Never let it be said that Solvang, the Danish village in the heart of the Central Coast that aims both barrels of its year-round whimsy at the Christmas season, doesn’t have another, more pagan side to its annual shock-and-awe delivery of the holiday spirit.

And as it turns out, the most primal, if not historically referential, event of Solvang’s holiday season is perhaps the most popular.

For the past three decades, the town has hosted an annual Christmas Tree Burn on the outskirts of downtown around the first Friday evening of the new year.

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Firefighters monitor a giant pile of Christmas trees burning, Jan. 3, 2025. A massive Christmas tree bonfire is an annual end-of-holiday tradition in Solvang, Calif.

It’s a chance for locals to dispatch their ceremonial indoor pine trees and for the community, and curious outsiders, to gather in a bonfire ritual similar to one of many winter solstice bonfire celebrations around the world.

The annual Solvang Tree Burn also acts as the official conclusion of the

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