The way onto the Santa Monica Pier this fall is a temporary pedestrian bridge about 30 feet south of where the entrance used to be. The old Ocean Avenue entrance is closed. Behind it, crews are removing what is left of the 1939 bridge that has carried traffic from Ocean and Colorado Avenues onto the deck for most of a century.
Locals' Night runs on the third Thursday of every month from September to May, and that schedule is unchanged. Pacific Park presents the free series, which the Pier calls "a curated series for locals, by locals." So the Pier's most resident-focused stretch of the year now overlaps with the busiest months of a construction project the City expects to finish in December 2027. The programming is generous and free, and you can absolutely go. You just need a slightly different route than the one you've used for years.
The season, month by month
The Pier posts the 2025–2026 series as a run of themed nights. September was Westside Punk Night. The rest of the season looks like this.
| Date | Event | What the Pier lists |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Oct. 15 | Locals' Night: Drive-In Movie | Dogtown and Z-Boys, Tony Alva vinyl set, skate ramp, classic car meet |
| Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 | Día de los Muertos | Community ofrendas, performances, face painting, a procession |
| Thursday, Nov. 19 | Locals' Night: Swiss Art + Sound | Theme announced, details pending |
| Thursday, Dec. 17 | Locals' Night: Holiday Cheer on the Pier | Theme announced |
| January | Locals' Night: Drive-In Movie | A second drive-in night |
| February | Locals' Night: Jazz | Theme announced |
The November and December dates are worked out from the third-Thursday rule, not taken from a published event page. Check them on the Pier's Locals' Night page before you put them on the calendar. The Día de los Muertos celebration is free and is listed on the Pier's site as running October 31 through November 1.
October 15 is the busiest night of the fall
October is the most ambitious night on the schedule. The Pier is staging a drive-in screening of Dogtown and Z-Boys "just blocks from where the legend began." The lineup includes:
- Vinyl DJ sets by original Z-Boy Tony Alva and 31oleo
- Live music from Cycotic Youth
- Live music by Chino Espinoza Y Los Dueños Del Son, plus salsa lessons with Courtney Parsi
- A skate ramp and a classic car meet
- Local vendors and a Books & Cookies musical story time
Tickets are free, but you need an Eventbrite RSVP, and there are three kinds. A General Chair ticket means you bring your own blanket and chair and claim a spot up front. A Drive-In Car ticket lets you drive onto the Pier and watch from your car, limited to one ticket per vehicle, not one per person. A Skate Ramp ticket is required to ride the ramp, and you have to sign a waiver and register in advance. There's also an optional add-on: an Unlimited Ride Wristband to Pacific Park plus a Pier sticker pack for $40, against a listed retail value of $60. The Pier asks guests to stay for the full screening.
The construction affects two of those ticket types. Bikes, skateboards and other small wheeled vehicles aren't allowed on the temporary pedestrian bridge, and the City sends them to Seaside Terrace instead. So if you hold a ramp ticket and arrive on your board, plan to enter through Seaside Terrace. The Car tickets raise a separate question. The old vehicle bridge is the very structure being demolished, and the published City notices don't say how drive-in cars will reach the deck that night. Read the instructions on your Eventbrite confirmation before you leave home.
How to get onto the Pier right now
The City lists four ways in on foot while the bridge is under construction:
- The temporary pedestrian bridge, about 30 feet south of the closed Ocean Avenue entrance. This is the main entrance.
- Ocean Front Walk, from the beach level.
- The protected walkway beside the temporary vehicle ramp in the parking lot.
- The stairs near Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
Driving takes more planning this month. The Moomat Ahiko Way on- and off-ramps at Pacific Coast Highway were set to close for about two months starting as early as Monday, September 28. Southbound PCH drivers are being sent to the California Incline or to eastbound I-10 and Lincoln, and Ocean Avenue traffic headed for PCH is sent north to the Incline. The notice gives no fixed reopening date, so assume the ramps may stay closed through Día de los Muertos and possibly the November Locals' Night.
