

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18, the lights go on along the Manhattan Beach Pier. Eighty living Christmas trees line the walk out toward the Roundhouse. The Mira Costa High School choir takes the pier at 6:30, and downtown behind it will still be busy with carolers, a jazz saxophonist and real reindeer.

Twenty-five days later, on Sunday, December 13, the pier fills up again. This time it's the 38th Annual Skechers Manhattan Beach Holiday Fireworks, which organizers say draws more than 20,000 people. Those two nights frame the Manhattan Beach holiday season. In the last two years, the trees that define the first night were already gone before the second. If you want them in your December photos, plan for a short window.

What goes up on November 18

The Downtown Manhattan Beach Holiday Open House marks the official start of the downtown shopping season. The business association has laid out the 2026 evening block by block.

It starts at 5 p.m. at Metlox Plaza, when Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive. Karl Meyer Photography takes the Santa photos, Mychal's Cafe serves hot cocoa and cookies, and Frontier Kettle Corn sets up nearby. There's also face painting and balloon art from Nicole Face Paints and Balloon Art Entertainment, music by Michael Holmes, and the Strolling Harmony Carolers.

From 6 to 9 p.m., the event spreads across three streets:

• Manhattan Avenue: real reindeer arrive near the bookstore {pages}, The Lucky Ones Band plays at 10th Street, jazz saxophonist Matt Kalin performs in front of SLAY on 12th Street, and Larry the Taco Guy sets up at 13th and Manhattan.
• Highland Avenue: Dallas Green sings at 12th and Highland, carolers stroll, and Danger Dogs sets up at MB Watch at 13th and Highland.
• Manhattan Beach Boulevard: Dickens-style carolers walk the street, and Buddy the Elf wanders through town.

On the pier, the Manhattan Beach Middle School choir sings at 6 p.m., the MCHS choir at 6:30, and the lighting comes at 7. The schedule's own advice for that moment is "don't blink." The business association thanks the Zebrowski family for the trees.

This is a weeknight event with a fixed peak. Families with kids at the middle school or Mira Costa can build the evening around the choir slots. Everyone else can catch Santa at Metlox at 5, walk downtown, and reach the pier by 7.

The trees have the shortest run of the season

The trees started in 2010. That year Mayor Richard Montgomery approached The Living Christmas Tree Company about putting live trees on the pier. According to the Daily Breeze's 2017 history of the display, the company first donated the trees and LED lights. Dealer.com sponsored the display starting in 2012, and a new local sponsor took over in 2017.

The display has always been short. The Daily Breeze reported that in 2017, crews put 100 trees on the pier for about a week around the lighting. Under that early setup, the supplier took the trees back afterward and reused them.

That changed in 2022. MB News reported that the supplier couldn't provide trees that year, so the sponsor bought them outright. Once the trees were owned locally, they could be sold to the public after the season instead of going back to a rental company. By 2024 the business association was recruiting volunteers to help set up, decorate and remove them. MB News covered that call for help, which listed setup on November 17 and removal on December 1. Residents could also buy a pier tree that year, with delivery on December 1. The sale was set up to benefit 2 End the Stigma, a nonprofit that works to lower the barriers to getting help for addiction.

The 2025 display followed the same timing. The business association listed "Living Trees on the Pier" from Friday, November 14 through Sunday, November 30, 2025. MB News's events calendar listed a volunteer morning for stringing lights on November 14, 2025, from 10 a.m. to noon.

In recent years, then, the display has lasted about two weeks and ended at the start of December. If 2026 follows that pattern, the trees will be up from the lighting through Thanksgiving weekend, which falls November 26 to 29 this year. That makes them a good Thanksgiving outing for visiting family, and they'll likely be gone by December 13. The business association's site is where you'll find this year's setup, removal and tree-purchase details once they're posted.

The first weekend of December moves inland

After the trees come down, the next round of holiday events moves away from the pier and into the neighborhoods.

