Hurricane Marie has ruined the plans of thousands of music lovers.
The city of Santa Monica has decided to cancel the beachfront music festival Ocean Way which was set for the last weekend in September after huge surf and storm water generated by Hurricane Marie eroded a large portion of the festival site over the Labor Day weekend.
The music festival was to be headlined by The Killers and Olivia Dean, with a range of acts featured including Khruangbin, Sublime and Jack White.
The event was canceled just two weeks before the scheduled two-day festival was scheduled to take place on the beach site, south of the Santa Monica pier, on September 26 and 27.
“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,” the city’s manager office said in a statement.
Goldenvoice, which also promotes the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, sent an email through its ticketing platform, AXS, to everyone who was intending to attend.
“Due to the impacts of Hurricane Marie, the City of Santa Monica has canceled the inaugural Ocean Way festival,” Goldenvoice said in a statement to attendees.
“Storm surf and runoff has caused significant beach erosion and the festival can no longer be safely held as planned. Plans are already underway to bring the festival back to Santa Monica in 2027.”
Tickets, which cost between $249 and $2,250, are expected to be refunded within seven business days.
In the meantime, local officials are worried about just how much the hurricane has damaged areas from Malibu to Long Beach and Dana Point.
“With Hurricane Marie also causing sinkholes in Malibu and triggering home evacuations in Long Beach due to rising surf, the rapid erosion of the beach near the Sandbox event space over the past few days is deeply concerning.
“The City is working rapidly to keep the Pico storm drain and shoreline repaired and ready for upcoming weather,” Santa Monica City Councilmember Dan Hall said in a statement to the Times.
“While we are all disappointed, I remain optimistic about bringing Ocean Way back next summer.”
The festival, according to Goldenvoice who announced it in July, was promoted as a car-free event and meant to encourage concert-goers to use transit and help revitalize Santa Monica’s nightlife.
It is the second beachside music festival to be cancelled this year. The first being the inaugural LA Jazz Festival that was supposed to happen on Aug. 22.
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