Christmas Tree Lane Lights Up Altadena

Families, children, friends and tourists began the brisk trudge up Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena (Santa Rosa Avenue, between Woodbury Avenue and Altadena Drive) at about 4: 30 or so on Saturday afternoon, to celebrate and watch as “the oldest large-scale Christmas lighting display in the world,” according to organizers, came to life. 

Each of the 150 massive trees which form a canopy along Santa Rosa had been strung with thousands of lights by volunteers beginning in spring, as has happened every year since 1920. 

(The event took a two-year COVID hiatus in 2020 and 2021 before returning last year.)

As evening approached, following speeches and presentations by Christmas Tree Lane Association President Scott Wardlaw, U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu, State Assemblymember Chris Holden, Dominick Corey from State Senator Anthony Portantino’s office, and 5th District County Supervisor Kathyrn Barger, as well as performances from the Muir High School band and dance teams, all turned to face south on Santa Rosa Lane.

Supervisor Barger led the audience in a countdown and then threw the switch that cast the 0.7-mile route in a vivid splash of holiday lights and color.

The Muir High Alumni Drum Line then moved into position and led the happy gathering south on Santa Rosa.

And now a bit of history:  The Deodar Cedar trees which line the street were planted in the late 1800s, and were inspired by the Woodbury family seeing the trees on a visit to Italy. The trees were planted with the help of Chinese laborers. 

 In 1920, according to the Los Angeles Almanac, department store owner Frederick C. Nash first organized a tree-lighting spectacle along a quarter-mile stretch of the street, then known as the Avenue of the Deodars. 

After several more seasons, all the trees along the street were eventually lit. Each spring, volunteers and the non-profit Christmas Tree Lane Association string the “Mile of Christmas Trees” with 10,000 lights. An estimated 50,000 cars will drive down the street each lighting season. 

The lights on Christmas Tree Lane will remain lit each evening through the month of December.