Saturday, December 5 belongs to the city's Parks and Recreation programs at Manhattan Heights, 1600 Manhattan Beach Boulevard. The 8th Annual Family Gingerbread House Decorating Workshop runs from 9 to 11 a.m. at Manhattan Heights Park. Registration is required, and the fee is $60 for residents and $65 for nonresidents for a group of up to four. Each extra participant is $10 for residents and $11 for nonresidents. In the late afternoon, the 40th Annual Holiday Crafts Night takes over the Manhattan Heights Community Center. It also requires registration, which hadn't opened on the city's calendar listing at last check. Forty years makes Crafts Night two years older than the fireworks, which puts it among the longest-running pieces of the city's holiday calendar.

Sunday, December 6 moves up to North Manhattan Beach for the Holiday Stroll, from 4 to 8 p.m. along Highland Avenue. Like the downtown Open House, it's an evening on Highland, but in the El Porto end of town instead of the blocks around the pier.

Manhattan Village runs on its own schedule. The center's Santa page lists photos with Santa from November 13 through December 24, with visiting hours posted by date range. That's the one stretch of the season with no fixed date. It starts the day after this post goes up, five days before the downtown Santa arrives at Metlox.

December 13 brings a different kind of pier night

The fireworks are a much bigger day than the Open House. The Open House builds to one peak at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday. The fireworks run five hours on a Sunday and draw a crowd that organizers put at more than 20,000. Here's the 2026 schedule:

1. 3 to 4 p.m.: The Snow Park on the upper south parking lot above the pier opens for kids and families of the Friendship Foundation.
2. 4 to 6 p.m.: The Snow Park opens to the public. Admission is an unwrapped toy or a canned food item for the YMCA Adventure Guides. Mira Costa choir carolers stroll downtown, and the Santa Float sits on Manhattan Avenue at Manhattan Beach Boulevard.
3. 4 to 5 p.m.: Coast Music presents DJ Ezra on the Pier Stage.
4. 5 to 6 p.m.: The Mira Costa High School Jazz Band plays the Pier stage.
5. 6 p.m.: A celebration of the Hanukkah season.
6. 6:15 to 7 p.m.: Joe's Band plays holiday hits on the Pier stage.
7. 7 p.m.: The fireworks show over the pier.

Two details shape how to plan the day. The show goes on rain or shine unless the weather is severe. You can also put blankets down on Manhattan Beach Boulevard between Highland Avenue and the pier starting at 4 p.m., or once public safety officials say the street is safe to enter. That 4 p.m. start lines up with the public Snow Park opening. A household can stake out a spot on the boulevard while the kids are at the Snow Park, then meet back on the blanket before Joe's Band.

The toy-for-admission rule is worth acting on early. A toy or a can of food dropped at the Snow Park goes to the YMCA Adventure Guides, so picking one up on a downtown errand earlier that week saves a last-minute run on Sunday afternoon.

Fitting the Roundhouse into both nights

The Roundhouse Aquarium at the end of the pier keeps regular public hours of 2 to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. On November 18 it holds its own Holiday Open House from 3 to 8:30 p.m., with holiday lights, music and free hot cocoa while supplies last. That keeps the aquarium open through the 7 p.m. lighting, so a stop inside fits right before or after the trees come on.

On Sunday, December 13, the regular weekend hours have the aquarium open from 10 a.m., well ahead of the 3 p.m. Snow Park start. A morning at the aquarium, lunch downtown and a 4 p.m. blanket on the boulevard all fit into the fireworks day without any overlap.

Santa photos at Manhattan Village start November 13. The pier lights up on the 18th, with the Roundhouse open until 8:30 that night. If recent years hold, the trees stay up through Thanksgiving weekend. Manhattan Heights and North Manhattan Beach take the first weekend of December, and the fireworks close the season on the 13th at 7 p.m.

The pier calendar is also a big reason buyers keep circling back to the blocks within walking distance of downtown. If you're thinking about a move that puts you closer to the pier, or the start of your own holiday traditions here, The Nicol Real Estate Group knows these streets block by block and can help you find the right one. Start your South Bay search with us.