Every year Stearns Wharf kicks off the holiday season on the Santa Barbara Waterfront with a 25-foot green white fir Christmas tree.

The Stearns Wharf Merchants Association thanks community members and visitors for their business, and wishes everyone a safe joyous holiday and happy and prosperous New Year.

For public safety the Stearns Wharf businesses are certifying to the county/state health requirements. Stearns Wharf Merchants believe everyone should stay healthy, so masks are required for entry into the shops and restaurants.

There is plenty of room for safe distancing, and as always, fishing from the wharf is free.

Stearns Wharf is adjacent to the Santa Barbara Harbor. When completed in 1872, it became the longest deep-water wharf between San Pedro and San Francisco.

Named for its builder, local lumberman John P. Stearns, the wharf served the passenger and freight shipping needs of California’s South Coast for more than a century.

For more information, visit StearnsWharf.org.