What to Know
- Saturday, Dec. 8
- 6 p.m. lighting ceremony (crafts and more start at 2 p.m.)
- Free
So you're a deodar, which means, quite probably, you're extremely tall, and you're very branchy, and people who stroll in your shade have a way of calling you "majestic" and "mighty."
And you're surrounded by other tall trees, also deodar cedars, your majestic and mighty neighbors. They've been your neighbors for decades, a fact that has prompted local humans to do something festive, each and every December, for nearly a century.
If this is you, and this is the case, chances are good you're a deodar currently standing along Christmas Tree Lane, in Altadena.
Also known as Santa Rosa Avenue, but called Christmas Tree Lane pretty much throughout the year by lots of people, Christmas Tree Lane is the place to see the much-loved deodars, in full sparkle, over several magical evenings, beginning in early December.
Day #1, in 2018, is Saturday, Dec. 8, and while the 98th grand lighting ceremony will take place at 6 p.m., the festivities begin to blossom earlier in the day, at 2 o'clock. Look for craft-making and general joy-savoring at the Winter Festival, and the happy hubbub of a community gathering for a longtime tradition.
The joy is palpable each year, for if you know "Altadena's Oldest Tradition," you know that it has had, like everything under the sun, its ups and downs, including the Santa Ana winds that whipped through in December 2011, sending big limbs to the ground in thunderous fashion.
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Making sure the deodars stay in tiptop shape has been a focus (yep, fungus is a foe), and an effort to "Keep the Lane Lit" remains at the forefront of the minds of all of those hardworking volunteers that tend the trees and decorations (yep, all of the electricity can add up).
Want to donate? Volunteer? Show up on Saturday, Dec. 8 to enjoy one of the most hallowed, nature-based expressions of the Southern Californian holiday season? All of the above?
Start here, deodar devotees. And we'll go out on a limb and say it: The Christmas Tree Lane Centennial will be here faster than a tree grows.
The final night of the multi-night run is Jan. 1, 2019, but wait: The trees will again shimmer on Jan. 7, in honor of Orthodox Christmas.
