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Whatever its other breezy benefits might be, Santa Monica has not been much of a music destination since the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium stopped hosting concerts and especially since the beachside city’s famous Twilight
Series on the pier came to an end a dozen years ago. But tens of thousands of music enthusiasts from across the Southern California area may be putting Santa Monica back into their collective GPS when the inaugural Ocean Way Festival takes place on the last weekend in September, presented by Goldenvoice, the company that does Coachella, Stagecoach and many other festivals in the Southern California region.
The first day and night, on Sept. 26, will be devoted to rockier fare, with the Killers topping a potent bill that also features Jack White, Sublime and Alvvays. A different sort of groove will prevail the following day, on Sept. 27, with Olivia Dean presiding atop a lineup that also includes Khruangbin and Durand Jones & the Indications. Single-day tickets will be available for fans who distinctly prefer one lineup over the other, as well as two-day passes.
The main stage will be set up against the Santa Monica Pier, with that structure serving some back-of-house duties. The audience will be setting out beach towels on the sand south of the pier, with a footprint that extends down about a half-mile to Bay Street, with a secondary stage and plenty of food and other attractions along the oceanside paths. The Ocean Way Festival is permitted for up to 35,000 concertgoers per day.
Nic Adler, a producer at Goldenvoice who is seeing this festival to fruition, tells Variety that the Pacific-adjacent setting came first, and the company’s talent buyers worked from there. “This was a little bit like, ‘OK, we’re in Santa Monica, we’re on the beach, the sun’s setting — of course I wanna hear Khruangbin.’ The lineup took some inspiration from the location, and I’d probably say that’s not an everyday for Goldenvoice. Just a group of friends going to the beach is where we started. I think the members of our team were thinking about all going to the beach in our youth, having those summers where we were like, ‘Hey, we’re meeting at Tower 16 every day.’ And there were a couple things you needed to have, and someone was in charge of the boombox and the mixtape. I think we all took inspiration across the board from that on the festival lineup, as well as the look and feel that’ll end up coming out in some of our content — that feeling of the last days of the season feeling like an endless summer.”
It’s notable that the announcement is taking place the day after Olivia Dean wrapped up a two-night stand at Crypto.com Arena that not only immediately sold out but had resale prices going through the roof. Needless to say, many locals will be happy to be getting another shot at the Grammy best new artist winner who one of the commercially hottest artists of 2026, along with the proven, venerable rock acts that populate night 1.
Santa Monica residents will get access to a presale on July 22, followed by a general on-sale July 23. Registration for tickets is taking place at oceanwayfestival.com. General admission is $229 for one day or $399 for both. “Premium Pit” passes are $449 for one day or $749 for both.
The city itself provided the impetus for this happening. At council meetings in 2025, there was discussion of how missed the Twilight Dance Series on the pier was since a decision was made in early 2015 to close that down, if anything because it had gotten too popular for its own good since its inception in 1983. At that time, news accounts described councilmember Dan Hall as advocating for a multi-day festival as “part of a larger strategy to shift our Downtown and Pier away from retail and toward experiences — ones that draw tourists and create lasting memories… It’s important to be clear: what we’re proposing is different from the old Twilight Series.”
Says Adler, “Really where it stems from is that Santa Monica is kind of having its own revitalization moment or realignment plan, turning toward events, culture, arts and music to get people to come to the city. Santa Monica is an interesting place because it’s almost like an underdog city a little bit, in our backyard. We all know Santa Monica’s there, but I think they want to make sure that those memories stick. … They did the whole process with an RFP (Request for Proposal) and we submitted for that and ultimately won, about seven months ago, and it’s been a pretty quick turnaround for us. We spent several days in the city meeting with anyone who wanted to talk to us — restaurants, business owners, city folks, hotels, artists, the wellness community, designers, just to really explore, what is Santa Monica? What pieces can we take (that reflect the location), other than just coming and putting on and doing what we do?”
Adler says the “perfect day at the beach” vibe will extend well beyond the music lineup. “There’s incredible restaurants in Santa Monica, so there’s gonna be a really impressive food lineup on this show. There’s a moment of wellness that happens in Santa Monica, and we’re gonna see, how does that work on a music festival? Is there a way to bring in some design? We have a really cool opportunity.:We’re working with The Proper on what we’re calling the Proper Beach Club, and Kelly Wearstler, who is the number one interior designer right now and maybe of our time, is designing a space that we’re pulling in from Santa Monica for the beach.” Proper Beach Club passes, which include all-day fine dining, are $1250 for one day or $2250 for two.
There is purpose behind the festival name, in how it references both an actual street and one of the L.A. area’s most legendary recording studios.
“Ocean Way actually one of the shortest streets in Santa Monica,” Adler points out. “It’s only about 100 feet long. But the corner of Bay Street and Ocean Wayis about 100 feet from the entrance of the festival. Ocean Way is also the famous recording studio that was started by Allen Sides in a three-car garage on Ocean Way, and so many great artists over the years recorded in there, and then eventually he ended up moving to Hollywood. But, you know, I think that there’s a lost music history of Santa Monica, and Allen plays a part in that with Ocean Way Recording, And I think sometimes people might even forget the history of the incredible shows that played at the Santa Monica Civic, and that was an instrumental part of Goldenvoice becoming the company that it is today; those big shows at the Civic were monumental in Goldenvoice’s history.” Although the Civic continues to appear to be in limbo as backers discuss how to bring it back to life, Adler says, “We’ll start at the beach, and hopefully the Civic gets going again, and we’ll make our way back there.”
For Adler, it’s personal, as he grew up on the west side, making a habit of going to the beach. And he’s in a family business, as his father, Lou Adler, founded the Roxy, among many other accomplishments, which Nic eventually took over before joining Goldenvoice. Among the events he produced there was Pasadena’s too-short-lived Arroyo Seco Festival, which had an eclectic lineup similar to the one set for Ocean Way.
“I am a West sider,” Adler says. “I did go to school in Santa Monica, and I did get my first skateboard from Christian Hosoi at Rip City. I grew up in this business. I ran the Roxy for many years, and obviously my dad started that in ’73, so I grew up on the Strip and have been producing music festivals in some capacity for the last 15 years. But for me it’s a little bit of a coming home moment, coming back to a place that I recognize from throughout my life. You know, we produce Camp Flog Now, which takes place at Dodger Stadium, and we do big shows at Expo Park. But what a cool opportunity to have started on the beach as a a young kid in Santa Monica and Malibu, and being able to come back 40 years later to produce what is almost certainly the biggest show that we’ve ever done on the west side.”
The full lineup, alphabetically, including DJ sets that will pepper the festivities: 54 Ultra, Alvvays, Austin Millz, BLOND:ISH, Carlita, Coco & Breezy, DJ Harvey, Durand Jones & the Indications, EREZ, Good Neighbours, Heidi Lawden, Hiatus Kaiyote, Hot Chip DJ set, Jack White, Khruangbin, Nala, Olivia Dean, Poolside DJ set, SG Lewis, Sublime, the Killers and Vandelux DJ set.
