Southern California will have to wait a bit longer for a large-scale concert event on the Santa Monica beachfront. The Ocean Way festival, from the same folks behind Coachella, has been canceled.
The two-day music festival was slated to debut on September 26 and 27, setting up just southeast of the Santa Monica Pier. Headliners were set to include The Killers, Olivia Dean, Jack White, and Khruangbin.
An email sent to ticket holders by AXS on Friday afternoon announced the cancellation. The message attributed the decision to recent storm-related erosion on the beach, explaining that significant storm surf and runoff had caused erosion making the festival site no longer safely usable as planned.
The City of Santa Monica later offered more concrete details behind the decision. Officials determined that the sand south of the pier had been stripped away. This would have required moving the safe shoreline setback for the festival 96 feet inland from its original position. Furthermore, the southern boundary of the event would have needed to shift 500 feet north to account for runoff from the Pico-Kenter Storm Drain outfall. After evaluating the site and considering the extended forecast, the city concluded there was not enough usable beach to safely accommodate the festival's infrastructure and projected attendees.
This news follows Hurricane Marie, an offshore storm southwest of the Baja California Peninsula, which sent wild waves breaking along the Southern California coast last weekend. Malibu and Long Beach experienced significant surf, and seawalls in Laguna Beach were battered. Curiously, Santa Monica generally appeared mostly fine to the casual observer, leading some online commenters on social media to speculate, without evidence, that ticket sales were the real reason for the cancellation.
However, the city's detailed explanation highlights the specific, unseen impacts that can make a difference for large-scale events. The Santa Monica Pier itself remains open and undamaged, but the specific conditions of the beach space designated for the festival proved to be the sticking point.
Ocean Way was first teased late last year by Goldenvoice as a large event, expected to draw between 30,000 and 35,000 attendees. The lineup, which leaned towards a mostly chill vibe, was announced just two months ago. The festival planned for two stages directly on the beach and intended to forgo any on-site parking in favor of a transit-friendly strategy.
If you purchased tickets for the now-canceled event, which started at $399 for a two-day pass or $229 for a single-day ticket, you should automatically receive a refund within the next five to seven business days. Despite this year's setback, organizers are already making plans to bring the festival to Santa Monica in 2027.
