The downtown ice rink at 1324 Fifth St. opens today, Thursday, Nov. 5, under the name Frost on Fifth, and it runs through Monday, Jan. 18. In two weeks Santa Monica gets a second rink. Swiss Winter Village opens on the Pier Event Deck on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and runs through Jan. 3. Its organizer calls it the very first Santa Monica edition.
The two rinks are a few blocks apart, but they came about in different ways. The downtown rink is the same seasonal operation the corner of Fifth and Arizona has hosted for years, now with a new name. The Pier rink is new, and the City Council approved its terms in June: a ticket price for Santa Monica residents, a senior hour, free tickets for nonprofits, and a guaranteed payment to the city. Those terms explain most of the practical differences a local skater will notice between the two.
The rink at Fifth and Arizona, renamed
For several seasons the downtown rink was promoted as Ice at Santa Monica. Its current website calls it Frost on 5th and keeps the Arizona Avenue and Fifth Street corner. The site is operated by Willy Bietak Productions. That is the specialist company Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. brought in back in 2023, when the Santa Monica Daily Press reported the rink would be 25% bigger than in any previous year. In that rebuild the rink moved off the tons of flattened sand it had sat on before and onto a wooden framework leveled with lasers over the parking lot surface. Bietak's project director told the paper that every piece of wood had been cut, numbered and indexed so the same structure could be rebuilt for "the next five years or so."
It is refrigerated ice. Downtown Santa Monica's 2023 request for proposals for a rink provider required chiller placement and a refrigeration technician on call around the clock for the whole season.
This year's weekday schedule starts later than last season's. The earlier listing gave noon to 10 p.m. daily. Frost on Fifth now opens at 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and at noon on weekends and holidays, closing at 10 p.m. every day, with 60-minute sessions. The rink's price sheet lists:
- Admission with skate rental, $22 before sales tax
- A two-session pass, $33
- A season pass, $165, with weekday, time and blackout restrictions
- Lockers $5, Skate Helpers $6, and gloves and socks $5 each
- Fire pits at $50 standard or $75 premium per session, and party tents at $250 an hour
At $22 a session, the season pass pays for itself on the eighth visit. The rink rents figure and hockey skates from toddler size 8 through adult size 15, and private lessons run Sunday mornings from 8:30 to 11:30.
What the council wrote into the Pier's rink
The Pier rink began as a council agenda item. At its June 23 meeting, the City Council approved a license agreement with Swiss Xmas Inc. to run Swiss Winter Village on the pier's parking deck, according to Santa Monica Daily Press coverage of the vote. The city receives either a guaranteed minimum of $320,200 or 8% of net ticketing revenue, whichever is greater. Staff said the deal was structured for full cost recovery and was not expected to require a city subsidy. The projected attendance for the run was 250,000 to 400,000.
The same report lists the community benefits staff presented at the meeting:
- 1,000 free tickets for nonprofit groups, with priority for under-resourced youth and foster families
- A free Candlelight concert for the community
- Discounted or free admission windows for residents of Santa Monica ZIP codes
- A "senior golden hour" with earlier hours and partnerships with local senior centers
Vendor selection was set up to favor local businesses. Senior Project Manager Meghan Foster told the council, as the Daily Press reported:
"We're going to heavily weight local Santa Monica businesses to prioritize them in that vendor application process."
The council item described the rink as faux ice. Councilmember Barry Snell asked the city to coordinate with the Downtown Santa Monica board about the downtown rink. Some details have moved since June. The council-stage plan had the market opening to the public on Nov. 27 with admission around $15. The village now opens nine days earlier, on Nov. 18, and its entry tickets cost less than that estimate.
Two price sheets for the same weeks
The resident benefit shows up in the Pier's ticket list. On the Fever ticketing page, entry-only tickets cost $12.90 for adults 13 and older and $8.90 for children 4 to 12. Children 3 and under get in free. A $10.90 discounted ticket covers Santa Monica residents, along with seniors 65 and older, students, military and Metro riders. Skating at the village is sold in bundles, listed on the Swiss Winter Village site.
| Frost on Fifth | Swiss Winter Village rink | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | 1324 Fifth St., at Arizona Avenue | Pier Event Deck, 200 Santa Monica Pier |
| Season | Nov. 5 to Jan. 18 | Nov. 18 to Jan. 3 |
| Surface | Refrigerated ice | Faux ice, per the council item |
| Basic skate price | $22 with skate rental, before tax | Silver bundle from $20.90, entry and rink |
| Family option | Two-session pass, $33 | Family bundle from $18.90 |
| Top tier | Season pass, $165 | Platinum from $64.90, with an unlimited Pacific Park ride wristband and grab-and-go raclette |
| Weekday hours | 3 to 10 p.m. | Mon. to Wed. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thu. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Weekend hours | Noon to 10 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
The Gold bundle, from $39.90, adds skip-the-line entry for both the gate and the rink, plus one ride on the Pacific Wheel, West Coaster, Sea Dragon or another Pacific Park ride. The village's ticket also covers more than skating. There are more than 60 chalets, about 30 of them selling food such as raclette, Swiss sweets, mulled wine and international street food, along with a merry-go-round, a children's corner, workshops, concerts and DJ sets.
Where the calendars overlap
The two seasons overlap for 47 days, from Nov. 18 through Jan. 3. Frost on Fifth runs alone for the 13 days before the village opens and for the 15 days after it closes. The hours set the choice on weekdays. Before 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, the Pier is the only ice open, and on weekends it opens an hour before downtown. After 9 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, only Fifth Street is still skating. Opening night is the exception. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the village opens at 5 p.m. and runs until 11 p.m.
Several other holiday events fall in the same weeks:
- Thursday, Nov. 5. Frost on Fifth's grand opening.
- Wednesday, Nov. 18. Swiss Winter Village's opening night, 5 to 11 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 19. The Regent Santa Monica Beach lights a 45-foot tree at 4:30 p.m. with live music and seasonal food. The same night, the Pier's monthly Locals' Night, held on the third Thursday, takes a Swiss Art + Sound theme.
- Sunday, Nov. 22. The Third Street Promenade's holiday tree lighting, a short walk from the Fifth Street rink.
- Nov. 27 to Dec. 20. Portraits with Santa at the village's alpine chalet, Thursday through Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m., with no separate reservation needed.
- Sunday, Dec. 6. The Main Street tree lighting and holiday party.
- Dec. 24 and Dec. 31. The village closes at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve and stays open until 1 a.m. on New Year's Eve.
You can see both rinks from the Promenade on Nov. 19. The Regent's tree lighting starts at 4:30 p.m. at 1700 Ocean Ave., the village is open on the Pier deck until 10 p.m. that Thursday, and Frost on Fifth runs until 10 p.m. as well.
Getting to each one
The village sits on the Pier's parking deck, so that deck is closed for the run. Fever's event page suggests the Civic Center Garage at 333 Civic Center Dr. and Lot 1 North at 1550 Pacific Coast Highway. It also lists rideshare drop-off at 1550 Appian Way and the Metro E Line, about a 10-minute walk from Fourth Street and Colorado Avenue. The organizer also suggests walking or biking.
For Frost on Fifth, the rink's site notes that several downtown public parking structures are a few blocks away and points visitors to the city's parking information.
At Steinbeck Homes, we pay attention to the seasonal rhythms of Santa Monica, such as which corner gets a rink and how a council vote can change what a weekend costs, because those details affect how a home here feels to live in. If the holidays have you thinking about what your own place on the Westside is worth, Johannes is glad to talk it through. Request a Home Valuation.