Appian Way closes to all vehicles Monday, October 5 through Friday, October 9. During that closure, the only way to drive into Pier parking is from Pacific Coast Highway. Beach Lot 4 South, Beach Lot 3 North and Parking Structure 8 are the alternatives. Signal work at Ocean and Colorado Avenues runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 5 and 6. The outside southeast lane and the bike lane will be closed, but at least one lane stays open to traffic. Both closures end almost a week before October 15. Part of Beach Parking Lot 1 North will still be a contractor staging area with a temporary vehicle ramp.
The Pier's own visitor page still sends rideshare riders to 1550 Appian Way. The City's October 1 notice says designated rideshare pickup and drop-off spots remain open but doesn't give an address. Check the signs when you arrive.
Daytime visitors should also know about Ocean Front Walk under the bridge. It closes briefly and intermittently on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m., and flaggers walk pedestrians around the work. That affects morning runs on the beach path but not a Thursday evening.
Why the access will keep changing all season
According to the City's September notices, the next phase is demolishing the rest of the old bridge, then drilling foundations and building the new columns. The City's published timeline lays out the overlap with the Locals' Night season:
- July to December 2026: foundation construction
- October 2026 to August 2027: construction of the new bridge
- June to September 2027: removing the temporary bridge and ramp and restoring the parking lot
- December 2027: scheduled completion, ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The City notes the schedule can change. If it holds, the whole September-to-May season, from the Dogtown drive-in to February's jazz night, takes place while the new bridge is being built. The finished bridge will include a 15-foot sidewalk. Shimmick Construction Company is the contractor. Bureau Veritas North America handles construction management and inspection, and Dokken Engineering provides engineering support. Construction began in December 2025.
For most of this fall, then, the closures will change from week to week while the event calendar stays fixed. The City's press releases are the most reliable source for the week you plan to go.
Whose fiftieth it is
The October Locals' Night page says the screening celebrates "Dogtown's 50th anniversary." It also says that fifty years ago a crew of local surfers took their moves from the waves to the streets. The full history behind that milestone is more specific.
This summer, the Adler/Smith Gallery at 1636 Ocean Park Boulevard hosted "Dogtown: 50 Years of Fun," curated with Jim Muir and Dogtown Skateboards. The show ran from an August 1 opening party, where Tony Alva also played a DJ set, through August 23. In The Argonaut's coverage, the gallery's co-founder said plainly that the show was not about the original Dogtown.
"A lot of times when people think of Dogtown, they think of the Zephyr Surf Shop and the Z-Boys because of that era. This show is post the Zephyr breakup. In 1975, the team started to split up after the Del Mar competition."
According to the same article, Muir, one of the original Z-Boys, started his own brand with artist Wes Humpston, and it became Dogtown Skateboards. The exhibition covered 1976 to 2026, with work by Glen E. Friedman, C.R. Stecyk, Chuck Katz, Tobin Yelland and Josh Klassman. So 2026 is the 50th anniversary of the company Muir founded after the Zephyr team broke up. The film being shown on the Pier tells the story of the Zephyr years that came before it. On October 15, an original Z-Boy will play records in front of a screen showing his own teenage years, in a year that marks a later chapter of the same story.
The short walk the film covers
You can see two of the film's locations on the way to the Pier. Dogtown Coffee at 2003 Main Street occupies the former Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions space at Main and Bay Streets. The building was nominated for city landmark status in 2007. The sources we found don't confirm whether the designation was ever finalized. Farther north, the stretch of Bicknell Avenue between Ocean Avenue and the beach is where the well-known photograph of Jay Adams bombing the hill was taken, and Lords of Dogtown later recreated the scene there.
From Main and Bay, walk north toward Colorado Avenue and you come out at the temporary pedestrian bridge. That's the route you'll be taking all season.
Locals' Night is free, and the Pier will be a construction site through most of 2027. If the new bridge and the 2027 timeline have you wondering how the blocks around Ocean Avenue and Main Street will feel once the work is done, the team at Smith & Berg Property Group is glad to talk it through. Contact us anytime, and we'll see you on the Pier on the fifteenth.