Seal Beach's Holidays Start at the Foot of the Pier, and December 4 Brings Two Celebrations
"Celebrate Chanukah Evening of Dec 4th, 2026 – Dec. 12th 2026." That line sits in small print on Chabad of Los Alamitos' event page, and it explains the order of Seal Beach's holiday season this year. December 4 is also the Friday of the Seal Beach Christmas Parade. So the town's giant menorah gets lit at the pier on the Sunday before. That puts three public holiday gatherings at the same stretch of Old Town, where Main Street meets Eisenhower Park and the pier, within 13 days.
All three use that same patch of ground in turn. Here's the order.
The Chamber's tree lighting opens the season. The Chamber describes it as bundling up "California Beach Style" at the base of the pier. Expect sledding for kids, a craft area, carolers, gingerbread cookies, hot cocoa, a life-size snowman for photos and a visit from Santa before the tree is lit. The Chamber's own tradition page puts the lighting at Eisenhower Park.
The sledding needs snow, and the Chamber names who supplies it. It thanks its major sponsors, the Seal Beach Lions Club, Run Seal Beach, Boeing and Republic Services, "for bringing us snow and so much more." The Lions show up on both ends of this window. They help pay for the snow on November 21, and their foundation produces the parade 13 days later.
The Chamber also sells a limited-edition 2026 ornament. It's clear, crystal-like glass with a seal riding in Santa's sleigh, it costs $20, and the Chamber says it will sell out. Look for it at Javatinis, Bogarts Coffee and Endless Summer on Main Street, or at the Chamber office. Since those three shops carry it, you can pick one up on an ordinary coffee run well before the tree is lit.
Chabad of Los Alamitos calls its gathering the Annual Pre-Chanukah Menorah Lighting, and the timing follows from the calendar. Chanukah begins the evening of December 4 and runs through December 12. On the first night, Main Street and the pier approach will be full of parade crowds and closed to cars. The lighting moves to the Sunday before, November 29, at 5 p.m. at the Seal Beach Pier.
Chabad says the event is free and open to the public. It includes live music, traditional Chanukah foods and the lighting of a 9-foot menorah. The lighting comes eight days after the tree, at the same end of town, so the pier stays dressed for the holidays across two straight weekends.
The next afternoon, Monday, November 30, the Seal Beach Mary Wilson branch of the Orange County Public Library hosts an in-person Holiday Gifts: Food Preservation Workshop from 2 to 3 p.m. If your gifts come from the kitchen, it lands right between the menorah lighting and parade week.
The Seal Beach Lions Club's parade page sets the parade for Friday, December 4, 2026, at 7 p.m., running from the pier to Pacific Coast Highway along Main Street. This year's theme ties into the nation's 250th anniversary.
A Red, White, and Blue Christmas Celebrating 250 years of Freedom
The Seal Beach Lions Foundation produces the parade. Volunteers come mostly from the Lions Club, and the club also takes extra help with set-up and parade marshaling. According to the 2026 rules for entries, the parade is produced with support from the City of Seal Beach. The Lions closed entry registration on October 15, so the lineup is mostly set.
This year's Grand Marshal is Bob Griffith, whose Seal Beach business ties go back more than 50 years. He bought the local Rexall pharmacy in 1972, and it became Bob's Rexall. His family has lived in the same Seal Beach home since 1973. The Lions say he'll cut the ribbon to start the parade at 7 p.m. on December 4. For anyone who has known Main Street through its storefronts, it fits that a longtime Main Street merchant leads off a parade that runs the length of the street.
The parade pulls in far more people than a normal Friday, and the Lions say so on their own page: "As always, we expect a large crowd of spectators." For a sense of the street closures, look at last year's parade on Friday, December 5, 2025. Sun News published the Police Department's closure plan, and it closed far more than Main Street:
That was the 2025 plan, and the 2026 version could differ. Still, it shows how far the closures reach. The detours cover the blocks around Main Street and stretch along PCH east to Seal Beach Boulevard, starting three hours before the first float. The Lions also post a parade route map and a parking guide on the parade page.
All three gatherings start at the pier, and the pier has its own winter work underway.
On October 26, the City Council approved a contract with GHD Inc. to assess the pier's structure, at a maximum cost of $198,000, including up to $18,000 for additional work requests. Sun News reported that the item passed unanimously on the consent calendar without discussion. The pier's last assessment was in 2015. The new one covers the wooden sections above and below the water, and the city is finishing a separate assessment of the concrete section.
Sun News quoted the staff report by Kathryne Cho, Deputy Director of Public Works and City Engineer, on what set the timing:
"Recent large swells associated with Hurricane Marie resulted in the loss of cross braces at two (2) known locations along the side of the pier. Because this damage has already been confirmed, additional assessments, beyond those conducted during a standard inspection, are necessary to determine whether further impacts occurred as a result of the storm."
Cho's report also pointed to the coming months. With "significant weather and ocean conditions anticipated during the forecasted strong El Niño season," it said, an updated assessment will help the city find priority repairs and plan for future storms. The consultant's work will also produce cost estimates for a phased maintenance plan and a baseline for tracking the pier's condition over time.
The pier has been rebuilt before. In its history of the pier, Sun News records that a February 1983 storm destroyed it and that it reopened on January 27, 1985. A fire on May 20, 2016, destroyed the former bait shack and the former Ruby's building at the end.
The beach on either side is also set up for winter. According to the city's Capital Improvement Program page, crews started mobilizing for the 2026-2027 Winter Sand Berm Construction and Removal Program on Wednesday, October 21, with work expected to continue through mid-November. By the time the snow arrives at Eisenhower Park for the tree lighting, the winter berm should be in place along the sand nearby.
Holiday weekends in Old Town come with closures and crowds, and that affects anyone timing an open house, a move-in date or an inspection around Main Street. If you own near the pier and are thinking about a sale in the new year, CART Group, Inc. can help you build a timeline around Seal Beach's calendar. Schedule a Strategy Call.
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