The Venice Chamber of Commerce and local merchants are counting down to the third annual Venice Sign Holiday Lighting Party and Venice Crawl on Friday, Dec. 5, at the Venice Sign on Windward Avenue.
Festivities will begin at 6:15 p.m. with a pre-lighting ceremony beginning at 7:45 p.m. and the actual lighting at 8 p.m.
Venice Councilman Mike Bonin and a special celebrity guest will pull the switch and change the Venice sign colors from white to red and green. Previous events featured actors Robert Downey Jr. and Anjelica Huston who helped to light the sign.
The City of Los Angeles will close Windward Avenue east of Pacific Avenue and present a free concert of holiday music featuring a performance by the Venice Symphony Orchestra.
A limited number of tables are available to those who participate in the event as a sponsor, and tables will be available for purchase a la carte by businesses looking to introduce themselves, their service or products to the Venice community and for non-profits. Those interested can contact info@venicechamber.net or call 310.822.5425.
The Venice Chamber is also collecting toys for the Muscle Beach and Great Venice Toy Drives. People who donate a new unwrapped toy will receive a wristband good for discounts during the Venice Crawl at participating businesses. Collection boxes will be at the Chamber and VNC tables.
Local Venice businesses participating include: Bank of Venice, Barlo, Brig (21 and over), Café Gratitude, Canal Club, Candle Café, Casa Linda, Danny’s, Feed Body and Soul, Hama Sushi, High Lounge at Hotel Erwin, James Beach, Larry’s Venice, Le Cellier, Locali Conscious Convenience, Primitivo Wine Bistro, Seed Kitchen, The Sidewalk Café, Venice Ale House.
The Venice Chamber is extremely grateful to all its sponsors for it is their contribution that makes this event possible: Airelle Skin, Alternative Lighting, Beach Mobile, Bob Central, Buchalter Nemer, Burn Fitness, Danny’s/Canal Club/James Beach, Farmers Insurance – Rod Pyle Agency, First Team Security, General Real Estate Management, Gold Coast Properties, Google, Hama Sushi, Hotel Erwin, Hyphae Design Lab, LA Car Guy, Larry’s, Menotti’s, Mylan Stepanovich, Peak 6, Rent Track, Samesun Backpackers, SM Brew Works, Sync It Up Audio, The Argonaut, The Sidewalk Café, Townhouse, Trim, UrbanSitter, Venice Beach Suites, Venice Free Ride, Venice Horizon Suites, Venice Paparazzi, Venice Suites, Venice Winter Wonderland, Whole Foods Market, Windward Farms, Zambezi.
The Venice Sign, a federally registered trademark of the Venice Chamber of Commerce and Venice’s most iconic symbol, attracts thousands of tourists to Venice.
The Venice Chamber is working on replacing the regular single color bulbs with color changing LED bulbs that will make it easier for the Chamber to change the colors of the bulbs for all future events.
These bulbs will allow the Chamber to change the sign’s colors throughout the year at no additional cost, such as red for Valentine’s Day, green for St. Patrick’s Day, and many others.
The Chamber plans to launch a fundraising drive for this technology. Those interested in donating can go to www.venicesign.org.
The Venice Chamber of Commerce is an organization of business leaders who actively serve as advocates for the ever-growing Venice business community.
Through dynamic networking events and diverse committees, we support the interests of area businesses and contribute, to improving the vitality of the local economy; positioning Venice as the “creative soul” of Los Angeles. To learn more about the Venice Chamber, visit www.venicechamber.net.
