Hermosa Beach's Holiday Season Runs on One Plaza: A Weekend-by-Weekend Guide for Locals

Four different organizers run Hermosa Beach's four holiday events this year, and three of those events take place on Pier Plaza. The Chamber Foundation and the City produce the November weekend. The Jewish Community Center hosts the Chanukah celebration. Mychal's Learning Place benefits from the Santa Stroll. The Sand Snowman Contest is the one event held on the sand, at 15th Street.

Since each group publishes its own schedule, no single page lays out the whole season. Below is the full 2026 calendar in one place, with times and locations taken from each organizer's own listing.

Four hosts, three weekends

The City's December 2026 calendar shows something the event pages leave out. On both December Saturdays, the AAU Southern Pacific Grand Prix Series also starts at 9 a.m. That puts a beach volleyball event on the same morning as the snowman contest and the Santa Stroll.

November 20 to 22: the weekend the plaza is built for

The Hermosa Beach Chamber describes Hermosa for the Holidays as a merger of three older traditions: the Holiday Open House, the Tree Lighting Ceremony and a set of newer family activities. The Chamber's page calls the event both the 5th and the 6th annual in different places. The City's event listing says 5th.

The Ferris wheel on Pier Plaza is the main feature, and it runs all three days. It goes from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday and from noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets cost $8 each and are sold at a booth on site. The booth takes cards only, no cash.

Friday's schedule lists the all-day Elf on the Shelf Scavenger Hunt, local shopping and dining, and the Ferris wheel. That makes Friday evening the lightest night of the weekend, and the wheel is the only timed activity on the plaza.

Saturday adds more events around Pier Avenue:

• Retail vendor pop-ups and Letters to Santa on Pier Plaza, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Live music at Java Man, 157 Pier Ave., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• The Kids Creationz Market on the Upper Pier Ave. sidewalk, 3 to 6 p.m.
• A Family Fun Fest presented by Coast Music on Pier Plaza, 3 to 8 p.m.

Sunday has the most going on, and the events overlap. In order:

1. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Photos with Santa and brand activations on Pier Plaza, plus a Storytime Tent at Uncorked, 302 Pier Ave.
2. Noon to 1:30 p.m.: Live music at Java Man.
3. 1 to 6 p.m.: The Nonprofit Giving Village on Pier Plaza.
4. 3 to 5 p.m.: A community concert by South Bay Music Connection.
5. 5 to 8 p.m.: The Rock for Tots charity concert.
6. 5:45 to 6:15 p.m.: The Tree Lighting Ceremony with Santa's arrival, in the middle of the Rock for Tots set.

The tree lighting takes about half an hour. The Ferris wheel keeps running for close to three hours after it ends. If the Sunday lighting is the one event you want to see, the published times leave room for dinner afterward and a ride on the wheel before 9.

The Chamber also says the celebration goes beyond the weekend, with local promotions and an Elf on the Shelf Scavenger Hunt. Players find elves hidden in local businesses, write their names on a postcard, and turn it in for a prize raffle. A card needs at least 22 names. The hunt dates now on the page are next to a map labeled 2025, so the 2026 window has not been confirmed yet.

December 5: the one morning the season leaves the plaza

Two weeks later, the season moves to the sand. The Sand Snowman Contest is listed for 15th Street and the Shoreline, from 9 a.m. to noon, and it is open to all ages and abilities. According to the City's event page, registration opens at 9 and judging starts at 11:15. That gives entrants a little over two hours to build.

There are five award categories:

• Hermosa Beach favorite
• Most unique
• Most traditional
• Best dressed
• Funniest

The City calls the contest a returning holiday tradition. It does not list an entry fee or say what year the contest started.

December 6 and 12: two more organizers take the plaza

The day after the snowman contest, the season returns to Pier Plaza. The City lists the Community Chanukah Celebration for Sunday, Dec. 6, from 3 to 5 p.m., hosted by the Jewish Community Center. The JCC's own program page lists a 3:30 p.m. start, so the two sources disagree by half an hour. The JCC's program includes:

• A firetruck gelt drop
• Aerial trampoline stunts and slam dunks
• A live Chanukah performance by the Academy of the Arts
• Gifts for children, holiday crafts and music
• Hot latkes and donuts

The City's listing also includes a menorah lighting.

The following Saturday, Dec. 12, the California Great Santa Stroll starts at Pier Plaza at 9 a.m. The City describes the route as a walk from the Hermosa Pier to the Manhattan Beach Pier. Mychal's Learning Place lists it as the 8th annual Santa Stroll, a 5K that people can run, walk or stroll. Mychal's 2026 listing puts the route along the Strand. Mychal's 2025 event page describes the route as Hermosa Beach to Manhattan Beach and back, with proceeds going to the nonprofit's programs for youth and young adults with developmental disabilities. No 2026 registration price has been posted on the City listing or on Mychal's events page so far.

Counting the November tree lighting, Pier Plaza hosts three different organizations over three weekends. Each group runs its own program, sets its own hours and supports its own cause.

Where the plaza's newer rooms fit in

With so many events downtown, the restaurants within walking distance of the plaza get busier. Several have opened since summer.

Malendrina Wine Bar, 36 Pier Ave. Easy Reader reported in July that Chuck and Amanda Azar opened Malendrina on Pier Plaza, serving Palestinian-Sicilian small plates and wine. It sits on the plaza itself, which makes it the closest new room to the Ferris wheel and the tree.

Kasai Records, 1332 Hermosa Ave. Kasai Records took over the former Decadence space. The same Easy Reader column describes it as a DJ and listening-bar concept serving yakitori, Asian-fusion food and drinks.

Chicas Tacos at The Deck, 1272 The Strand. Chicas Tacos held its Hermosa grand opening at The Deck on Aug. 15, 2026, according to the Daily Breeze. The paper named Chris Blanchard and partners Jon Blanchard and Nico Rusconi as the Chicas founders, and Kathy Bonafede and Dave Davis as The Deck's co-owners. Being on The Strand puts it along the beach path the Santa Stroll uses on Dec. 12.

In June, What Now Los Angeles reported that Kasamar, a seafood and pub-food tavern, was planned for 19 Pier Ave. with an expected August opening. We have found no confirmation that it has opened, so check before planning around it.

Java Man and Uncorked appear on the holiday schedule as venues for live music and storytime. For more on how Pier Avenue's restaurant mix has changed, see our earlier piece on Pier Avenue's late-summer shift.

What the published schedules leave out

Some details are still missing as of Oct. 11:

• Parking and street closures. None of the 2026 pages reviewed, and none of last year's coverage, lists parking or closure guidance for the November weekend. Easy Reader's 2025 holiday roundup doesn't either.
• Rock for Tots beneficiary. The Chamber calls it a charity concert but does not name the recipient. Easy Reader's 2025 roundup called last year's show Jeremy Buck's Rock for Tots Show.
• Santa Stroll fee. Not yet posted for 2026.
• Scavenger hunt dates. The dates on the Chamber page match its 2025 map, so the 2026 window is still to come.

The City's calendar lists one more event before the holidays. Nike After Dark Tour LA 2026, a women's half marathon, is scheduled for the evening of Oct. 24, from 5 to 10 p.m.. For a broader look at the city, our Hermosa Beach neighborhood page covers it year-round.

Plenty of Hermosa homeowners will be on Pier Plaza for the tree lighting on Nov. 22, and some are also thinking about what their home might be worth in the new year. If that includes you, Amy Pearce is glad to talk it over before the holidays get busy. Start with a free home valuation whenever it suits you.