Santa Monica Votes To Move Twilight Summer Concerts To Fall

SANTA MONICA, CA – Santa Monica's ever-popular summer Twilight Concert Series will be pushed back to fall – at least for 2018. The Santa Monica City Council approved a notion with a 7-0 vote Tuesday to move the 2018 season to after Labor Day in an effort to reduce the massive crowds that the event draws.

After 33 years of free summer concerts at the Santa Monica Pier, the Twilight Concert Series has grown significantly bringing crowds of tens of thousands and filling the beach below the pier deck, the City of Santa Monica said in a statement.

“The Twilight Concert Series is without a doubt one of the most admired events in Santa Monica, but we need to re-imagine it to ensure the safety of those attending,” said Mayor Ted Winterer. “The Council supports the continuation of the Twilight Concerts if the Pier Corporation is able to reduce crowd size.”

In the approved motion, the council directed the Santa Monica Pier Corporation to collaborate with City staff over many aspects, including: retaining the "original spirit" of the concert series by limiting attendance to primarily the Pier Deck, limit public safety costs to no more than $400,000 for the 2018 events, with the authority to suspect the series if the budget is exhausted prior to the end of the events, and more.

The notion also included giving city staff the authority to achieve the outlined goals through considering options outlined in the Staff Report, which includes: add a no-fee ticketing system to prevent overcrowding and provide a more accurate count of expected attendees; remove all speakers that project towards the beach; reduce the size and prominence of the stage; relocate the stage so it is not visible from the beach; change the day of the week the series is held; book performers whose draw aligns with a small-sized venue; screen the Newcomb lot on the south side of the Pier to remove views from the sand; among other ideas the Pier Corporation may define, according to the statement.

City staff was also directed to look into outside resources to develop an assessment, drawing on other places that host large-scale beach events, as well as explore fixed infrastructure needed for large-scale event security.

Council voted to approve the Santa Monica Pier Corporation’s FY 2017-18 Budget and Work Plan and approved the update to the Pier Corporation’s bylaws. The work plan includes continuation of several other marquee programs at the Santa Monica Pier, including: Front Porch Cinema, Paddleboard Race & Ocean Festival, STEAM Machines, LA Opera, among other arts and education programming, the statement said. The Pier Corporation also plans to collaborate with the City’s Office of Pier Management and Office of Emergency Management to update the existing Emergency Action Plan for the Pier.

“We can have safe, inclusive, diverse events on the Pier, but we can’t do it when it spills out over the beach at night,” said City Manager Rick Cole. “We look forward to working with the Pier Corporation’s new executive director as a partner in reimagining the scale and scope of Twilight Concerts.”

The city’s costs for the 2017 Twilight Concert Series were more than $1 million, primarily for public safety personnel and staffing, according to a Dec. 12 Staff Report on the Twilight Concert Series and Pier Corporation Budget, Work Plan, and Bylaws. The size of the crowds on the beach required the assistance of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, as well as other allied agencies to fully staff each concert, and exceeded the allocated budget from City Council by $400,000, the city statement said.

Photo via 12019/Pixabay