PHOTOS: Downtown Culver Celebrates Christmas Season with 2024 Sled-tacular

Culver City's Downtown Business Association threw another successful iteration of one of its largest annual events, the 2024 Sled-tacular and Tree Lighting, yesterday from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

The event featured a sled attraction with fake snow for kids to embrace the winter spirit, and a tree lighting was led by Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin as part of the event's main program. Games and edible treats for attendees were also among many attractions for guests to take part in at the free event.

The tree used for Culver City's Downtown Tree Lighting was brought in from a storage warehouse and set up several days before the event, and it isn't a real tree. The city has owned it for 15 years, and Downtown Business Association President Darrel Menthe — who was the MC of the main program — described it as a "thick hoop skirt."

"We used to have an anchor in Town Plaza itself to use," Menthe told Culver Crescent.

According to Menthe, the tree is brought in and erected layer-by-layer several days before the event. The tree is about 28 feet tall, including the stand, which is steel and die-cut with the city and Downtown Business Association logos, and was made for the DBA last year.

Volunteers and workers were in the Downtown Culver City Town Plaza preparing long before the event began Thursday night. Efforts to pack cookies and begin spreading the snow for the sledding zone started as early as 2 p.m.

One of the main features of the Downtown Culver City Sled-tacular is, of course, the snow and sledding. The Downtown Business Association works with Los Alamitos-based Elite Special Events — who uses machinery in a large truck to grind ice cubes into the snow used for the event.

Due to the popularity of the sled run at last year's celebration, the Downtown Business Association doubled the amount of snow it purchased this year — up to 50 tons.

According to Downtown Culver City Business Association President Darrel Menthe, while the city has held a Christmas tree lighting ceremony for at least 25 years, the evolution into the Sled-tacular started in 2018. There were initially two separate tree-lighting events — one held by the DBA Downtown and another by the city at the Veterans Memorial Center.

That all changed in 2018 when then-new Parks, Recreation, and Community Services (PRCS) Director Corey Lakin proposed combining the two events.

The Sled-tacular was born in its current form in 2019 and has been a successful event in the following years. While it was forced virtual during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sled-tacular has otherwise run uninterrupted.

Originally, the snow was placed in the Town Plaza, but Menthe and the event's organizers decided to move after an incredibly busy 2023.

"We had 1800 kids use of snow last year," Menthe said. "It was really crowded and just getting more crowded."

Main Street was eventually selected as the venue for the snow, giving much more room to accommodate the 50 tons of snow brought in this year.

On top of a sledding area, there was a small area next to the sledding zone that was meant for kids to play in the snow. Parents accompanied their kids as they ran around, made snowballs, and enjoyed the snow with friends.

This event could not have been put on without the help of the Downtown Business community, including the Culver Hotel, which served hot chocolate to community members.

The Culver Hotel's hot chocolate stand was one of the most popular features of the night, with lines extending past the Culver Hotel throughout the three-and-a-half-hour event. The popcorn served by the Culver Theater was also popular, and the theater ran out about halfway into the night.

Culver City's Kiwanis Club — a local branch of a national service organization — also contributed by setting up carnival games in small tents for attendees. Many of these games involved throwing balls or other objects in tests of skill.

Culver City's Education Foundation set up a booth where kids could participate in Arts and Crafts. Schools were particularly involved in throwing this event, with Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) Executive Director Tony Spano asking for donations to the CCEF prior to one of the performances in the main program.

City-based organizations like the Culver City Police Department also participated in the festivities. The event is a culmination of a community-wide partnership with various entities, from the police providing Santa Claus with an escort to Culver Studios providing the main stage.

But the Downtown Business Association has been able to assume a greater deal of responsibility since the first iteration in 2019.

"It's still very much a community partnership event, but there is a core of costs now that we bear," Menthe said.

The main program of the 2024 Sled-tacular was the lighting of the Christmas tree, which was preceded by a music program put on by students from Culver City Unified School District.

Culver Steps were full to the brim as parents and residents crammed into the open space in front of the main stage of the event when the children stood.

Led by Spano, the Culver City Academy of Visual and Performing Arts had several groups give short performances, including the Culver City High School Vocal Ensemble and the AVPA String Quartet.

Other performing groups include the All-Elementary School choir, a Sixth-Grade choir from Culver Middle, and a choir from El Marino's Japanese immersion program.

Representatives from multiple levels of government were in attendance, with state Assemblymember Issac Bryan, the entire Culver City council, and members of other prominent Culver City organizations including Amazon, taking the main stage for the tree lighting.

Amazon was the presenting sponsor and made a significant financial contribution to this year's Sled-tacular, which, according to Menthe, had a budget of $80,000.

As is tradition, Mayor McMorrin lead the countdown to the eventual lighting of the tree.

It isn't a Christmas celebration without St. Nick, who made his appearance on the main stage after the light switch was turned. The jolly joy-bringer spent most of the night in front of the Culver Mansion taking free photos with kids.

While Menthe appreciates the current tree, he knows there is always room to grow as seen with the snow. He is hopeful that an even larger one can be acquired and used for future iterations of the Sled-tacular.

"One of the reasons we got the stand made," Menthe said, "is it can actually hold a tree that's about eight feet taller."

EDITORS NOTE: A previous version of the story included captions that stated the event was on November 5. This error has been corrected.