Whatever its other benefits, Santa Monica hasn’t been a big music destination since the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium stopped hosting concerts and especially since the coastal 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 can put Santa Monica back on their collective GPS when the inaugural Ocean Way Festival takes place the last weekend in September, presented by Goldenvoice, the company that puts on Coachella, Stagecoach and many other festivals in the Southern California region.

The first day and night, September 26, will be dedicated to more rock-oriented tunes, with the Killers headlining a strong line-up that also includes Jack White, Sublime and Alvvays. A different kind of groove will prevail the next day, September 27, with Olivia Dean presiding over a lineup that also includes Khruangbin and Durand Jones & the Indications. Single-day tickets will be available for fans who clearly prefer one lineup over the other, as well as two-day passes.

The main stage will be installed in front of the Santa Monica Pier, and that structure will fulfill some internal functions. The public will place beach towels on the sand south of the pier, with a footprint extending about a half-mile to Bay Street, with a secondary stage and plenty of food and other attractions along the seaside paths. The Ocean Way Festival is permitted for up to 35,000 concertgoers per day.

Nic Adler, producer of Goldenvoice who is making this festival a reality, says Variety that the Pacific-adjacent environment came first and that the company’s talent buyers worked from there. “This was a little bit like, ‘Okay, we’re in Santa Monica, we’re on the beach, the sun is setting, of course. course I want to listen to Khruangbin.’ The lineup was inspired a bit by location, and I’d probably say that’s not an everyday occurrence for Goldenvoice. We started with a group of friends who were going to the beach. I think our team members were thinking about all going to the beach in our youth, having those summers where we were like, ‘Hey, we’ll meet at Tower 16 every day.’ And there were a couple of things you needed to have, and someone was in charge of the boombox and the mixtape. “I think we were all inspired in general by the festival programming, as well as the look that will end up appearing in some of our content: that sense that the last days of the season feel like an endless summer.”

Notably, the announcement comes the day after Olivia Dean wrapped up a two-night stand at Crypto.com Arena that not only sold out immediately, but resale prices skyrocketed. Needless to say, many locals will be happy to have another chance to win the Best New Artist Grammy, one of the most commercially popular artists of 2026, alongside the venerable and proven rock acts that populate Night 1.

Santa Monica residents will have access to a pre-sale on July 22, followed by a general sale on July 23. Registration for tickets is at oceanwayfestival.com.

The city itself provided the impetus for this to happen. At the 2025 council meetings, there was a discussion of how much the Twilight Dance Series was missed on the pier since the decision was made to close it in early 2015, if anything because it had become too popular for its own good since its inception in 1983. At the time, media reports described Councilman Dan Hall as a proponent of a multi-day festival as “part of a broader strategy to move our downtown and pier away from retail and closer to to experiences, those that attract tourists and create lasting memories… It is important to make it clear: what we propose is different from the old Twilight Series.”

Says Adler: “Actually, the origin is that Santa Monica is having its own revitalization moment or realignment plan, using events, culture, art and music to get people to come to the city. Santa Monica is an interesting place because it’s almost like an underdog city, in our backyard. We all know that Santa Monica is there, but I think they want to make sure those memories remain… They did the whole process with an RFP (Request for Proposal) and we applied for that and It finally 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 would talk to us: restaurants, business owners, people in town, hotels, artists, the wellness community, designers, just to really explore, what pieces can we take (that reflect the location), other than just coming, dressing up, and doing what we do?

Adler says the “perfect day at the beach” vibe will extend far beyond the music programming. “There are amazing restaurants in Santa Monica, so there’s going to be some really awesome food programming on this show. There’s a feel-good moment that happens in Santa Monica, and let’s see, how does that work at a music festival? Is there a way to incorporate some design? We have a really cool opportunity: We’re working with The Proper on what we call 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 coming in from Santa Monica to go to the beach.”

There is a purpose behind the name, as it references both a real street and one of the Los Angeles area’s most legendary recording studios.

“Ocean Way is actually one of the shortest streets in Santa Monica,” Adler notes. “It’s only about 100 feet long. But the corner of Bay Street and Ocean Way is about 100 feet from the festival entrance. Ocean Way is also the famous recording studio that Allen Sides opened in a three-car garage on Ocean Way, and a lot of great artists over the years recorded there, and eventually ended up moving to Hollywood. But, you know, I think there’s a lost musical history of Santa Monica, and Allen plays a role in that with Ocean Way Recording, and I think sometimes people can even forgetting the history of the incredible shows that were presented at the Santa Monica Civic, and that was a fundamental part of Goldenvoice becoming the company it is today; those great shows at the Civic were monumental in the history of Goldenvoice. Although the Civic still appears to be in limbo as sponsors discuss how to bring it back to life, Adler says, “We’ll start at the beach and hopefully the Civic will get going again and we’ll get back there.”

For Adler, it’s personal, since he grew up on the West Side and had a habit of going to the beach. And he’s in a family business, as his father, Lou Adler, founded Roxy, among many other accomplishments, which Nic eventually took over before joining Goldenvoice. Among the events he produced was Pasadena’s short-lived Arroyo Seco Festival, which had an eclectic lineup similar to that planned for Ocean Way.

“I’m from the Western side,” Adler says. “I went to school in Santa Monica and Christian Hosoi gave me my first skateboard in Rip City. I grew up in this business. I ran Roxy for many years and obviously my father started that in 1973, so I grew up on the Strip and I’ve been producing music festivals in some capacity for the last 15 years. But for me it’s a moment like coming home, coming back to a place that I recognize throughout my life. You know, we produced Camp Flog Now, which takes place at Dodger Stadium and we do big shows at Expo Park. But what a great opportunity to have started on the beach as a kid in Santa Monica and Malibu, and to be able to come back 40 years later to produce what is almost certainly the biggest show we’ve ever done on the west side.”