Rodeo Drive Lights Up November 19. Its 50th Birthday Runs Through 2027.

"They had all the ingredients at the time," Robert Hayman said of Rodeo Drive's early years in an anniversary episode of Rodeo Drive – The Podcast, as reported by Beverly Press. "They had great hotels, they had phenomenal restaurants, they had the beginnings of great retail stores and they had all the celebrities who were there as well."

His father, Fred Hayman, organized those ingredients. Now the group he founded is marking its 50th anniversary, and so far most of the celebration has happened inside boutiques, at receptions and on banners hung from street poles. That changes on Thursday, November 19. The Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting Celebration runs from 5 to 8 p.m. under the theme "50 Years of Brilliance." It is free and open to the public, and it is the first anniversary event this year staged on the street itself.

The anniversary continues after the lights come down in January and runs through 2027.

Why a 50th birthday takes two years

The Rodeo Drive Committee's own history says the group "started to form in 1976 and was founded in 1977, with Fred Hayman as its driving force." Hayman was chairman of the new association and also president of Giorgio, the boutique he had built on the street. One of the founders was Donald Tronstein, a property owner and developer on the 400 block. He served as committee president from 1984 to 1987, and colleagues called him the "Mayor of Rodeo Drive."

So depending on which date you count from, 2026 or 2027 is the anniversary. The committee settled it by claiming both years. Beverly Press reported in April that the committee is celebrating "through the end of 2027, with a year of special events, activations and toasts."

The founders set out to make Rodeo Drive America's answer to Rome's Via Condotti, London's New Bond Street and Paris's Faubourg St-Honoré. When they made that comparison, the street had about a decade of luxury retail behind it. The committee's history says the publicity campaign worked quickly: by 1980, the City of Beverly Hills estimated that the Rodeo Drive shopping district produced as much as 25 percent of the city's sales tax revenue. Today the City of Beverly Hills and the committee announce the lighting together.

The anniversary year so far

Here is the 2026 schedule in order. The events have moved steadily outward from the shops:

1. Spring: A podcast episode, "Haute couture meets haute cuisine: Dominique Crenn at Dior and Rodeo Drive at 50," featured the chef behind Monsieur Dior by Dominique Crenn, the restaurant inside the Dior flagship.
2. August: The fourth edition of Rodeo Drive Celebrates Fashion brought in-store boutique events, some of them open to walk-ins, and a street-banner campaign supported by CELINE.
3. August 12: A reception at the Beverly Wilshire honored the late Fred Hayman, as reported by the Beverly Hills Courier.
4. October: Rodeo Drive Celebrates Timepieces and Fine Jewelry brought retailer previews and new Harry Winston banners on the street poles, according to Beverly Press.
5. November 19: The holiday lighting, the first anniversary event built around a crowd in the street.

Every event before November took place inside a boutique, at a reception, or in front of a microphone. The street itself carried banners. On November 19 the street becomes the venue.

What happens on the street November 19

The committee's announcement describes a full evening program. Ali Ward, a vocalist, performer and entertainment reporter, hosts. Dani Armstrong is the featured vocalist. Daniel Ho, a six-time GRAMMY winner, presents "Island Holidays," and DJ Lady Sha is also on the lineup.

The lineup also includes something new. The committee ran an open call called "Rodeo Drive Has Talent" for the first time this year. The two winners will perform on the holiday stage: Ortal Edri, a Los Angeles singer, songwriter and recording artist, and Marianna Kriuchenkova, an eight-year-old vocalist who lists Whitney Houston and Jennifer Hudson as her heroes. The committee describes the open call as a way to give emerging performers a broad audience.

There will be wine gardens and food trucks along the street, plus costumed characters for photos. The night ends with a countdown. The mayor, members of the City Council and the committee's executive board press the button that lights the décor, and fireworks follow. Mayor Craig Corman's statement calls the event "a cherished tradition for our community and visitors from around the world." Committee President Kathy Gohari framed the evening as a way of "welcoming a new generation to discover the magic of this very special street."

The organizers expect thousands of people. The announcement doesn't include a street-closure map or parking guidance, so check the city's public parking structures page closer to the date. The Metro D Line won't help this year. Metro says Section 1, serving La Brea, Fairfax and La Cienega, opened May 8, 2026. Section 2, which includes the Beverly Hills station, is still under construction.

After the fireworks, the city's own calendar

The lighting starts the season, and from then on the events get smaller. The City of Beverly Hills' 2026 holiday release says décor stays up across the city through January 3, 2027, and lists these events:

Greystone is the only event on the list that needs planning ahead. The city's recreation catalog lists Holidays at Greystone at $12 with 90-minute entry slots and Bob Baker Marionette shows. Timed slots over only four days can fill up, so check availability before you settle on a weekend.

The two light displays fit around a workday. Glowing Gardens stays lit until 11 p.m. every night, so a late dinner on Canon Drive can end under the tree. Lights on the Lily Pond closes at 9:30, which suits an earlier walk along Santa Monica Boulevard.

New tables on the evening's edges

Several restaurants opened this year and may still be new to many neighbors on November 19. The Brothers Sushi was among the new Beverly Drive arrivals in the Beverly Hills Courier's September dining roundup. The same roundup noted that Malka opened at SIXTY Beverly Hills in August. Farther west, Eater LA reported that 88 Club at 9737 South Santa Monica Boulevard reopened as Tiger Tiger on August 29. Eater also reported that The Beverly Hills Hotel's Supper Club, with chef Mattia Agazzi, is planned to open "before the end of the year." It may or may not open within the holiday-décor window.

What the next 50 years are being built on

The anniversary celebration is happening during heavy construction on the street. Beverly Press reported that Hermès is expanding with the largest-ever retail real estate acquisition on Rodeo Drive. LVMH is building a large flagship designed by the late Frank Gehry, with museum, exhibition and rooftop dining spaces. Neither project is on the holiday program. Both are underway as the anniversary moves into 2027.

When the fireworks go off on November 19, the committee will be roughly halfway through its 50th year. The founders' plan was to build the street deliberately, and according to the committee's history, that is still how it works: more than 100 luxury brands across three blocks, in buildings that range from Frank Lloyd Wright's 1952 Anderton Court Shops to the new flagships.

Having built and remodeled more than 100 high-end homes and venues, I tend to watch construction on a street like Rodeo Drive with a builder's eye. If the season has you thinking about your own home in Beverly Hills, Stephen Apelian would be glad to talk it through over coffee on Canon Drive. Let's Connect.