In an op/ed published on Tuesday*I lamented the end of the Twilight Concert Series in 2017 which brought free entertainment to the Santa Monica Pier for tens of thousands of attendees every summer. At next Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the Council will vote on whether or not to explore bringing concerts back to the Pier in an attempt to increase tourism revenue for the city (16.E).
“After months of working with stakeholders on the Pier, in City Hall, and in the community, I’m proud to bring this item forward for Council discussion on Tuesday,” writes Dan Hall in a message to Next. “It’s part of a larger strategy to shift our Downtown and Pier away from retail and toward experiences—ones that draw tourists and create lasting memories.”
International tourism in Santa Monica has never returned to pre-pandemic levels, and given the current international political climate is unlikely to again outside of the expected boom in the summers of 2026 for the FIFA World Cup and 2028 for the Olympics. But by hosting concerts, Santa Monica could follow the lead of cities such as Long Beach and San Francisco to bring in more domestic travel to help fill the void left by the lack of foreign vacationers.
For example, Long Beach’s Insomniac’s Dreamstate trance music festival brought in 25,000 people for an outdoor event in November of last year. During Dreamstate weekends (typically held in November), many downtown and waterfront hotels report sell-outs or near-full capacity, including the Queen Mary hotel itself (which is adjacent to the festival site).
Portola music festival in San Francisco debuted in 2022 with 30,000 attendees. This festival attracts mostly regional attendees, organizers noted ~90% were from within 50 miles. But the city still saw an influx of out-of-town visitors in 2022-2024 boosted hotel occupancy on festival nights. For example, during 2023, about 250 hotel rooms in San
Francisco were booked by festival-goers at peak nights, generating roughly $300,000 in hotel revenue and $3.3 million in local spend according to publicly available numbers included in the council motion.
Hall believes these kinds of events can be a great fit for Santa Monica.
“…it’s important to be clear: what we’re proposing is different from the old Twilight Series,” Hall Continues.
“Safety and security are central to making Pier music festivals successful, and we’ve worked closely with Chief Batista and our Rec and Arts Department to get it right. This must be a money maker, not create losses to the City. Just as important, we want to make sure Pier businesses benefit this time, instead of being shut down like before.”
Specifically, the motion calls for the city to prepare for the Council, by the end of the calendar year, a series of motions including:
- A motion that would create an entertainment zone at the Pier.
- A plan seeking public-private partnerships and sponsorship opportunities, particularly with local businesses, to invest in capital infrastructure projects such as sound, lighting, and performance amenities on the Pier.
- A security and safety plan for large events
- A marketing plan which leverages Santa Monica Travel and Tourism, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc., and Main Street Business Improvement, District expertise to facilitate hotel, restaurant, parking, and travel package deals with event producers
- An operations plan for large events that provides for public access to the pier, parking structures, and local businesses
- A programming framework to ensure event planners target the ‘shoulder season’ of October-May (save Spring Break weeks), as well as book appropriately sized acts across multiple stage areas in intentional scheduling overlap to control for crowd flow and density using a crowd-splitting strategy.
- A reasonable (but not prohibitive) good-neighbor framework to mitigate nuisance to residents and business.
*- I had no advance knowledge this motion would be on next Tuesday’s agenda.
