In 1949, Ken Bailey put a lit Christmas tree at the end of the 1200 block of East Acacia Avenue. The Daily Breeze's history of the street says the first display was just that one tree.
Last December, the same block had barricades from 5 to 10 p.m., food sales limited to prepackaged items on set weekends, a request that every house turn its lights off at 10 p.m., and police patrols scheduled for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day after the display closed.
The decorating hasn't changed. Neighbors still do it. What changed is who handles everything around the lights. El Segundo now pays for the crowd control, cleanup and transportation, and the 2026 shuttle schedule shows how much of the town that work now covers.
Twenty-Six Houses and a Movie
The Daily Breeze counted 26 houses in the East Acacia cul-de-sac display in 2024. The same story described the opening-night ritual: Santa walks down the street and points a giant candy cane at each house as its lights come on.
Then the street got a film. A movie based on Candy Cane Lane and shot along it came out on Amazon Prime Video in 2023. Residents who spoke with the Daily Breeze in 2024 said the movie and post-pandemic crowds had both pushed attendance up. They described drive-bys before and after the official season backing up traffic, and vendors and trash adding to the strain. One resident said hosting the display can feel like "you're living in a fishbowl."
Residents of one block still put on the display, but its visitors now come from far beyond it.
What the City Now Pays For
The crowds led City Hall to step in. In its December 2025 announcement, reported by the Daily Breeze, the city said it spent $63,000 supporting the resident-run event in 2024. It listed heavy foot and vehicle traffic, trash left on the street, misuse of the restroom facilities and aggressive drivers as the problems behind its new rules.
The El Segundo Herald's December 11, 2025 issue broke that General Fund spending down by line:
Cost line, per the Herald | Amount |
|---|---|
Police | $20,000 |
Security | $12,000 |
City staff trash maintenance | $7,000 |
Public Works | $6,000 |
Portable toilets, signage, shuttle staff, code enforcement and permitting, event services, staff planning | Remainder of the roughly $63,000 |
Police alone account for nearly a third of the total. Add security, and more than half the money goes to managing people. The lights themselves cost the city nothing, because residents put them up. The city pays for everything that happens once the crowds show up.
The Daily Breeze also reported that the El Segundo Police Department, the El Segundo Volunteer Program and the Recreation, Parks and Library Department work each evening to keep the street safe and clean it up.
The Permit Plan That Residents Turned Back
Once the city started paying, it also started deciding things, and one of its first proposals went too far for the people who live on the block.
According to the Herald's account of the December 3, 2025 council meeting, city staff had decided to close the 1200 block of East Acacia to cars from 4:30 p.m. until after 10 p.m. every night from Saturday, December 13 through Tuesday, December 23. Residents would have received parking permits to park somewhere else until the event shut down each night. The Herald reported that the plan "sparked a wave of outcry" from residents who could not picture being unable to drive on their own street for those hours.
The four council members at the meeting were Mayor Chris Pimentel, Mayor Pro Tem Ryan Baldino and council members Michelle Keldorf and Lance Giroux. They agreed that residents could reach their homes during the event with a police escort, which the Herald noted was how it had traditionally worked. Police Chief Saul Rodriguez explained that public safety was his main focus and that mixing pedestrians with traffic was a bad idea.
That meeting set the current arrangement. Residents keep their street, and the city keeps the crowd away from cars. In 2025 that meant barricades from 5 to 10 p.m. on the 1100 and 1200 blocks of East Acacia and the 900 block of California Street. Mayor Pimentel asked visitors, "in the holiday spirit," to "respect the hard work of the residents who host this tradition and keep the area clean." The Herald reported that the barricades and portable toilets would be removed by December 24 and 25, with on-duty officers checking the area periodically.
The Daily Breeze opening-night story reported that thousands came out for the start of the 2025 season. The display ran from 5 to 10 p.m. through December 23 under the new rules on food vending, closures and lights-out.
The Shuttle Puts the Event in Your Park
The 2026 shuttle is where this matters to residents who live nowhere near Acacia.
The city has already posted the free Park & Ride shuttle for this year. It runs December 12 through 23, 4:30 to 10 p.m., in a continuous loop, and the city's stated purpose is "to help ease traffic and parking congestion around Candy Cane Lane." The city calendar listing names three stops:
- Recreation Park, 401 Sheldon St., at the Guaymas parking lot entrance
- Library Park, 111 W. Mariposa Ave., at the Richmond Street corner
- Sycamore Park
The shuttle has been running for a few years, but its route has grown. In December 2024, a city newsletter described a weekend shuttle between Recreation Park and Sycamore Park. The current listing runs every night of the window and adds Library Park, which puts a stop downtown next to the public library.
So for twelve evenings in December, Candy Cane Lane traffic will move through Recreation Park's lot and the corner of Richmond and Mariposa as well as Acacia. If you usually park at Recreation Park after work, or walk past Library Park on the way to dinner downtown, expect shuttle riders there between 4:30 and 10 p.m.
The city's 2026 calendar listing covers the shuttle only. Display hours, closures and vendor rules for this season are not part of it, so treat last year's details as a guide. In 2025 the display opened on Saturday, December 13 and ran until the day before Christmas Eve. This year's shuttle starts on Saturday, December 12.
The Rest of El Segundo's December, In Order
Candy Cane Lane is the town's biggest draw in December, but the city's own holiday events run on a separate track, and the first one comes before Thanksgiving.
- Monday, November 2. Wristbands for Breakfast with Santa go on sale at the George E. Gordon Clubhouse, 300 E. Pine Ave., for $15 each, while supplies last.
- Monday, November 16 through Friday, December 18. The Spark of Love Toy Drive collects new, unwrapped toys and sports equipment at Fire Station #1, 314 Main St., from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Thursday, December 3, 3 to 7 p.m. The city hosts Joy Around the World: Festival of Holidays and Tree Lighting at City Hall, 350 Main Street.
- Saturday, December 5, 9 to 11 a.m. Breakfast with Santa at the Clubhouse includes a light breakfast, holiday sing-alongs, crafts and a photo with Santa. For questions, the city lists 310-524-2362.
- Saturday, December 12 through Wednesday, December 23, 4:30 to 10 p.m. The free Candy Cane Lane shuttle loops between Recreation Park, Library Park and Sycamore Park.
The tree lighting and Breakfast with Santa both happen before the shuttle starts. The toy drive at Fire Station #1 closes on December 18, during Candy Cane Lane's final week.
The street raises money for others, too. The El Segundo Herald reported in December 2024 that teenagers living on the lane sold hot cocoa and popcorn and planned to give a significant share of the proceeds to Mayberry Christmas, sponsor four families and provide thousands of dollars in gifts.
At Schneider Properties, we live in the Beach Cities too, and we pay attention to how El Segundo runs its traditions, from a cul-de-sac on East Acacia to the shuttle stop at Library Park. If you'd like to talk about the town behind the lights, please contact us. We're always glad to share what we know.
