Swiss Market on Santa Monica Pier Could Draw Up to 400,000, Organizers Said

The Swiss Winter Village takes over the pier's parking deck, and the city is guaranteed at least $320,200.

The cars are off the Santa Monica Pier's parking deck. In their place: more than 60 wooden chalets, a raclette stand and a skating rink with the Pacific behind it.

That's the Swiss Winter Village, which opens Wednesday and runs through Jan. 3, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press.

Organizers came to City Hall with a big number. When the council approved the deal June 23, they projected 250,000 to 400,000 visitors over the whole run, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported in June. Canyon News ran the same organizers' estimate.

Spread over the 47 days now on the calendar, that works out to about 5,300 to 8,500 people a day. The forecast was made for a different schedule, though. In June, public days weren't set to start until Nov. 27.

The city's cut is whichever is bigger: a guaranteed $320,200 or 8% of net ticket revenue, the Daily Press reported. City staff told the council the deal was built to cover its own costs and wasn't expected to need a city subsidy.

Divide that guaranteed floor by the crowd and it comes to about $1.28 a visitor at the low end of the forecast. At the high end, it's 80 cents.

The ticket price has moved since June, too. Council coverage then put admission at roughly $15. The Daily Press now lists adult entry starting at $12.90, with discounts for kids and Santa Monica residents. On the organizer's own site, the cheapest bundle that includes the rink starts at $18.90 with a family discount, or $20.90 without, and kids 3 and under get in free.

Drivers lose the most. The organizer's site says parking on the pier deck is closed. It points visitors to the Metro E Line stop at Fourth Street and Colorado Avenue, about a 10-minute walk away, or to the Civic Center garage.

Locals get some of it back. Nonprofits are getting 1,000 free tickets, steered first to foster families and kids without much, staff told the council in June, the Daily Press reported. People in Santa Monica ZIP codes get windows of free or cheaper entry, and seniors get a "senior golden hour."

A crowd that size also needed rules bent. The council waived city limits on noise, construction hours and signage for the event. In return, the operator promised to point its background music back toward the market and to take sound readings at the edges of the pier businesses already there. A city staff report, quoted by the Santa Monica Lookout, said the full experience was "simply not feasible without a temporary waiver" of the noise rules.

That "ice rink by the sea"? The Daily Press's June story called it faux ice. Councilmember Barry Snell asked the city to coordinate with the Downtown Santa Monica board, which already has a rink of its own.

Opening night runs 5 to 11 p.m. Wednesday. After that, the market opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, according to the organizer.

The Lookout described the market as one of a string of major events lined up before the 2028 Summer Olympics. On Wednesday, a forecast made for a shorter calendar starts meeting real people.

Source: smdp.com, retrieved November 13, 2026. Other sources: smdp.com (2), canyon-news.com, swisswintervillage.com, surfsantamonica.com.