At the corner of 5th Street and Arizona Avenue, the Frost on Fifth rink has been open for a week. It runs in 60-minute sessions, opens at 3 p.m. on weekdays and costs $22 with skate rental. Down the hill on the Santa Monica Pier, the parking deck is turning into something the city has never hosted. More than 60 chalets and a second skating rink open there on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
For years the downtown rink had the holidays more or less to itself. This season the city has split them in two, and each half runs on different terms. Downtown stays the quick, park-and-skate option. The Pier becomes a ticketed, timed event sized for a crowd most of Santa Monica's own events never draw, and getting there takes a different plan than it did last December.
What the City Signed Up For in June
The Swiss Winter Village has been in the works since early summer. The Santa Monica Daily Press reported that the City Council approved a license agreement with Swiss Xmas Inc. at its June 23 meeting. The license lets the market use the Pier's parking deck from Nov. 2, 2026, through Jan. 15, 2027. That is a longer window than the public dates, which run Nov. 18 through Jan. 3. The same report put projected attendance over the full run at 250,000 to 400,000. The city receives whichever is greater: a guaranteed $320,200 or 8% of net ticketing revenue.
The approval came with community benefits written in, and several apply directly to people who live here. Per SMDP, they include discounted or free admission windows for residents in Santa Monica ZIP codes and a "senior golden hour" with earlier hours and partnerships with local senior centers. The list also includes 1,000 free tickets for nonprofit groups, with priority for under-resourced youth and foster families, and a free Candlelight concert for the community.
The schedule also moved after June. The plan the council saw called for public days starting Nov. 27. The organizer's current schedule opens nine days earlier, with an opening night on Nov. 18 from 5 to 11 p.m.
The team behind it has run large markets before. A Fever newsroom release links the organizers to Zurich's Illuminarium and Wienachtsdorf, Geneva's Noël au Quai and Paris's Noël La Villette. Fever is also the event's ticketing partner. Time Out Los Angeles previewed it in October with raclette, chalets and skating as the main draws.
Two Rinks, Side by Side
The prices look close until you see what each ticket includes. Frost on Fifth sells skating by the hour. The Pier sells admission to a market, with skating added on top.
| Frost on Fifth | Swiss Winter Village | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | 1324 5th St., at Arizona Ave. | Pier Event Deck, 200 Santa Monica Pier |
| Season | Nov. 5, 2026 to Jan. 18, 2027 | Nov. 18, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027 |
| Hours | Weekdays 3 to 10 p.m.; weekends and holidays noon to 10 p.m. | Mon. to Wed. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thu. to Sun. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Skating | $22 for a 60-minute session with skate rental, before tax | Entrance-plus-skating bundles from $20.90 |
| Entry only | Not applicable | $12.90 adults 13+; $10.90 for Santa Monica residents, seniors, students, military, Metro riders and groups of eight or more |
| Extras | Lockers $5, Skate Helpers $6, gloves $5, socks $5 | Gold bundle $39.90 with one Pacific Park ride; Platinum $64.90 with unlimited rides and grab-and-go raclette |
Frost on Fifth's discounts reward skaters who come back. It offers two sessions for $33 on specified weekday dates. It also sells a $165 season pass for weekday skating from noon to 4 p.m., with listed blackout periods. The Pier's discounts favor locals in a different way. The $10.90 entry tier named for Santa Monica residents saves $2 per adult ticket, and it stacks on top of the resident admission windows the council asked for in June.
The Village is also more than a rink. According to the official Swiss Winter Village site, about 30 of its chalets sell food, including raclette, Swiss sweets, spiced mulled wine and international street food. Santa portraits run Nov. 27 through Dec. 20, Thursday through Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m., and are booked as part of a village session. A downtown skate takes an hour. A Pier visit is built to fill an evening.
The Parking Deck Is the Rink
This matters most if your Pier routine starts with a car. The Village sits mostly outdoors on the Pier Event Deck. Fever's event page says plainly that the Pier parking deck is closed during the event. That applies to everyone, including people going to a Pier restaurant or taking guests on the Pacific Wheel with no plans to see the market.
Fever lists these alternatives:
- Civic Center Garage for drivers
- Lot 1N for drivers
- Metro E Line, about a 10-minute walk from 4th Street and Colorado Avenue
- Rideshare drop-off at 1550 Appian Way
Downtown parking works the way it always has. Frost on Fifth's directions point to the nearby city structures, including Structure 4 at 1321 2nd St., Structure 5 at 1431 4th St. and Structure 6 at 1432 2nd St. When the attendance projection runs into the hundreds of thousands, those structures and the E Line become the default way to reach the waterfront. Downtown parking now serves both rinks.
The Pier Gets Later Nights
One detail from the June meeting explains the Pier's longest nights. As SMDP reported, Councilmember Dan Hall questioned a hard 11 p.m. close, noting that the city has been keeping the Pier open later. The motion that passed unanimously directed staff to change the agreement to read "11 p.m. or the pier closing time, whichever is later, at the discretion of the vendors."
The posted schedule reflects that flexibility on the biggest nights. The Village runs from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. on New Year's Eve and closes early on Christmas Eve, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The council also waived certain municipal code provisions on construction hours, noise and signage for the event. In exchange, the licensee agreed to point background music inward and monitor sound at the property lines of existing Pier tenants.
The Free Nights Around the Paid Ones
Both rinks charge admission. The free events around them follow a schedule set separately by the Pier and the Promenade, and several fall on the same weeks the Village is busiest. Here is the calendar from this week to the end of the season:
- Saturday, Nov. 14: Santa Monica Block Fest returns to Third Street Promenade with DJs, a food night market, vendors and pop-up bars. It is free and happens on the second Saturday of each month through December, per the Visit Santa Monica fall release.
- Friday, Nov. 13 through Dec. 18: "RED ALL NIGHTmare on 18th Street" by artist duo Beck+Col runs at 18th Street Arts Center. The exhibit has seven portals shaped like monstrous forest creatures, each playing a clip from their film "Red All Night."
- Wednesday, Nov. 18: The Swiss Winter Village opens, 5 to 11 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: Pier Locals' Night, themed "Swiss Art + Sound" for November. The Pier's Locals' Night is a free community event with music, art and activities, separate from the ticketed Village.
- Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26 and 27: City offices are closed for Thanksgiving, according to the City's 2026 holiday closures page.
- Friday, Nov. 27: Santa portraits begin at the Village.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: The next Block Fest on the Promenade.
- Thursday, Dec. 17: Locals' Night, themed "Holiday Cheer on the Pier."
- Monday, Dec. 21 through Friday, Jan. 1: The City's winter closure.
- Sunday, Jan. 3: The Swiss Winter Village's last day.
- Monday, Jan. 18: Frost on Fifth's last day.
The two closing dates are 15 days apart. After Jan. 3, Frost on Fifth is the only rink in town again for its final two weeks.
The Farmers Markets Keep Their Hours
The Downtown Farmers Market runs year-round on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 155–199 Arizona Avenue, the same block as the Frost on Fifth rink. The Main Street Farmers Market runs Sundays from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 2640 Main Street. The City notes that both markets may close on selected holidays, so check before Thanksgiving week.
Farther down Main Street, Bar Fortuna opened at 2917 Main Street on Oct. 21, Eater LA reported. The restaurant serves handmade pasta and Italian-style drinks. Away from both rinks, Main Street has a new place for dinner this season.
At Kati Cattaneo, we follow these changes because they shape daily life for the people we work with across Santa Monica. If you have family coming for the holidays and want to talk through which rink, which garage and which night suits them best, or how the new Pier calendar fits the way you live here, reach out to Work With Kati.
