Huntington Beach celebrates Christmas with the arrival of Santa, and a holiday Main Street and pier lighting at the Huntington Beach Pier called Light A Light of Love.

Huntington Beach, Calif.―Each year for nearly a decade the town of Huntington Beach has celebrated the Christmas season with a pier and Main Street Lighting event held usually the first weekend in December. Sponsors help pay for the lights by buying one light or more with a name plate recognizing contributions of sponsors. Proceeds are used for the Huntington Beach Youth Shelter, a place that kids can go between homes, off the streets and in a safe haven.

Santa usually arrives by the City of Huntington Beach's lifeguard truck. He rides on the Huntington Beach pier, waving and giving candy canes to kids young and old. There's a small parade that goes down Main Street to the beach in the late afternoon and the crowd then proceeds to the Huntington Beach Pier Plaza adjacent to the Huntington Beach Pier for a few songs sung by a choir or band, and the tree lighting just before dark.

In 2007 when the Huntington Beach Downtown Business Improvement District gained its non-profit designation, the event was amp-ed and octave higher with City dollars. The city invited Sister City Waitakere, New Zealand, to showcase their chefs in a street closure celebration. Part of an experiment by the city Economic Development department to close Main Street, themed weekends are organized and held five or six times per year, approx.

But in December, the clothes racks from Jacks Surfboards and Huntington Surf & Sport come out to the sidewalks and the locals and tourists are tempted with goodies such as jackets, sweats, shirts and pants, sold at reduced rates before and after the holidays.

The special Christmas event to visit and celebrate, direct from our California travel guide, is the Main Street Huntington Beach Christmas Parade and Pier Lighting in the village. It is a sight to behold, creating a memorable experience as you watch. Each evening as the sun sets and the holiday snowflake lights begin to twinkle, there are magic moments where the colors of the sky simply dance with bold or pale colors, accented by these snowflake lights. We call it an event, and sometimes we watch it on a daily basis because the sky becomes an artist's palette of completely unpredictable magnificence.

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