by Garth Meyer
Jackson Browne walked onto the LowTide Stage Sunday evening, May 4, and looked out upon the crowd.
“BeachLife,” he said into the microphone. “Who doesn’t like the Beach…? This is exactly how I imagined it would look.”
Festival co-founder Allen Sanford concurred, following last weekend’s event, but he was prepared for an alternate reality just the same.
Ten days before, 40 mph-winds were forecast for BeachLife Sunday – a year after the same conditions led to an early shutdown and evacuation of the grounds.
“Lightning was literally going to strike twice,” Sanford said. “I was about to have a heart attack.”
An Ohio structural engineer – from Clark Reder Engineering – was summoned to come out to add insight, and be an extra monitor for the structures all three days of the festival.
“We overcompensated to go above and beyond the engineered best practices,” Sanford said.
“I told my guys last Monday. Just assume we have to evacuate (Sunday). We were prepared for Mother Nature to arrive and she decided not to.”
Those who did attend totaled more than 35,000 across the weekend, Sanford said.
“It did not sell out but got close each of the three days,” he said. “As long as everybody stays safe, great, and has fun, great, and we do well as a business, great. Check all three boxes.”
John Stamos took Sanford’s 6-year-old daughter on stage during the Beach Boys’ performance.
“Now we start into inventory and continue with booking next year,” Sanford said of post-festival activity. “That’s a constant.”
“There are not a lot of independent festivals left,” he said, referring to a list of national events owned by LiveNation and AEG. “This is a family event, kids; we treat it like a tribe. I think the artists who actually care about that notice. I think some artists reward us for that and they want to play here.”
What about food and beverage numbers for BeachLife 2025?
“I don’t know. Everybody’s sleeping,” Sanford said Monday afternoon. “We build a city in 10 days. Overall, I think food and beverage went great. The numbers have not been tallied yet.”
As for last year’s high winds and subsequent cancellation and evacuation of 10,000 people, Sanford said insurance matters remain unresolved.
“Still in progress,” he said. “We’re hopeful.”
With the 2025 Festival wrapped, Sanford now looks to Thursday night’s opening of the California Surf Club, and what both projects may mean for the future of Redondo Beach.
“It’s clear the resurgence of the waterfront is underway and we’re excited to be part of it in the coming years,” he said. ER
will there be Beachlife Ranch and/ or Beachlife Nights this year?