For years, the North Manhattan Beach Holiday Stroll came and went with little fanfare, a modest gathering along Highland Avenue that neighborhood families often missed entirely or avoided due to safety concerns with traffic and crowded sidewalks.
But last Sunday, Santa Claus finally came to North Manhattan Beach.
The reimagined holiday stroll drew thousands of residents when the City closed Highland Avenue between 33rd Street and Rosecrans Avenue for six hours, transforming the traditional sidewalk event into a full-scale festival with artisan vendors, live music, and a holiday marketplace.
“It was the greatest thing to see,” said Councilperson Nina Tarnay, a North End resident who championed the event despite initial concerns about traffic disruption and neighborhood pushback. “You couldn’t take two steps without running into a neighbor. It was hard to walk from one end to another. Talk about a truly hometown neighborhood event — this was it.”
The street closure, approved by City Council in July after debate over traffic and parking concerns, proved transformative for an event that had struggled with attendance in previous years. Families with young children, who had found the event difficult or dangerous to navigate, turned out in force.
Jill Lamkin, CEO of the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce (which organized the event under contract with the North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District), said one father approached her during the festival with a story that captured why the street closure mattered. The previous year, he had brought his young son to the stroll. The father watched in horror as his son, holding a hot chocolate in one hand and a candy cane in the other, suddenly darted between parked cars into Highland Avenue traffic.
“He ran out and grabbed his kid and was like, clearly, we can’t come to this event anymore until our kids are old enough to appreciate that it’s dangerous,” Lamkin said. “When he got the postcard in the mail [about this year’s event], he was so excited because we could come again. And he’s standing there talking to me with his four or five year old and a baby in a stroller.”
The City required organizers to send postcards to 1,000 homes in the surrounding neighborhood to ensure residents knew about the street closure and traffic diversion. The precaution paid off. As of this week, the City had received zero complaints about the event.
“I was scared,” Tarnay said. “I was like, oh my gosh, my neighbors are going to hate me, and I have to live with these people if it doesn’t go well. I’m so glad everything worked out because it was a really amazing event.”
Lamkin and Tarnay both noted the remarkable number of families with young children who attended, a demographic that had been largely absent from previous holiday strolls.
“Who knew there were this many children in the neighborhood?” Lamkin said. “They typically just don’t get to enjoy those kinds of events [in North MB], without the street being closed.”
The expanded event included a curated holiday marketplace with local artisans and vendors — Manhattan Beach residents selling homemade toffee and pottery alongside other small businesses. Organizers carefully vetted vendors to ensure they wouldn’t compete with existing brick-and-mortar businesses in the area, which lacks the retail density of downtown Manhattan Beach.
The purpose of expanding the Holiday Stroll was multifold. One hoped-for benefit was that it could bolster not only local businesses but also the North MB Business Improvement District.The BID is funded by North MB businesses that tax themselves to create improvements in their district, but the small business community in North MB generates minimal revenue for the BID — about $30,000 a year for the improvement district’s annual budget. The holiday marketplace, with paying vendors, was designed to help generate additional funds while bringing foot traffic to the area. But even non-retail local businesses found value in the event. One hair salon reported gaining 150 new email signups for potential clients — people new to the area who hadn’t known about local services.
The larger purpose was simply to bring the North MB community together. The event accomplished both goals.
“My worst nightmare was we got all of these exceptions to get the road closed and extra security and all of that, and then nobody comes,” Lamkin said. “And then to just walk down the street and see thousands of people, it was absolutely incredible.”
Santa Claus arrived at 5 p.m. and stayed until after 9 p.m., never turning away a child waiting in line.
The event represented a gamble not just for organizers but for the City Council, which voted 4-1 in July to approve the Highland Avenue closure. Mayor Pro Tem David Lesser opposed it, citing concerns about closing a major traffic artery and the $30,000 in City fee waivers and third-party costs. Other council members, including Tarnay, expressed reservations but ultimately supported giving the North End business community an opportunity to create something special.
That mission was accomplished. Lamkin didn’t yet have the final data, but said attendance was in the thousands, and most of those people were from the surrounding neighborhood.
“It was honestly kind of the best of everything that could happen,” Lamkin said. “It was all very local. The other thing was, if you looked down Highland past Rosecrans, there was no massive pile up of traffic.”
Tarnay said the event revealed the potential for North Manhattan Beach to build community in ways that had been difficult before. Living on the north side of town for 26 years, she remembers how hard it was to get downtown for fireworks or tree lighting when her children were young.
“Having the closure on the north side of town just made it really easy for families to get down and get into the holiday spirit,” she said. “It was like one huge block party. We’re all in our bubbles within a bubble within a bubble in our little street, our neighborhood. To see all the floating bubbles merge into one space was really great.”
“It reminded you that you live in a small town again,” Lamkin said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Tarnay noted that while some residents prefer the north end’s less crowded character, the business district needs support, especially with limited parking and few retail shops compared to downtown Manhattan Beach.
“I know it’s really tough for the businesses on the north end of town because we don’t have parking,” Tarnay had told Council in July. “This is hopefully an opportunity to support those businesses, so that more people will recognize that it’s not just downtown that has businesses that need our support, but also the north side of town.”
After the Holiday Stroll, Tarnay marveled not only at its success, but at the instrumental role Lamkin played. Lamkin just took the helm of the MB Chamber this year after previously leading the Downtown Business Association, but Tarnay knew her from their time together as Grandview Elementary School parents.
“When she was president of the PTA, I saw the work that she did,” Tarnay said. “She puts in the time. She’s not one of these people who just delegates and takes over and tells other people what to do. She has a vision, she executes, she rolls up her sleeves, and she is out there getting it done.”
Tarnay said Lamkin also has a secret weapon.
“The thing that people don’t realize when they hire Jill to lead something, it’s a two for one deal, because she’s got a workhorse behind her in her husband, Joe, who’s out there moving cones, lifting things. He is there with her working the events for free.”
Lamkin said a lot of people can take credit for how well the revitalized Holiday Stroll came together.
“It was a Herculean effort by all of the different city departments to make it happen, especially the police department and public works,” she said. “It was a lot of work for a brand new event in a short period of time. But everybody executed flawlessly, and it was just fantastic.”
The event’s success now raises the question of whether it will become an annual tradition. Tarnay said she’s already sent Lamkin a list of suggestions for next year, but the event will need City Council approval again — a decision that will come before council in coming months.
Multiple council members attended the event, including Lesser and Steve Charelian, who had called it a “pilot program” when voting for approval in July.
“The businesses are over the moon,” Lamkin said. “That’s what it was all about — create the community and help these businesses get some business at a very important time of year. I think it was a win-win for everybody.” ER
