Candy Cane Lane Is Still a Neighborhood Tradition. El Segundo Now Runs a Shuttle for It

In 1949, Kenneth Bailey decorated a tree at the cul-de-sac on the 1200 block of East Acacia Avenue, and his neighbors followed by decorating their houses. Seventy-seven Decembers later, the first firm date for the 2026 season isn't from the block. It's a City of El Segundo listing for a free Park & Ride shuttle, running December 12 through 23 from 4:30 to 10 p.m.

That order tells you how Candy Cane Lane works now. The lights, the themes and the Santa tradition still come from the neighbors. Getting thousands of visitors in and out of a cul-de-sac has become a city operation, with a budget and council votes, and it's the part that changes from year to year.

One block, and the neighbors who run it

The core of Candy Cane Lane has always been one short street. The South Bay History blog puts it at 26 houses on the 1200 block of East Acacia. It also records that the lights went dark in 1974 during the energy crisis and didn't come back until 1987. COVID-19 limited the 2020 season.

The displays are still resident-run. A 2019 Daily Breeze guide said the community coordinates the event and the City handles traffic and parking. LAist reported in 2023 that a neighborhood committee co-chair had held the role for about 15 years. LAist also reported that the Santa tent's donations cover some of the block's costs, and the rest goes to causes that have included St. Jude's.

The Daily Breeze's 2024 look at life on the block described opening night: Santa walks down the street and the homes light up one at a time. Neighbors told the paper that taking part isn't required, though there's a friendly expectation that you will.

When the crowd outgrew the cul-de-sac

The pressure on the block comes from people arriving from well outside El Segundo. In 2023, Amazon Prime Video released Candy Cane Lane, an Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross comedy based on the street and partly filmed there. Residents told the Daily Breeze in 2024 that the movie, plus Santa's return, had brought bigger crowds. They described bottlenecks from cars driving through before and after hours, and said they had to get home before 5 p.m. or park somewhere else. Spectrum News reported thousands of visitors "from near and far" during the December 14 to 23, 2024 run.

According to the El Segundo Herald, residents who spoke at a November 2025 council meeting called the 2024 season "the worst." They cited trash and said they couldn't park at their own homes. The Herald also reported two incidents in 2024 involving "non-responsive" adult drivers who didn't follow instructions from officials and police.

What the City spends around the block

The Herald put the City's General Fund cost for Candy Cane Lane at about $63,000 and broke down the biggest pieces:

• Police: $20,000, the largest single line
• Security: $12,000
• Trash maintenance by City staff: $7,000
• Public Works: $6,000
• Everything else: portable toilets, signage, shuttle staff, code enforcement and permitting, Bell Event services, and City planning time

The Daily Breeze, citing a City press release, reported the same $63,000 as 2024 spending. The El Segundo Police Department, the El Segundo Volunteer Program and the Recreation, Parks and Library Department all help with safety and cleanup each night. Mayor Chris Pimentel's statement in that release explains why the City pays for all this while leaving the event in residents' hands:

"We love that visitors come from all over to enjoy this grassroots celebration of the holiday spirit. We ask in the holiday spirit that visitors respect the hard work of the residents who host this tradition and keep the area clean, behave kindly to one another and act in the best spirit of Christmas."

How the 2025 rules were settled

Last year's rules were decided in public, and late. The Herald's account runs in this order:

1. City staff first planned to close the 1200 block of East Acacia to cars from 4:30 p.m. until after 10 p.m., December 13 through 23, and to give residents parking permits to park elsewhere until the street reopened each night.
2. Residents objected at the November council meeting, so the issue went onto a formal agenda. That meeting was moved to Wednesday, December 3, ten days before opening night.
3. Mayor Pimentel, Mayor Pro Tem Ryan Baldino and council members Michelle Keldorf and Lance Giroux agreed that residents could reach their homes by police escort, as had been the tradition. Baldino was quoted saying, "I think you have to allow people access to their homes."
4. Baldino asked the police department to count escort requests each night. He also asked City staff, organizers and residents to meet in February to go over the numbers.

Here's how the Daily Breeze summarized the final 2025 setup:

• Barricades from 5 to 10 p.m. on the 1100 and 1200 blocks of East Acacia and the 900 block of California Street, with the area closed to non-resident traffic
• Food sales limited to prepackaged items, on the weekends of December 13 to 14 and December 19 to 21 only
• Residents asked to turn off their lights at 10 p.m. so visitors would head home
• Restrooms at Recreation Park, portable restrooms at Sycamore Park, and trash cans along the route
• Police patrols continuing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day after the event closed

The shuttle is the one piece already set for 2026

The shuttle has grown each year. In 2024, the City's notice described a shuttle between Recreation Park and Sycamore Park, with closures from 5 to 11 p.m. In 2025, the City's event page called it service on "select nights" and listed seven of them. The 2026 listing gives one continuous range instead.

The 2026 page says the shuttle runs "on a continuous loop" to "help ease traffic and parking congestion around Candy Cane Lane." It lists the pickup points as Recreation Park at 401 Sheldon Street, using the Guaymas parking lot entrance, and Library Park at 111 West Mariposa Avenue, at the Richmond Street corner. The third stop is Sycamore Park, which the Daily Breeze placed at 808 California Street, the closest stop to the lights. For more information, the City lists 310-524-2362.

If you live west of Main Street, Library Park is the easy pickup. The listing shows a range of dates but doesn't use the word "nightly." Even so, a twelve-night window replacing last year's seven select nights is the clearest change for 2026.

What the City hasn't posted yet

The shuttle listing is the only 2026 Candy Cane Lane notice on the City's calendar so far. As this goes out, the City hasn't posted any of these:

• The 2026 opening night and Santa's arrival time
• Which blocks will be barricaded, and for how long
• How residents of the 1100 and 1200 blocks of East Acacia will get home during event hours
• Food sale days and rules
• A lights-off time

No outcome from the February review Baldino requested has been published either. The 2025 rules came after the December 3 council vote, so the 2026 details may also arrive close to the season. Until the City posts them, last year's setup is just last year's setup.

Planning the rest of December around it

Candy Cane Lane falls in the middle of the town's holiday calendar, and the dates overlap:

1. Thursday, December 3: Joy Around the World: Festival of Holidays and Tree Lighting, 3 to 7 p.m., at El Segundo City Hall, 350 Main Street. The El Segundo Chamber of Commerce lists its Martinis & Mistletoe Holiday Event that evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., describing it as following the tree lighting.
2. Saturday, December 12: The seventh annual Holiday Boutique at the El Segundo Woman's Club, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on the same day the shuttle schedule begins.
3. Sunday, December 13: The 2026 El Segundo Holiday Parade, 1 to 3 p.m., per the Chamber calendar. The route hasn't been posted.
4. December 12 through 23: The Candy Cane Lane shuttle, 4:30 to 10 p.m., from Recreation Park, Library Park and Sycamore Park.

The parade ends at 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 13, and the shuttle's listed hours start at 4:30, so you can do both in one afternoon and evening.

At The Zebrowski Group, we follow how El Segundo's traditions are run as closely as we follow its streets. If you'd like to know how a block like East Acacia fits into the local market, request a private market valuation, and we'll walk you through it once the lights come down.