South Bay Festivals

The stretch of coast between Long Beach and Venice runs a festival calendar most cities would envy, and the South Bay sits in the middle of it. Two of the biggest happen in Redondo Beach. Here is the year, roughly in order, and what each one actually does to the neighborhood around it.

What are the biggest festivals in the South Bay?

Festival	When	Where	What it is
Southern California Slack Key Festival	January, the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr Day	Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center	The largest Hawaiian ki ho’alu music event on the American mainland. Running since 2008
BeachLife Festival	Early May. 2026 ran 1 to 3 May	Redondo Beach waterfront	Three days of music on the sand with a serious food and art program
Fiesta Hermosa	Memorial Day weekend and again Labor Day weekend	Downtown Hermosa Beach and the pier	Billed as the largest arts and crafts fair in Southern California. Free
International Surf Festival	Late July into early August	Across Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance	A week of competition spread across four cities
Redondo Beach Lobster Festival	Late September	Seaside Lagoon, 200 Portofino Way, Redondo Beach	Weekend pass event with a signature chef, music and local beer
Manhattan Beach Food and Wine	Annual	Manhattan Beach	Grand Tasting with chefs, wineries, spirits and breweries
GLOW at South Coast Botanic Garden	Just before Thanksgiving until after New Year	Palos Verdes Peninsula	After-hours illuminated installation across the garden

What is BeachLife Festival?

BeachLife is the largest music festival in the South Bay, three days on the Redondo Beach waterfront in early May. The 2026 edition ran 1 to 3 May with a lineup including Duran Duran, The Chainsmokers, The Offspring, Slightly Stoopid and James Taylor. It combines music with a culinary program and an art component, and the setting is the selling point: very few festivals anywhere put a main stage that close to open ocean.

Practically, it changes Redondo for a weekend. Parking near the waterfront becomes difficult, harbor access changes, and the surrounding streets carry considerably more traffic than usual. If you live nearby you plan around it. If you are visiting, stay within walking distance or use the Metro and walk in.

Which festivals happen twice a year?

Fiesta Hermosa is the one that runs twice, over Memorial Day weekend and again over Labor Day weekend. Three days each time, free to attend, on and around the pier in downtown Hermosa Beach, with live music, vendors, food and a carnival. On both weekends Pier Avenue and parts of Hermosa Avenue close and the middle of that neighborhood becomes a festival.

The BeachLife organization has also run a separate autumn event in addition to the May festival in some years. Because that pattern has varied, check the organizer’s current calendar rather than assuming a second date.

What is worth the drive between Long Beach and Venice?

The wider coastal calendar is strong, and everything below is inside an hour.

• Long Beach. The Grand Prix of Long Beach in April closes the downtown street circuit for a weekend and is one of the longest running street races in North America. The city also runs a substantial summer festival and waterfront event calendar.
• San Pedro. Los Angeles Fleet Week over Labor Day weekend at the LA Waterfront, centered on Battleship IOWA, plus the monthly First Thursday ArtWalk downtown.
• Marina del Rey and Playa del Rey. Summer waterfront events and the holiday boat parade in December.
• Venice. Abbot Kinney First Fridays each month, plus a dense year-round street and beach event calendar.
• El Segundo. The annual El Segundo Art Walk, a smaller and more manageable version of the format.

The pattern worth noticing: the big ticketed music festivals sit in Redondo Beach, the free community festivals sit in Hermosa Beach and El Segundo, and the monthly art walks sit in San Pedro and Venice. You can build a year out of the free ones alone.

What should you know before going to any of them?

Three things, and they apply across the whole calendar.

• Parking is the constraint, not tickets. Every coastal festival here overwhelms local parking. Arrive early, use a structure rather than the street, or come in on the Metro C or K Line and walk.
• Beach rules still apply during festivals. Alcohol is prohibited on the beach and pier in Hermosa Beach, and smoking, including vaping, is prohibited on the beach, the pier, Pier Plaza, the Strand and all parks and public spaces there.
• If you live nearby, the dates matter more than the lineup. Memorial Day, Labor Day, the first weekend in May and late September are the weekends when the middle of a beach city becomes an event site. That is not a complaint, it is a calendar to plan around.

Festival dates move year to year and lineups are announced on the organizer’s own schedule. Dates above are the most recent confirmed editions, verified September 2026. Confirm with the organizer before booking travel or tickets.

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