Goldenvoice forced to cancel inaugural Ocean Way festival at Santa Monica Pier due to hurricane impacts

Hurricane Marie’s swell carved away the beach south of the pier, ending Ocean Way’s September debut two weeks before gates. Refunds are automatic, and the city is already pointing to 2027.

Ocean Way Festival will not happen this year. The City of Santa Monica and Goldenvoice confirmed Sept. 11 that the inaugural two-day event, set for the sand south of the Santa Monica Pier, has been canceled after storm surf from Hurricane Marie tore through the site over Labor Day weekend.

The damage was not cosmetic. Marie, a Category 2 storm in the Eastern Pacific, pushed a large south swell into Southern California beaches around September 5, followed by two days of rain across Los Angeles County. The surf stripped enough sand that the festival’s safe shoreline setback would have had to move 96 feet inland, while runoff from the Pico-Kenter storm drain cut across the southern end of the grounds, pushing that boundary roughly 500 feet north. With load-in scheduled to begin this week, the city determined the remaining footprint could not safely hold the production or the crowd. The pier itself was undamaged and remains open.

The lineup was built to announce Santa Monica as a festival city: The Killers and Olivia Dean on headlining duty, with Khruangbin, Sublime and Jack White among the undercard. Tickets ranged from $249 to $2,250, and all purchases are being refunded automatically to the original payment method; buyers don’t need to file anything.

“We fully support the City’s decision to prioritize safety, and we believe canceling for 2026 is the right call,” Goldenvoice COO Melissa Ormond said in a statement, adding that the promoter is committed to a 2027 return. Mayor Caroline Torosis struck a similar note. “What didn’t wash away is the partnership,” she said. “Next year, the show goes on.”

The city and Goldenvoice say several community benefit programs developed alongside the festival will still move forward this year, with details expected shortly. Dates and ticketing for 2027 will be announced when available.

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Saracha

Heralding from sunny South Florida, I am a proud Florida Woman. In my free time, I surf the swamp, wrangle gators, open fan mail, and tend to my pets. In the wild, I’m most often spotted at immersive art spaces, step tappin’ in a shadowed corner of the club, hater blockerz on, totally incognito as your resident EDM spice girl. Although I generally tout my spicy side, if there’s one thing I’d love to impress upon the world, it would be this: it’s not a waste to give love to those who do not deserve it – it’s a gift. The world would be a better place if we gave, in kindness and in mercy, to those who need it most with no expectation in return.

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