The Live Christmas Trees on the Manhattan Beach Pier Keep Almost Not Showing Up

On the evening of Tuesday, November 15, 2022, city staff told Jill Lamkin of the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business and Professional Association that the tree supplier for the next night's Pier Lighting had fallen through. The lighting was less than 24 hours away and the pier had no trees. MB News reported that Lamkin called the display's sponsor, Brett Zebrowski, who told her, "I'm going to make this happen."

By 11 a.m. the next morning, 40 six-foot cypress trees were on the pier. Ross LaGumina, a friend of Zebrowski's, had found exactly 40 of them on a local nursery lot, rented a truck and bought every one.

The rows of trees that make the pier smell like pine for a couple of weeks each November look like a permanent city fixture. Every year the display actually depends on someone paying for it, someone supplying the trees and someone carrying them out to the end of the pier. Each time one of those pieces fell away, the tradition changed shape to survive.

The Trees Have to Be Alive, and That Rules Out Easy Fixes

Live trees aren't a style choice on the pier. In the same MB News account, cut trees and artificial trees were ruled out during the 2022 scramble because they aren't heavy enough to stand up to the strong winds out there. The trees also had to match in size and shape, so picking up two or three at a time from different nurseries wouldn't work.

That's why the 2022 search went through every nursery and landscaper Zebrowski knew. It also explains why some alternatives got turned down fast. Three-foot evergreen bushes were too short for photos. When someone offered large ficus trees, Zebrowski's answer, as MB News quoted it, was "Whoever heard of a Christmas ficus?"

Heavy, matching, living trees in the dozens make the display hard to replace on short notice. They're also why it has needed rescuing more than once.

Who Has Kept the Trees Coming Since 2010

According to the Daily Breeze, the tradition started in 2010, when then-mayor Richard Montgomery asked Scott "Scotty Claus" Martin of The Living Christmas Tree Company to put 100 trees on the pier. Martin agreed to donate the trees for the week, along with LED lights. After three years, the paper reported, the donation had become too expensive for a small company that rents out live trees.

From there the display passed from one arrangement to the next:

The 2017 handoff almost didn't happen either. The Daily Breeze reported that Kelly Stroman, then executive director of the downtown association, spent months looking for a new sponsor after Dealer.com left. Then she sent what she called a "Hail Mary" email to association members asking for $2,500. Zebrowski's name was at the bottom of her list, and he wrote back almost right away: "I will save the trees. Count me in."

That year, crews set out 100 live trees on the Monday before the Wednesday lighting, and they stayed for about a week.

The count has moved around since. It was 100 in 2017, 40 in the 2022 rescue, and 80 on this year's program, which works out to a 20 percent drop from 2017 and twice the 2022 emergency count.

Buying the Trees Changed What Happens After the Lighting

The 2022 scramble left a lasting change. Before then, as MB News explained, the supplier rented the trees and took them back a week later. Once Zebrowski had bought the 40 cypress trees, the trees didn't have to go back to anyone. He talked about selling them for charity and letting local groups adopt and decorate trees.

By 2024, part of that idea was in place. MB News reported that the downtown association was looking for volunteers to set the trees up on Sunday, November 17 and take them down on Sunday, December 1. "New this year," residents could buy a tree, and it would be delivered on removal day. The nonprofit 2 End the Stigma wrote afterward that the trees were sold to Manhattan Beach residents and all the proceeds went to the organization. It also thanked City of Manhattan Beach Public Works, Downtown Manhattan Beach and the local volunteers who made the display possible.

So the display now ends with trees heading home to Manhattan Beach yards and patios. In 2024, buying and volunteer details ran through the downtown association's Christmas tree page, and that's the place to check this season.

The Trees Come Down Before the Fireworks Go Up

The trees stay up for about two weeks. In 2024, removal was set for December 1. In 2025, Patch reported that Downtown Manhattan Beach would keep them up through Sunday, November 30, when they lined the pier and circled the Roundhouse Aquarium. The aquarium's roof had green lights shaped like a tree with a yellow star on top.

Back in 2022, Zebrowski had wondered whether the bought trees would last on the pier until fireworks night. The last two years, they came down well before then. This year's fireworks fall on Sunday, December 13, almost four weeks after the lighting, so if the past pattern holds, the trees and the fireworks won't be on the pier at the same time.

The fireworks have a backstory a lot like the trees'. The official event history says merchant Pete Moffett and his wife Gwen started the show in 1989, with fireworks in December instead of July, as a way to thank the community for supporting local shops and restaurants. Richard Montgomery, the same former mayor who later brought trees to the pier, went to that first show, which drew about 500 people. The event now draws an estimated 20,000. Pete Moffett passed away in 2023. His son Tom and brother-in-law Denny Greenler kept the show going and then handed it to the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce.

The 38th Annual Skechers Manhattan Beach Holiday Fireworks runs from 3 to 8 p.m. on December 13, 2026, with the show at 7 p.m. That's an hour shorter than in 2023, when the Daily Breeze listed hours of 3 to 9 p.m. The Snow Park in the upper south lot above the pier is open to Friendship Foundation families from 3 to 4 p.m. From 4 to 6 p.m. it's open to everyone, and admission is an unwrapped toy or canned food item for the YMCA Adventure Guides. Blankets go down on Manhattan Beach Boulevard between Highland Avenue and the pier starting at 4 p.m., or once public safety officials say the streets are safe.

Lighting Night on Wednesday, November 18

The City of Manhattan Beach calendar lists the 2026 Pier Lighting and Holiday Open House from 6 to 9 p.m. downtown and at the pier, with merchants open until 9. Last year was the city's 35th pier lighting and 30th open house, according to Patch. This is the downtown association's plan for the evening:

1. 5 p.m., Metlox Plaza. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive, and Karl Meyer Photography takes the photos. Mychal's Cafe serves hot cocoa and cookies, and Frontier Kettle Corn is popping. Nicole Face Paints and Balloon Art Entertainment is there, Michael Holmes plays, and the Harmony Carolers stroll.
2. 6 p.m., Manhattan Avenue. Live reindeer arrive near {pages} a bookstore. The Lucky Ones play 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 Avenue.
3. 6 p.m., Highland Avenue. Dallas Green sings at 12th and Highland, and Danger Dogs sets up at MB Watch at 13th and Highland.
4. 6 p.m., the pier. The Manhattan Beach Middle School choir sings, followed by the Mira Costa High School choir at 6:30.
5. 7 p.m., the lighting. The 80 living trees light up along the pier.

Dickens-style carolers walk Manhattan Beach Boulevard all evening, and Buddy the Elf wanders around town. The city's calendar notes that no cart vendors or other outside vendors are allowed during the event. The calendar also links the street closure map for the night; check it before you drive downtown.

For the Beach Cities Toy Drive, which Manhattan Beach runs with Hermosa Beach, there will be a booth for new, unwrapped toys in the Police/Fire station lobby during the event. Donations also go to City Hall during business hours and to Manhattan Beach fire stations.

At Lisa Moule Realty, we love traditions like the pier trees, kept going by neighbors who pitch in year after year. If you've ever brought a pier tree home, or you're picturing where one would go at a South Bay home of your own, we'd love to hear about it. Schedule your South Bay consultation, and we'll talk about the places that make the holidays here feel like home.