When she was planning this year’s Belmont Shore Christmas Parade, Heather Kern decided that she wanted to do something different — and she knew what that should be:
How about having everyone wear pajamas and call the parade “Jingle Jammies?” Yikes, what a crazy idea. Would that actually work?
Kern, the executive director of the Belmont Shore Business Association, got her answer on Dec. 6, when thousands of spectators and parade participants wore PJs. In all, Kern said, 15,736 people wore sleepwear — setting what she said was an unofficial record for people wearing pajamas at a public event.
“The response was great; it just blew me away,” Kern said in a phone interview last week. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw all the members of a marching band wearing pajamas. There were pajamas everywhere. It was incredible.”
And people weren’t the only ones wearing pajamas: There were also dogs, especially some cute corgis, that were dressed up in their finest canine PJs.
“Parties make the world go round,” yelled one very happy woman as she did a dance at an intersection along Second Street.
Even Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson donned his best pajamas, along with his family, for the 41st anniversary of the popular parade. They wore matching blue-and-green plaid pajamas as they rode on the mayor’s float.
“The Belmont Shore parade is about what matters most during the holidays – bringing our community together and holding our friends, family and neighbors a little closer,” Richardson said after the parade. “Seeing thousands turn out in pajamas, smiles and holiday spirit was a powerful reminder of how special this neighborhood is and how Long Beach shows up for one another.”
The final, though unofficial, count of people wearing pajamas included 11,691 spectators and 4,045 parade participants, Kern said. Kern said she believes that with all of the people inside businesses, including restaurants, and at nearby parties, there were closer to 20,000 pajama-wearing people.
“The turnout was really amazing,” she said. “Everyone was having so much fun.”
Members of Camp Fire Long Beach, wearing matching red plaid pajamas, participate in the 41st Belmont Shore Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 6. (Courtesy photo by Michael Anthony Salcido)
Fitness group Jennergy Jump performs at the 41st Belmont Shore Christmas Parade while wearing an array of colorful pajamas on Dec. 6. (Courtesy photo by Michael Anthony Salcido)
Heather Kern, executive director of the Belmont Shore Business Association, during the 41st Belmont Shore Christmas Parade. Kern came up with the idea of everyone wearing pajamas during the parade. (Courtesy photo by Justin Rudd)
Pajama-wearing students from Millikan High School sing as they ride on their float in the 41st Belmont Shore Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 6. (Courtesy photo by Michael Anthony Salcido)
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Members of Camp Fire Long Beach, wearing matching red plaid pajamas, participate in the 41st Belmont Shore Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 6. (Courtesy photo by Michael Anthony Salcido)
The Belmont Shore Business Association applied twice to Guiness World Records before the parade but did not heard back, Kern said. But Kern will apply again with the final count and a video, she said.
The current world record for the largest public gathering of people in two-piece pajamas is held by IKEA employees — with 2,051. The record for one-piece pajamas at a public event is held by the Chinese apparel manufacturer Guangdong Hongxing Industrial Co., with 1,879.
Kern said she had hired people to count spectators at every one of the 28 blocks on the parade route. Amy Ericksen, a community leader, had a clicker to count parade participants as they finished.
As is traditional, the parade ended with Santa Claus waving to all from his sleigh. For the 21st year, St. Nick was played by Brian Kight, son of the late Mason Kight, an attorney and philanthropist who was the parade’s original Santa.
The announcers were television personalities Bob Goen and Marianne Curan. Lisa Ramelow, author and the former owner of La Strada restaurant in Belmont Shore, was the field host — which kept her busy interviewing participants as they strolled by the television stands.
Kern, for her part, said her pajama idea came to her when she decided to somehow involve spectators in the parade.
“I wanted them to be doing more than just sitting or standing watching the parade,” she said. “People love doing interactive things. I call them shared experiences.”
Kern’s experience with the Belmont Shore parade, meanwhile, goes back to her high school days when she was in the procession as a Wilson High School Bruinette. Her son was also in the parade, first with the Belmont Shore Nursery and later, as a drummer for Wilson.
Kern’s family moved from Ohio to Long Beach in the early 1960s.
“I’ve pretty much stayed within a mile of where I grew up all this time,” she said. “I grew up in Bluff Park and spent my childhood going to Belmont Shore, spent every summer at Horny Corner and worked at the Shorehouse Cafe in my 20s.”
For readers new to this area, Horny Corner is the longtime nickname for the section of Alamitos Beach, at the corner of Bayshore Drive and Ocean Boulevard. The name was popularized decades ago by young people who frequented the beach.
Kern has had many careers. She’s worked as a waitress, a visual merchandiser, a graphic designer, and creator of a Facebook group to promote small businesses and events in Long Beach.
That led to her becoming general manager of MADE in Long Beach, which eventually became MADE by Millworks and is owned by Michelle Molina. It operated a large space downtown and is a retail, art gallery and event space.
“We eventually opened a bar in the back of the space called Elinor, after Elinor Otto, who was dubbed the oldest Rosie the Riveter, who worked for Douglas and Boeing into her 90s,” Kern said. “It was a way to honor Long Beach history and working women.”
(Otto died on Nov. 12, 2023, in Las Vegas. She was 104. Otto had been living in in North Las Vegas with her great-niece, Brenda Wynne, since the summer of 2019.)
Kern also briefly worked for Long Beach as a business liaison, and as an operations manager for the Angels Gate Cultural Center, in San Pedro, before taking her current job in Belmont Shore.
She is a proud graduate of the Leadership Long Beach class of 2019 and the Neighborhood Leadership class of 2013.
Kern said she spent many years putting her chair out early along Second Street to watch the Belmont Shore parade go by.
“It’s an absolute thrill and honor to produce this event,” she said. “I love Christmas. My home looks like Christmas exploded!”
This year’s parade, Kern said, was “a record-setting celebration of what happens when a whole city comes together to create something joyful, unexpected and truly special.”
What about next year’s parade? Will it be another pajama party?
“I don’t know,” she said. “I think I would like to do something different, like everyone wearing lights and reindeer antlers, or maybe a Hawaiian shirt theme or even ugly sweaters.”
After wearing pajamas in the Press-Telegram and Grunion Gazette entry in this year’s parade, I can’t wait for 2026 — though I don’t know about ugly sweaters!
Christmas Parade’s winning entries
The parade, Kern said, featured more than 100 incredible entries, which were judged by a panel composed of Dr. Ennette Morton, Long Beach City College trustee; Jose Pereda of WaFd Bank Belmont Shore branch; Blair Cohn, executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association; Brian Addison of Longbeachize & Long Beach Food Scene; and Dana Buchanan, Belmont Shore Business Association board member.
These entries, Kern said, stole the show:
Absolute Best: Sophisticated Sounds and Steppers.
Best Marching Band: Western Pioneer High School.
Shore Spirit Award: Rogers Middle School.
Best Pajama Theme Execution: Camp Fire Long Beach.
Most Dazzling Display: Lit Riderz (in custom PJs).
Most Creative Concept: Long Beach Area Council-Scouting America.
Best Entry with Animals: Dalmatians of Long Beach.
Best Youth Dance Performance: A&J Dance Studio.
Best Use of Decorations: Long Beach Airport.
Best Youth Organization: Gravity Dance Company.