COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- South Coast Plaza is ready to turn the lights on its Christmas tree. The annual celebration in Costa Mesa is happening Thursday. The 38th Annual Tree Lighting is set ...

of Newport Beach joined fellow cast members of American Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” to celebrate under a three-story Christmas tree at South Coast Plaza following their opening night ...

This year’s holiday season is shorter, however, with only 26 shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Gunn-Downing said South Coast Plaza saw crowds a little early as a result.

That same year, they opened South Coast Plaza on an old plot of farmland close to the freeway. The first version of the property was much smaller (1 million square feet) and more traditional (as ...