The City Council has approved a license agreement to bring a large-scale Swiss-themed holiday market to the Santa Monica Pier this winter, part of a broader push to expand major events on the oceanfront that is also reshaping the city's longtime relationship with the corporation that runs pier programming.
At its June 23 meeting, the council authorized a license agreement with Swiss Xmas Inc. to operate the Swiss Winter Village — Santa Monica Pier on the pier's parking deck from Nov. 2, 2026, through Jan. 15, 2027. The market would run daily for the public from Nov. 27 through Jan. 3, with hours from noon to 11 p.m., except on New Year's Eve, when operations could extend to 1:30 a.m.
Organizers described the event as an authentic Swiss holiday market blending Swiss craftsmanship, food and design with Santa Monica's cultural character. Admission would be ticketed at roughly $15 per person, and total attendance over the multiweek run is projected at 250,000 to 400,000.
Under the agreement, the city would receive the greater of a guaranteed minimum payment of $320,200 or 8% of net ticketing revenue. Staff said the arrangement is structured for full cost recovery and is not expected to require a city subsidy.
The council also adopted a resolution waiving certain municipal code provisions on construction hours, noise and signage, drawing on the Major Special Events Ordinance adopted in April. To address noise, the licensee agreed to direct background music inward and monitor sound at the property lines of existing pier tenants.
Major Events Manager Aaron Orozco said the event's producers were "absolutely on board with being flexible" on operating hours. The point came up after Councilmember Dan Hall questioned the agreement's hard 11 p.m. closing time, noting the city has been keeping the pier open later. Hall ultimately moved to approve the staff recommendation with direction to redline the agreement to state a closing time of "11 p.m. or the pier closing time, whichever is later, at the discretion of the vendors." Mayor Caroline Torosis seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Senior Project Manager Meghan Foster outlined a range of community benefits tied to the market after Councilmember Natalya Zernitskaya, who pulled the item for discussion, asked staff to review them "for the public's benefit." They include 1,000 free tickets for nonprofit groups, with priority for under-resourced youth and foster families; a free Candlelight concert for the community; discounted or free admission windows for residents in Santa Monica ZIP codes; and a "senior golden hour" with earlier hours and local senior-center partnerships to ease holiday isolation.
Foster said the event would also prioritize local businesses through a weighted vendor process. "We're going to heavily weight local Santa Monica businesses to prioritize them in that vendor application process," she said. Organizers said they have been coordinating with the Santa Monica Pier Lessees Association and Pacific Park on priority booth access, reduced fees and cross-promotion. "At the end of the day, we want to make sure that we're cross-promoting with them, and we're good neighbors," Foster said.
The activation also includes a faux-ice skating rink, which Councilmember Barry Snell urged the city to coordinate with the Downtown Santa Monica board about the downtown rink.
In a separate action the same evening, the council approved the Santa Monica Pier Corporation's fiscal year 2026-27 budget and work plan and authorized a one-year extension of the city's services agreement with the corporation through June 30, 2027. The corporation presented a balanced budget of about $2.53 million, including a $150,000 annual grant from the city, with a projected surplus of roughly $5,000.
Zernitskaya, who also pulled this item, asked why the extension ran one year rather than the multiyear term used previously and what was underway to rework the city's relationship with the corporation. Deputy City Manager Peter James said the one-year extension is largely an as-is renewal but signals coming changes. With the city's new Major Events Division, he said, "the nature of activation is seemingly changing on our oceanfront." James called the coming negotiation "a fairly complex conversation" that "involves budgets and staff," and said the city and corporation are working to clarify their roles in pier deck events, including event intake, permits and revenue.
James noted the corporation once received a sizable city allocation to curate the visitor experience before the pandemic, when its city funding was cut to $150,000 and it shifted toward a revenue-generation model built on event rentals. Hall, a former corporation board member, praised the corporation's work to diversify its revenue and said he was "really excited" the city was weighing how to better partner with the corporation "to align their budget with our goals for the pier and for the broader beach community." Staff expect to return with further pier-governance recommendations early winter.