The inaugural Ocean Way Festival will not take place in Santa Monica this September after severe beach erosion forced organizers to cancel the two-day event just weeks before its planned debut.
Goldenvoice and the City of Santa Monica announced the cancellation on September 11, citing damage caused by Hurricane Marie and subsequent storm-drain runoff. The festival had been scheduled for September 26 and 27 on the beach south of the Santa Monica Pier, with The Killers and Olivia Dean set to headline alongside Jack White, Khruangbin, Sublime, Alvvays and a broad lineup of other artists. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
The cancellation came after unusually strong surf and runoff significantly changed the physical conditions of the planned festival site. According to the City of Santa Monica, the storm stripped sand from the beach and forced the safe shoreline setback to move 96 feet inland. Runoff from the Pico-Kenter Storm Drain also cut through the southern portion of the site, requiring the festival boundary to move roughly 500 feet north. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
Those changes left organizers with too little usable space to safely accommodate the planned production and audience. With construction and load-in scheduled to begin the following week, city officials concluded that the event could not proceed on the remaining footprint.
The cancellation is a significant setback for Santa Monica, which had positioned Ocean Way as the city's first major music festival on the beach. The event was developed as a partnership between the city and Goldenvoice, the promoter behind the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach. The festival was intended to combine major live performances with food, local programming, sustainability initiatives and other activities built around the city's beach culture. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
Ocean Way had been announced in July with ambitions beyond simply staging another large concert weekend. Organizers described the festival as a way of bringing major live music back to the Santa Monica coastline while creating a new cultural event for the city. The lineup reflected that broad approach, moving between rock, indie, soul, electronic music and alternative sounds.
The Killers were scheduled to headline the first night, with Jack White, Sublime, Alvvays and other acts also on the bill. Olivia Dean was set to headline the second day alongside Khruangbin, Durand Jones & The Indications, Hiatus Kaiyote, Poolside and other performers. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}
For fans who purchased tickets, the cancellation means the 2026 festival will not be rescheduled later this year. The City of Santa Monica says all tickets will be fully refunded automatically through the original point of purchase. Reports indicate refunds are expected to be processed within five to seven business days. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}
The weather-related cancellation also illustrates how vulnerable large outdoor music events can be to conditions beyond the control of promoters. Festival construction requires substantial infrastructure, including stages, crowd areas, emergency access routes and production equipment. A major change to the available site only weeks before an event can make moving forward impractical even when the lineup and ticket sales are already in place.
Santa Monica officials emphasized that the decision was based on safety rather than a change in plans for the festival itself. The city and Goldenvoice have already said they intend to bring Ocean Way back in 2027.
That means the cancellation is being treated as a postponement of the festival's debut rather than the end of the project. Organizers now have another year to assess the beach site, rethink the event's infrastructure and prepare for the environmental conditions that could affect a future edition.
For the artists, fans and businesses that had planned around the September weekend, however, the announcement is an immediate disappointment. The Killers, Olivia Dean, Jack White, Khruangbin and the rest of the lineup will no longer perform at Ocean Way this year.
Santa Monica's planned new festival therefore remains an unfinished idea rather than a failed one. Ocean Way was supposed to establish a major new event on the city's waterfront in 2026. Instead, Hurricane Marie and the resulting coastal damage have pushed that first chapter into 2027.
