Ocean Way is going away, at least for a year. Goldenvoice‘s inaugural Ocean Way Festival, which was scheduled to take place on the beach in Santa Monica Sept. 26-27, has been called off, with city officials saying the culprit is erosion along the shore caused by recent hurricane-level forces off the coast.

A statement from the city of Santa Monica said that the festival “has been canceled after storm surf generated by Hurricane Marie and runoff from a storm drain outfall eroded a large portion of the festival site over Labor Day weekend. The beach can no longer safely accommodate the festival production and audience capacity, and with construction and load-in set to begin next week, the city determined that cancellation was the only responsible option. Plans are already underway to bring the Ocean Way Festival back to Santa Monica in 2027.”

The statement further explained that “the surf stripped sand from the beach south of the Pier, which would have required moving the safe shoreline setback for the festival 96 feet inland. At the same time, runoff from the Pico-Kenter Storm Drain outfall cut through the southern end of the site, forcing the festival’s southern boundary to move around 500 hundred feet to the north… City staff completed an assessment of the site, evaluating sand conditions, emergency vehicle access, construction & load-in requirements, crowd circulation, tides, and the extended forecast. The combined loss of usable beach meant the festival infrastructure could not be built and the event would not be safe for attendees on the smaller footprint that remained. 

The statement sent to ticketholders further said that refunds for passes, which had been sold in a range from $249 to $2,250, will be processed automatically in the next 5-7 business days.

The two-day festival was hoping to draw up to 45,000 to the beach each day. Single-day passes were being sold along with two-day entry, and the lineup seemed designed to possibly draw a somewhat different audience each day, with rock acts like the Killers, Jack White and Sublime topping the bill on Saturday and a more eclectic lineup headed by Olivia Dean, Khruangbin and Durand Jones & the Indications on Sunday.

First-time beach-based festivals seem to be having a hard time of it in SoCal this year, with the inaugural LA Jazz Festival — which had a key stage set for Dockweiler Beach — having been canceled at the last minute, although the reasons given for that one had to do with finances and prep. At least anyone who wants to hear music with an ocean breeze still has an option for Eddie Vedder’s annual Ohana Fest. It takes place alongside the beach in Orange County’s Dana Point Sept. 25-27 — and, obviously, it no longer has Ocean Way as competition the same weekend.

“We’ve spent more than a year on this festival, and I’ve spent most of it telling anyone who would listen that music was coming back to this beach,” said Santa Monica mayor Caroline Torosis, in a statement. “I wanted to stand on the sand, see the Pier lit up behind that stage, and sing along with our community. I feel for the fans, the artists, and the businesses counting on that weekend, and I’m right there with them. But the surf took the beach we planned this on, and we cannot put tens of thousands of festival-goers on that sand until it’s safe,” “What didn’t wash away is the partnership. Goldenvoice has been a responsible partner from day one, and that work continues. Next year, the show goes on.” 

“While we share everyone’s disappointment that the show can’t go on this year, we fully support the city’s decision to prioritize safety, and we believe canceling for 2026 is the right call,” said Goldenvoice Chief Operating Officer Melissa Ormond. “We are committed to returning to Santa Monica in 2027 and delivering the Ocean Way Festival experience we envisioned for the community, artists and fans.” 

Variety published an interview in July with Goldenvoice producer Nic Adler, son of the legendary Lou Adler, about the desire to bring music back in a big way to Santa Monica, which has hosted few big rock or pop shows since the historic Santa Monica Civic Auditorium fell into disuse.

Said Adler then, “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.”

He noted, “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.”