Ocean Way Festival cancelled two weeks out after Hurricane Marie damages beach
The first Ocean Way Festival will not open on Santa Monica beach this month. Organiser Goldenvoice, the company behind Coachella, has cancelled the inaugural event because of beach erosion linked to Hurricane Marie Pitchfork. The City of Santa Monica made the call to cancel.
Goldenvoice said in a statement that the city cancelled the event due to the impacts of Hurricane Marie Los Angeles Times. The festival had been scheduled for 26 and 27 September, the last weekend of the month. The cancellation was announced on Friday, 11 September, about two weeks before gates were due to open.
City officials pointed to damage from storm surf and run-off, the fast-moving water that flows off land during heavy weather. The affected area included the stretch of sand between Santa Monica Pier and Bay Street. That section sits at the centre of the proposed festival site, where flat, wide beach is needed for stages, crowd areas and safe access. Erosion, the loss of sand from the upper beach, reduces the space available for stages and walkways.
The bill was led by The Killers and Olivia Dean, the headliners, the acts booked to close the main stage each night. A headliner typically plays last and longest, and the choice often sets the tone for ticket sales and coverage. Here, the pairing put an American rock band and a British soul singer at the top of a new beach event.
Further down the bill were Jack White, Khruangbin, Alvvays and Sublime. All four had been announced as performers for the debut edition. Their bookings gave the two-day programme breadth across rock, psychedelic funk, indie pop and Southern California reggae-rock.
Ocean Way had been billed as the first major music festival on Santa Monica beach Goldenvoice. The presentation went wider than music. Organisers described it as a celebration of music, food, wellness, design, sustainability and beach culture, which in festival terms means food vendors and daytime programming alongside the stages.
For fans, this means no seaside sets this September. Goldenvoice has said it plans to launch Ocean Way next year instead. No new dates have been confirmed in the published reports.
