Snoopy House finds temporary shelter during pandemic among nonprofit toy drive at Orange County IKEA
Snoopy waves to people lined up in cars waiting to view the Snoopy House exhibit during a drive-through holiday toy drive at IKEA in Costa Mesa on Wednesday.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)
Print
Since 1966, Costa Mesa residents have celebrated the holidays by visiting Snoopy House — a Christmas-themed homage to Charles Schulz’s comic strip “Peanuts” that stood for decades at a local residence before moving to the lawn outside City Hall in 2011.
Once there, the installation morphed into a civic event that featured free photos with Santa Claus, train rides and live performances and took on a life of its own as attendance expanded to around 15,000 visitors, according to Dane Bora, a public affairs manager for the city of Costa Mesa.