Manhattan Beach has two holiday nights on the pier this year, and both are on the calendar. The Pier Lighting and Holiday Open House is Wednesday, November 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. The 38th Annual Skechers Manhattan Beach Holiday Fireworks follows on Sunday, December 13, running from 3 to 8 p.m. with the show at 7:00. The schedules look a lot like last year's. The change this year is about where you watch from.
For the first time, the fireworks are offering reserved front-row seats. The event has been held 37 times before, and on every one of those nights the spots closest to the pier went to whoever spread a blanket first. The paid section doesn't replace that habit. It sits beside it, and the money raised goes back into the same downtown business community that started the fireworks.
A Merchants' Idea, Moved to December
The history on the Manhattan Beach Holiday Fireworks website traces the event to 1989. That year the late Pete Moffett and his wife, Gwen, decided the town was missing a community celebration during the holidays, something that brought local businesses and residents together. Their answer was fireworks in December instead of July, to open the season and thank the community for supporting local shops and restaurants. With other merchants behind him, Moffett convinced the City to give it a try. The plan was simple from the beginning: close the streets on Sunday afternoon, let families gather downtown, start the show at exactly 7:00 p.m. and finish by 7:30.
About 500 people watched the first show. The event's site now puts annual attendance at around 20,000. Former councilmember Richard Montgomery attended that first show and has supported the event every year since, and the site quotes him on the growth:
"None of us knew how big it would become."
Skechers became title sponsor in 2012, the year of the City's Centennial. That same year the Travel Channel named the festival one of the country's top two holiday festivals, and it later called it the Best Holiday Fireworks Show in America. San Diego-based Fireworks America produces the show. After Moffett passed away in 2023, his son Tom and brother-in-law Denny Greenler kept the event going for a time. They then handed it to the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce, which runs it today with Skechers, the City and other sponsors.
The date follows the same logic every year. The event is held on the "second Sunday every December," according to its 2026 sponsor materials. In 2025 that was December 14. This year it's December 13.
Wednesday, November 18: Downtown Opens First
Three and a half weeks before the fireworks, the season starts downtown. The City and the Downtown Business and Professional Association put up the holiday street lighting together. Parks and Recreation runs the pier program, and the DBPA runs the Open House. The DBPA's 2026 Holiday Open House page describes the evening as kicking off the holiday shopping season and "welcoming you into our house." That's the same idea Moffett had in 1989, held on a Wednesday instead of a Sunday.
The 2026 schedule is organized by location:
- Metlox Plaza, from 5 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive, and Karl Meyer Photography takes the Santa pictures. Mychal's Cafe serves hot cocoa and cookies. Frontier Kettle Corn, Nicole Face Paints and Balloon Art Entertainment, music by Michael Holmes, and the Strolling Harmony Carolers are also here.
- Manhattan Avenue, 6 to 9 p.m. Real reindeer arrive near {pages} a bookstore. The Lucky Ones Band plays at 10th Street, jazz saxophonist Matt Kalin plays in front of SLAY at 12th Street, and Larry the Taco Guy sets up at 13th and Manhattan.
- Highland Avenue, 6 to 9 p.m. Dallas Green sings at 12th and Highland, carolers stroll, and Danger Dogs is at MB Watch at 13th and Highland.
- Manhattan Beach Boulevard, 6 to 9 p.m. Dickens-style carolers stroll the boulevard, and Buddy the Elf wanders through town.
- The pier. The MBMS choir sings at 6 p.m. and the MCHS choir at 6:30. At 7 p.m. the 80 living Christmas trees on the pier light up. The DBPA thanks the Zebrowski Family for the trees.
The City's listing puts the pier choirs at 6 and 6:30 and the lighting at 7 p.m. The DBPA's own note for the lighting is "don't blink." Streets close on Open House day, and the City posts a closure map ahead of time. The City also points people to the MB Wave Rider, its on-demand ride service within Manhattan Beach, as a way to skip the hunt for parking.
Sunday, December 13: Two Ways to Hold a Spot
The free option works the way it always has. Blankets are allowed on Manhattan Beach Boulevard, from Highland Avenue down to the pier, starting at 4 p.m. or once public safety officials decide the streets are safe. Last year the City also asked people to sit on the beach, because space on the boulevard is limited.
The new option is a reserved, enclosed viewing area in the lower pier parking lot, just south of the main stage. According to the event's 2026 sponsor materials, it opens at 5 p.m. when the live music starts, and each ticket includes water and a holiday treat. The same document makes the pitch directly: "No need to lug down chairs or a blanket hours in advance."
| Boulevard and beach | Reserved viewing area | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Manhattan Beach Blvd, Highland to the pier, plus the sand | Lower pier parking lot, south of the main stage |
| When you can settle in | 4 p.m., once streets are secured | 5 p.m. |
| Cost | Free | $100 per seat, or 4 for $300 |
| Where the money goes | No ticket | The Chamber's Young Entrepreneurs Academy |
The last row is what keeps this in line with the event's history. The fireworks started as merchants thanking the town. The first paid seats in their history support a Chamber program for the next generation of business owners, and the free spots on the boulevard are unchanged.
The Afternoon, Hour by Hour
The seating choice matters most after dark, but the day starts well before the show. The 2026 schedule runs like this:
- 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Snow Park opens for kids and families of the Friendship Foundation in the upper south parking lot above the pier.
- 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Snow Park opens to everyone. 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 is on Manhattan Avenue at Manhattan Beach Boulevard.
- 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Coast Music presents DJ Ezra on the Pier Stage.
- 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Mira Costa High School Jazz Band plays the Pier Stage, and the reserved section opens.
- 6:00 p.m. A celebration of the Hanukkah season.
- 6:15 to 7:00 p.m. Joe's Band plays holiday hits on the Pier Stage.
- 7:00 p.m. The 38th Annual Skechers Manhattan Beach Holiday Fireworks Show, rain or shine unless the weather turns severe.
Blankets are allowed on the boulevard at the same hour public Snow Park opens. Families with young children who want the Snow Park first and a good view later can now split that between two people, or buy a reserved seat for the later part of the day.
Getting Downtown That Sunday
The City publishes parking and street-closure details for the fireworks on its event listing. Last year's notes are a good guide to what this year will be like. In 2025 the City expected downtown parking to fill by 2:00 p.m. It closed the Upper and Lower Pier lots from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and the Civic Center lot on 15th Street from 2:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and it set aside accessible parking on Manhattan Avenue between 9th and 11th Streets. The City's event listings live on the City of Manhattan Beach calendar, and the Holiday Fireworks website carries the day's schedule.
For more on where downtown evenings have been heading, see our look at how Manhattan Beach evenings shifted after Concerts in the Park and our Manhattan Beach neighborhood guide.
Kristin has been part of South Bay life since 1999, and both of these holiday pier nights are part of what keeps Manhattan Beach's downtown connected to the people who live around it. If you're thinking about what the next chapter looks like for you in this town, Warrick Real Estate Advisory would be glad to talk it through, maybe over a cocoa on Metlox Plaza on the 18th. Schedule an Appointment whenever you're ready.