Bitter outcry after second LA beach festival suddenly canceled — in the same week

Los Angeles’ beach festival season is beginning to look like a total washout.

Angelenos and local merchants are seeing red after the sudden cancellation of the 2026 Abbot Kinney Festival — marking the third consecutive year that the beloved Venice blowout was abruptly pulled from the schedule at the eleventh hour.

Organizers announced the uncool news just days before the scheduled Sept. 27 street fair — delivering a brutal second blow to a business community already reeling from the shocking collapse of the high-profile Ocean Way Festival in neighboring Santa Monica.

That event, promoted by Coachella creators Goldenvoice and set to star Olivia Dean and The Killers, was scrapped after surf and storm water generated by Hurricane Marie eroded a large portion of the festival site, according to SaMo city officials — though whispers of supposedly sluggish ticket sales spread quickly all over town.

This time, however, there’s no hurricane to blame. In a statement posted on Tuesday, Abbot Kinney Festival organizers cited a lack of community involvement and poor planning as reasons for the third cancellation in a row.

“Rather than move forward without those pieces fully in place, we’re turning our focus toward building a stronger foundation for the festival’s future,” they said.

The street festival is known for transforming Abbot Kinney Boulevard with live music and hundreds of vendors — it’s a longstanding tradition that goes back four decades.

Locals were quick to let organizers know just how unhappy they were with the astonishing, at-the-last-minute axing — with accusations flying of chronic incompetence, exorbitant merchant fees, and ghosting the neighborhood after taking their money.

“I cannot believe the people running this show [have] done it again,” one person raged. “Do you not realized how this hurts the hard working people of the artist community. Money has been spent. Time has been invested, plans have been made, and places to stay booked.”

Others pointed to surging booth rates driving sellers out before the event even crumbled.

“I found the fee to be too expensive for a vendor spot,” commented a business owner. “I chose not to do it this year for this reason … sad I was missing out, but good decision on this one.”

“The community has offered time and again to help make this festival successful, yet there continues to be no transparency about who is actually planning it or what’s happening behind the scenes,” another local raged. “We have been told multiple times it’s happening and everything is going great. Then, two weeks before an event everyone is excited about, it’s canceled.”

The event was also pulled from the schedule in 2024 and 2025 — with sponsorship challenges and lingering pandemic-era economic effects cited as reasons.

The organizers have not yet responded to a request for comment.

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