"We thought this would be a good time to include the community to celebrate not only the ribbon cutting but our two anniversaries," Marisa Fader told the Orange County Register the week the Promenade on Forest became official. Fader runs Bushard's Pharmacy, which her grandfather Joseph Bushard opened in 1946 in a building he built on Forest Avenue. The store is still in its original footprint and has never been remodeled. On Friday, Sept. 25, the pharmacy's 80th anniversary, Moulin's 10th, and the city's ribbon-cutting all became one evening party. Mayor Mark Orgill spoke, Moulin handed out free crepes, and there was live music.
That party set the pattern for the rest of the season. The street that began as a pandemic stopgap is now permanent, with brick paving, seating, greenery and a fountain inspired by a kelp forest. The Promenade itself has no fall program, though. Through December, downtown Laguna's calendar is made up of other groups' events held on and around the Promenade, and the busiest stretch comes with a catch that most locals won't expect.
The stage went quiet on Aug. 30
The city's live music program on the Promenade on Forest ran Friday through Sunday evenings, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and its 2026 schedule ended Aug. 30. The city page lists no fall series after that. The city's facility directory defines the space as Forest Avenue between Coast Highway and Glenneyre, and none of the city pages we reviewed give daily hours for the plaza.
The timing is a little odd. In its Aug. 2 newsletter, the City Manager's office expected the project to be finished in August. As it turned out, the summer music ended about a month before the permanent version was dedicated, and the Register reported that some touch-up work was still left at the ribbon-cutting. So the finished Promenade opened into its first fall with no standing weekly event. Whatever happens on it between now and the holidays is booked by someone else. If you live nearby, that means watching three outside calendars instead of one city one.
Who is booking downtown, in order
These are the dated events that use the Forest corridor or the blocks around it, from now through December:
- Oct. 3 to 11: the 28th Laguna Plein Air Painters Association Invitational. The Daily Pilot's Oct. 2 preview lists 30 artists competing for more than $50,000 in prizes. Today, Oct. 4, the free Quick Draw runs in Heisler Park from 1 to 3 p.m., followed by a silent auction and Quick Draw Award voting at the Festival of Arts from 3 to 6 p.m.
- Oct. 16 to 25: Coast Film & Music Festival. Coast describes "Films on Forest" as a community gathering on the corridor with films, live music, conversations and partner activations. The festival has not published a date, hours or price for Films on Forest yet.
- Oct. 25: the SHACC surfboard sale. Members get in at 8:30 a.m., and the public is welcome 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the museum's parking lot at 232 Ocean Ave.
- Oct. 29: Jeff Divine book launch at SHACC.
- Nov. 20 to Dec. 20: Sawdust Art Festival's Winter Fantasy, open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
- Dec. 4: Hospitality Night, about 5 to 9 p.m., with performances on a main stage on Forest Avenue and open houses at local businesses.
Two of these events are planned for Forest Avenue itself, and the museum one block over hosts two more. Coast Film & Music ties both together, and that brings in the second big change downtown this fall.
A free museum one block from the Promenade
The Surfing Heritage & Culture Center, or SHACC, spent about 20 years in an industrial building in San Clemente, where much of its collection was out of public view. It has now opened in downtown Laguna in a 1939 building. Founder Dick Metz, who is 97, said the building was a rare find because of its high ceilings, size, parking and closeness to the beach. The Laguna Beach Independent describes the new home as "on Broadway." SHACC's own directions put the parking lot and main entrance at 232 Ocean Ave., so use that address.
The collection traces surfing from Hawaii through California and the rest of the world, and includes five boards that once belonged to Duke Kahanamoku. Upstairs there is a library and archive with thousands of photographs and films. Current exhibits are "PAE KA NALU: Catch the Wave," "1930s: The Race to Compete" and "Santa Cruz." Chris Mauro, a SHACC historian and former Surfer magazine editor, calls the walk along the boards on the perimeter "your time capsule." Board materials change as you go, from redwood and pine to balsa, foam and today's boards.
On a normal week, admission is free, and the museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is closed Mondays, and hours can change for holidays and private events. Near Ocean Avenue, a free surf museum with afternoon hours is now an easy stop on a regular errand run.
Oct. 17 to 25: the week the free museum is ticketed
This is the catch. SHACC's admission page says that from Oct. 17 through Oct. 25, the museum is open only to Coast Film Festival ticket holders. Those dates fall inside this year's festival, which runs Oct. 16 to 25. For nine days, the free museum near the Promenade becomes a festival venue for paying guests.
SHACC is one of several downtown venues on the festival's official list:
- Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center, 235 Forest Ave.
- Hobie Surf Shop, 294 Forest Ave.
- SHACC, 232 Ocean Ave.
- Rivian South Coast Theater, 162 S. Coast Hwy.
Most of the festival takes place within a few blocks of Forest Avenue. It opens Oct. 16 with SURFILMUSIC at Rivian South Coast Theater, followed by an after-party at SHACC. The film ticket includes the party, and party-only tickets are also sold. SHACC lists the after-party as 9 to 10:30 p.m., while the festival schedule says 9 to 11 p.m., so check before you plan around the end time. On Oct. 17, SHACC hosts the Follow the Light Awards and a screening of Big Wednesday.
In practice, the free version of the museum is open through Oct. 16 and again after the festival ends. The Oct. 25 surfboard sale, held in the parking lot outside the building, is open to the public on the festival's last day.
The festival grounds dropped out of the fall rotation
The calendar is centered downtown partly because the other big civic venue lost a fall event. Taste of Laguna, the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce's annual food and music festival at the Festival of Arts grounds, was set for Oct. 1 and was canceled. The chamber's public statement cited "unforeseen circumstances."
The Daily Pilot reported on Sept. 11 that chamber president and CEO Brittany Ganson told a local Substack writer the problem was an "alcohol licensing issue." Festival of Arts spokesperson Sharbie Higuchi confirmed that the city-owned grounds effectively lost the ability to sell alcohol when the on-site restaurant, Terra Laguna Beach, closed at the end of the 2025 summer season. According to the paper, Terra's license had covered beer, wine and spirits across the wider venue. As of today, no new date for Taste of Laguna has been announced.
That leaves a gap at the grounds on Laguna Canyon Road this fall. The events that did go ahead are clustered on Forest and Ocean, where the businesses host them.
Getting there, and a closure on the south end
The city's non-summer trolley schedule runs Sept. 8, 2026 through June 25, 2027. The free Coast Highway route connects North Laguna and Heisler Park with downtown, South Laguna, Mission Hospital and Dana Point. The Canyon Route runs on weekends from the $5 Lot 16/Act V parking lot. For Hospitality Night, the city's tentative plan closes downtown streets starting at 3 p.m., including parts of Forest Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Beach Street and Glenneyre plus the Peppertree lot, with free trolley and neighborhood service from 4 to 11 p.m. The city calls that schedule tentative, so expect the details to be confirmed closer to December.
One beach access is affected right now. Stu News Laguna reported on Oct. 2 that Agate Street beach access was still closed after a Sept. 29 rockslide, with a geologist assessing the bluff and no reopening date announced.
If you followed our Laguna Beach summer 2026 calendar, this fall's version is more concentrated: one permanent plaza, one new museum and a series of outside groups taking turns. More on the town's character is on our Laguna Beach neighborhood page and in our look at art, ocean and everyday rhythm in Laguna.
The blocks around the Promenade on Forest are changing as the town builds around them. If you own property near downtown and want a confidential read on what these changes mean for your home, Ruby Wang and the Balliet + Wang team are here when you're ready. Request a private VIP consultation.
