Santa Monica's Holiday Season Runs Between Two Rinks This Year

At Fifth Street and Arizona Avenue, the downtown rink has been open for a week under a new name, Frost on 5th. It has 7,200 square feet of real ice, and this is its 19th winter. Down on the Pier's Event Deck, Swiss Winter Village opens Wednesday, November 18 with more than 60 chalets and a second rink. It is the first European-style Christmas market Santa Monica has hosted.

For the first time, Santa Monica has two holiday rinks running at once, and the city wants people moving between them. Each one is set up for a different kind of outing, and the walk from the Pier up to Fifth and Arizona passes the restaurants and shops the city wants the season to support.

A route the city drew on purpose

The Pier market started at City Council. On June 23 the council approved a license agreement with Swiss Xmas Inc. Under it, the city receives either a guaranteed $320,200 or 8% of net ticketing revenue, whichever is higher. The same meeting waived some code limits on construction hours, noise and signage, as the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. At that meeting, Councilmember Barry Snell urged the city to coordinate with the Downtown Santa Monica board about the downtown rink.

Five months later, city hall is describing the two rinks as one plan. In a written response to the Santa Monica Daily Press, the city said:

"The Pier may be the starting point of someone's Santa Monica experience, but we want it to be far from the last stop."

Staff will measure the village by attendance, foot traffic at the Pier and downtown, visitor spending, sales trends at nearby businesses, and how many Santa Monica vendors and creators take part. In the city's November 2 announcement, Mayor Caroline Torosis made the same point: "Every visitor who comes for a cheese tasting and stays for dinner Downtown helps power our economic recovery." Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. CEO Debbie Lee says the rink at Fifth and Arizona works the same way, getting families to pair skating with shopping and dining so they stay downtown longer.

The two rinks side by side

Frost on 5th is simply a rink, with a season pass for people who plan to come back often. On the Pier, the rink is one part of a ticketed market you visit on a set date and time. The rest of the season looks different at each one.

Fifth and Arizona is set up for regulars

Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. says the rink drew more than 36,000 skaters last season. The pricing on frostonfifth.com suits people who come more than once. One session is $22 with skates, two sessions cost $33, and a season pass is $165. At those prices, the season pass covers itself by the eighth visit.

The weekly schedule has one fixed event so far. Classical Sunday sessions run at noon and 1:30 p.m. For birthdays, a 15-by-15-foot party tent seats up to 25 people at $250 an hour. Lockers are $5. Weekday sessions start at 3 p.m., which works for an after-school skate. The rink stays open daily through Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Pier rink comes inside a market

Swiss Winter Village covers 50,000 square feet on the south-facing Event Deck, to the left as you face the ocean. Westside Today reports that public access along the rest of the Pier stays open. The rink is just one part of a ticket. Swiss Winter Village's site sells it in tiers:

• Silver, "Skate & Go": entrance and rink, from $20.90
• Family: entrance and rink at a family discount, from $18.90
• Gold, "Skate, Ride & Skip": entrance, rink, skip-the-line access, and one Pacific Park ride such as the Pacific Wheel, West Coaster or Sea Dragon, from $39.90

If you only want the market, entry is $12.90 for adults and $8.90 for children ages 4 to 12. Children 3 and under get in free. On the ticketing page, Santa Monica residents fall in the same $10.90 tier as seniors, students, military and Metro riders. Visitors stay about 90 minutes on average. The village is cashless and runs rain or shine. Tickets can't be refunded, but you can change your date up to 48 hours ahead.

Much of what's inside comes from Santa Monica. Coast & Canyon Shop is bringing hand-decorated seashell ornaments, and Sunny Blue and Bun & Mi are among the food vendors. The Santa Monica Pier Corporation has its own programming space and lounge. A rotating booth called the Startup Slot is set aside for first-time Santa Monica creators. The Swiss Raclette Chalet and Santa's Headquarters are indoors. Santa portraits run November 27 to December 20, Thursday through Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m., and need no separate reservation.

The Pier parking deck is closed for the season

The village is built on the Pier's parking deck, so that deck is closed for the whole run. The organizers suggest other options:

• The Civic Center Garage or Lot 1N
• The Metro E Line, about a 10-minute walk from Fourth Street and Colorado Avenue
• A rideshare drop-off at 1550 Appian Way
• Accessible parking at Beach Lot 1 North and Lot 1-S

That's the route the city has been talking about. Anyone coming from the E Line walks through downtown to get to the Pier. On the way back, Arizona Avenue at Fifth is right on the walk.

The calendar leading into opening night

The days before and right after the village opens are full of other events, so a few evenings get busy.

1. Thursday, November 12: The Santa Monica History Museum, 1350 Seventh St., holds an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. for "Creating Route 66," which marks the highway's centennial and runs through June 2027.
2. Saturday, November 14: Block Fest fills all three blocks of the Third Street Promenade, with a food night market on Arizona Avenue. Entry is free with an advance RSVP, and recent editions have drawn more than 20,000 people. The night market is on the same street as the rink.
3. Wednesday, November 18: Swiss Winter Village opening night starts at 5 p.m.
4. Thursday, November 19: Pier Locals' Night comes back for the third Thursday of the month with a Swiss Art + Sound theme. Up the bluff, Regent Santa Monica Beach at 1700 Ocean Ave. lights its 45-foot tree from 4:30 to 7 p.m., and the event is open to all.

The Binge Fringe Festival of Free Theatre also runs through Friday, November 20 at Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 Fourth St., with about 40 free plays, workshops and family events.

Dinner after the rink

The mayor's line about staying for dinner downtown is easier to act on this year, because several restaurants opened this fall. Gott's Roadside is open at 401 Wilshire Blvd., at the corner of Fourth Street, in the same downtown grid as Frost on 5th, according to Eater LA's openings tracker. For a later meal, Bar Fortuna opened October 21 at 2917 Main St. Chef Brian Bornemann serves handmade pastas and cocktails, and the kitchen serves late-night food until midnight on nights it's open, Eater LA reported. Out by the airport, restaurateur Sean Martin has opened Stiletto, a live-fire restaurant at 3200 Airport Ave.

Both rinks stay open past the holidays. The Pier village closes January 3, and Frost on 5th keeps skating through January 18.

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