Two sellouts and a swatting delay for BeachLife 2026

by Garth Meyer

BeachLife 2026 featured two sellout days, a new record for single-day attendance, and a late Sunday night finish because a bomb threat at the nearby Pier cleared the festival grounds and delayed fans’ entry by two hours.

“Overall, a continued success, we executed on all of our new operational goals,” said Allen Sanford, BeachLife co-founder. “We challenge ourselves every year to raise the bar.”

Friday was sold out, headlined by Duran Duran, setting a new record for single-night attendance, and Saturday sold out about 5 p.m. after a surge in walkup tickets. 

Friday’s record beat the Gwen Stefani night from 2023.

After the two sellouts, one day remained.

“Our security team ends each night with a circle of thanks, reviewing security highlights and what we can do better the next day,” Sanford said, “We ended with high-fives. We all walked away with a feeling in our stomach. This is too easy, something’s going to happen.”

He got the call from RBPD the next morning: a reported hostage situation at the Pier potentially involving explosives.

 “I immediately knew it was going to be a lively morning,” Sanford said. 

At 9:30, organizers went into a Code Red shutdown, clearing everyone out from the grounds.

“The amount of adrenaline going through your body…” Sanford noted.

Hundreds of festival staff were quarantined in the parking lot by Captain Kidd’s for a two-hour delay.

“We weren’t comfortable until we re-scanned our entire grounds,” Sanford said. “Both our fire chief and police chief, Chief (Patrick) Butler and (Stephen) Sprengel, did an extraordinary job.”

Before the re-opening, BeachLife Security Director Keith Kauffman, the RBFD and RBPD, first had protocol to follow.

“I can tell you, it was a long list,” Sanford said. 

“After bomb-sniffing and magnometers” and “every bag-re-checked,” staff were let back in to re-set up.

From the general entry gate, the line stretched down Harbor Drive, around the corner to the Portofino Hotel.

The first artist on the delayed schedule, Chris Pierce, who Sanford has known for 25 years, got a call. 

With the entry line still backed up, Sanford asked if he still wanted to go on, and start his set in front of no one, or come back next year.

Pierce said he’d go ahead, responding to Sanford saying that hearing the music will lift the people in line.

By the end of Pierce’s set, the crowd had filled in.

Because of the delay, Sanford was given an extension of 45 minutes, until 10 p.m., by Redondo Beach Mayor Jim Light and City Manager Mike Witzansky. 

“From a business perspective, there was all the commerce lost. Commerce didn’t really start until 3:30,” Sanford said.

Is this subject to insurance coverage?

“This an uninsurable (happening),” he said. “An ‘edge case.’ It’s not an interruption or a cancellation.”

He added that BeachLife was “never fully reimbursed to what we believed we deserved” after the 2024 wind cancellation of that Sunday evening.

To account for this year’s Sunday two-hours down, certain set times were shortened by five or 10 minutes, and built-in breaks between performers were eliminated.

“The deeper delay was the backup of the line,” Sanford said. “Coupled with the bomb-sniffing is really what created a reduction of commerce. BeachLife survives on food, drink, and other things being sold. That’s how we survive.”

The festival has a revenue-sharing agreement with each vendor.

Advertising inside the grounds brings in more money, such as the Citizens Bank and Morgan and Morgan commercials running on video screens at each side of the main stages before performances.

“We have built a rabid consumer fanbase that people want to market to,” Sanford said. 

All told, he wrapped BeachLife 2026 feeling happy.

“Nobody got hurt. Two sold-out nights. Overall, I’m very happy… It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of worry,” he said. “I don’t exhale until about 9 p.m. Sunday.”

Or this year, closer to 10 p.m.

“James Taylor helped me with the exhale. I can tell you the moment, ‘Carolina in my Mind.’ My 89-year-old father was there, and I hadn’t seen him that day, until then. I walked over and we got to listen to it together.” 

What were the new operational goals this year that Sanford mentioned?

“We learned in the first years of BeachLife, you can’t just bring in ‘quote, unquote music industry professionals.’ We’re doubling down on South Bay people who care as much about the  community as putting on a show,” he said.

Sanford noted the latest local hire – retired RBPD captain Corey King — joined retired RBPD chief Kauffman on the security team this year

“We hope to continue to work with the city, that they find us a valuable partner…” Sanford said. 

Five days of BeachLife takedown will follow and then a Seaside Lagoon cleanup is set for Saturday. 

SIDEBAR:

Redondo Beach Police responded to a 911 call at 9:36 a.m. Sunday morning, May 3, about a reported hostage situation with possible explosives on the Pier, which led to evacuation of the extended waterfront area and a delay for day three of the nearby BeachLife Festival.

The Pier and festival were re-opened at 1:35 p.m.

Police and Redondo Beach Fire Department earlier set up a unified command post and cleared the Pier of bystanders. The the perimeter stretched north a block, to Captain Kidd’s. Evacuated fishermen looked on as police searched the Pier with dogs and a Sheriffs’ helicopter circled overhead.

The RBPD reported Sunday afternoon that the preliminary investigation concluded the threat was an isolated incident with no known threat to the public. The FBI is assiting in the investigation.

Anyone with information related to the incident is urged to contact the Redondo Beach Police Department Detective Bureau at (310) 379-2477, extension 3507. ER