In 1961, Fred Hayman opened Giorgio Beverly Hills, the first high-end boutique on a street that also had a hardware store, a beauty shop and the occasional gas station. Gucci came in 1968 and Van Cleef & Arpels in 1969. Bijan Pakzad's showroom arrived in 1976, the same year Hayman and a group of property owners started forming an association to steer the street. The Rodeo Drive Committee was formally founded in 1977, with Hayman as its first chairman.
The Committee's history page puts its 50th anniversary in 2027. The street isn't waiting. The Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting Celebration on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 5 to 8 p.m., is themed "50 Years of Brilliance." The city's announcement presents the evening as a celebration of Rodeo Drive's 50th anniversary, a year ahead of the Committee's own date. So the lighting on Nov. 19 comes in the middle of a celebration that started in the summer and has a calendar year still to run.
The anniversary started in August
Holiday décor is usually where a city's theme first shows up. This year the theme was in place months before the lights. The 2026 edition of Rodeo Drive Celebrates Fashion was framed as a tribute to the 50 years, with a street-pole banner campaign supported by CELINE and activations inside the boutiques. On Aug. 12, Beverly Press reported, the Committee honored Fred Hayman at a reception, and his son Robert accepted the honor.
The city followed. At the end of June, staff brought a holiday décor proposal to the council's Holiday Program Committee, and the Beverly Hills Courier reported that the street's 50th would inspire the citywide holiday theme. Not every 2026 event took up the theme. The June Concours d'Elegance was the 31st edition, and it was themed around America's 250th and the Route 66 centennial. The holiday season is where the anniversary gets its widest public audience.
Why the city pays for most of the night
The budget is the clearest sign of how much the city cares about this evening. On Aug. 14, according to the Beverly Hills Courier, the council's holiday committee reviewed an estimated cost of $682,575. The proposed city share was $667,575, with $15,000 expected from sponsors, and a separate $42,875 rain contingency sat outside the request. That puts about 98 percent of the night on the city.
The Committee's history explains why that split has lasted. By 1980, the city estimated that the Rodeo Drive shopping district produced as much as 25 percent of Beverly Hills' sales tax revenue. From the start, the Committee pitched the three blocks between Wilshire Boulevard and Little Santa Monica as America's answer to Via Condotti, New Bond Street and the Faubourg St-Honoré. A free street party at the start of the holiday shopping season fits that pitch.
Kathy Gohari, the Committee's president, linked the evening back to its founder in the city's announcement:
"Fifty years ago, Fred Hayman understood that Rodeo Drive could be much more than a shopping destination — it could be an experience that captures the imagination of the world."
What Nov. 19 puts on the street
The lineup has one new piece this year. Ortal Edri, a Los Angeles singer-songwriter, and Marianna Kriuchenkova, an eight-year-old vocalist, won the first Rodeo Drive Has Talent search, an open call the Committee ran this fall. Beverly Press covered the call in September. The rest of the program, as the city lists it:
- Host: Ali Ward, vocalist and entertainment reporter
- Featured vocalist: Dani Armstrong
- Island Holidays: a set from six-time GRAMMY winner Daniel Ho
- DJ: DJ Lady Sha, plus other dance and vocal acts
- Along the street: festive characters, interactive entertainment, wine gardens and food trucks
- Finale: a countdown in which the mayor, the City Council and the Committee's executive board push the button, then fireworks
The city hasn't published a 2026 street-closure map yet. Last year, Rodeo Drive closed for the event and the stage stood at Rodeo Drive and Brighton Way, the Courier reported. Treat that as a starting point, not a promise for this year. To meet people, the most recognizable spot on the street is Robert Graham's sculpture Torso at Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way. It marks the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style, which the Committee created in 2003.
Getting there without circling
The two city structures closest to the stage have different free periods, so it matters which one you choose. According to the city's parking guide:
| Structure | Free period |
|---|---|
| 9510 Brighton Way | First two hours |
| 9361 Dayton Way | First hour |
The event runs three hours, so even the Brighton Way garage will likely charge for the last stretch of a full evening. For the 2025 celebration, the Committee said all public lots would be open. It hasn't posted a parking notice for 2026 yet.
Metro gives three other ways in. Line 4 runs along Santa Monica Boulevard, Line 20 runs along Wilshire Boulevard, and the D Line currently ends at Wilshire/La Cienega. Line 20 stops at the Wilshire end of the street. We wrote earlier about how the new D Line station works best for evenings and weekends, and a free night on Rodeo is exactly that kind of trip.
After the 19th, the season moves to the parks
Rodeo Drive gets one big night. The rest of the season runs in the parks for six weeks. City holiday décor stays up through Jan. 3, 2027, and the two park displays are lit every evening that whole time. Here is the full calendar from the city's release:
- Every evening, Nov. 19 to Jan. 3: Lights on The Lily Pond at Beverly Gardens Park, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and Glowing Gardens at Beverly Cañon Gardens, 5 to 11 p.m. Glowing Gardens has a very large Christmas tree and an oversized ornament.
- Sunday, Nov. 22: Holiday Craft Fair at the Beverly Hills Farmers' Market, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13: Holidays at Greystone, 9:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., with Santa and Mrs. Claus, marionettes and live caroling.
- Monday, Dec. 7: Menorah Lighting Celebration with the City Council at Beverly Gardens Park, 5:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 13: Santa Paws Yappy Hour at the Beverly Hills Community Dog Park, 10 a.m. to noon, with photos with Santa.
The Visitors Bureau listing places the menorah lighting along Santa Monica Boulevard between Wilshire and Doheny Drive, the same stretch of Beverly Gardens Park as the Lily Pond show. Arrive for the 5:30 lighting on Dec. 7 and you're already there when the pond lights come on.
The calendar has a gap worth planning around. The fireworks are the only one-time spectacle in the evening, and after Nov. 19 the dated events are mostly daytime ones: the Sunday market, the Greystone weekends and the dog park morning. The menorah lighting is the one dated evening event. On any other night, the parks are the plan. Glowing Gardens stays lit until 11 p.m., the latest of the season's displays, so it still works after a late dinner on Cañon Drive. Our summer guide to the city's two-anchor week followed the same route between Cañon and Civic Center.
The second half of the anniversary
By the Committee's own count, the founding anniversary comes next year. Its history page calls the Committee "established 1977" and describes it as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit made up of retailers, hoteliers and landowners. Today the street's three palm-lined blocks hold more than 100 luxury brands, along with Frank Lloyd Wright's Anderton Court Shops, which were finished in 1952, before the luxury era began. This year's holiday lights close out the anniversary's first half. On the Committee's own calendar, 2027 is the actual 50th.
If you're thinking about how Rodeo Drive's 50 years show up in what nearby homes are worth, Christopher Harris can walk you through it block by block over coffee in Beverly Hills, before or after the lights go on Nov. 19. For a starting number on your own place, request a home valuation.
