BeachLife Festival Debuts New Onsite Surf Club, Promises Extra Events For 2025

The annual BeachLife music festival in Southern California’s Redondo Beach kicks off this weekend with a larger-than-ever lineup in its sixth year as well as a new onsite addition, a permanent California Surf Club offering full bars and restaurants to go along with the music. 

“The Club was a significant investment, but we’re all in on the area and the community, and it feels good,” says Allen Sanford, BeachLife co-founder, South Bay native and local restaurateur. 

This weekend’s BeachLife is headlined by Lenny Kravitz, Sublime and Alanis Morissette May 2-4, with a 10,000-per-day capacity, two main music stages and emphasis on comfort, heightened amenities and plentiful food and beverage options. Three-day general admission has been sold out for a few weeks and Sanford expects nearly all passes to be sold by showtime. Tickets start at $199 (all-in pricing) per day general admission, with three-day GA tickets priced at $409. 

The California Surf Club gives the festival owners a year-round food and beverage operation on the festival site as well as a choice VIP option during the event. A north building acts as a VIP restaurant while the south building will be a private club inclusive to all full-time members and BeachLife Captains Plus ticket holders. All Captains Plus tickets are sold out, with three-day packages costing $4,999 and singe-day passes for $1,999. 

The addition of the California Surf Club means more music events are already in the works, Sanford says.

“Now that the California Surf Club is built, we are actively planning October and people can expect a healthy music schedule, probably more than one weekend,” says Sanford, confirming the return of the Americana and barbecue-flavored BeachLife Ranch festival that has taken place in the fall in previous years, hosting talent including The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile and Jack Johnson. Last year the Ranch took a year off while construction was under way at the Surf Club. “We’re excited and have built the foundation for something cool.” 

The city-owned land surrounding the Seaside Lagoon festival site has gone largely unused for decades, with the addition of BeachLife Festival in 2019 bringing a high-profile music event that draws tourism as well as serves the local affluent community.

“We continue to make a name for ourselves,” says Sanford, who is heavily involved in the event’s talent buying and operations. “I think people are understanding that we’re going to be around, we’re an alternative. We’re really for artists that care tremendously about their surroundings. If somebody wants to play the shed with the most capacity and the highest ticket price, we’re not that, but we’re a really great product for the right artist.”

Last year’s event was mostly business as usual for BeachLife, with headliners including Sting and Incubus seeing enthusiastic crowds, but the end of Sunday’s programming was derailed when high winds forced an evacuation and subsequent cancellation of the final performances, a disappointment to fans planning to see Trey Anastasio, My Morning Jacket and Fleet Foxes

“After the cancellation last year, we garnered some respect in the industry for paying our artists, coming back strong and doing the right thing by refunding consumer tickets,” Sanford added. Despite the headache and financial toll of dealing with the festival’s first weather event, Sanford says he’s gained confidence and learned a lot. 

“It was a great learning experience and a validation that we’re building a business the right way,” he said. “We experienced something that knocks down most businesses, and our team came back from it, our brand came back from it, we made the right decisions, nobody got hurt. So, as a business owner, it was a validation that it matters to focus on the right things.”

With more additional talent on this year’s lineup, which includes Train, O.A.R., Pretenders, Cake, Mt. Joy, Jackson Browne, The Beach Boys (With John Stamos) and Marcus King, among others, Sanford says the concept remains to keep the event comfortable and increase the offerings. That has been reflected in a higher percentage of VIP options being sold this year, he said.

“This one feels like we really settled in and the team is executing on a high level,” Sanford says, giving credit to new festival director, Sam Myers, an addition that has allowed him to focus more time on the California Surf Club. “I believe he’s like 25 or 26, but I was really impressed by his tenacity and asked him to come learn from me. Next thing you know, he’s running the festival. Otherwise, we’re just building bigger and better, but it’s not bigger. We like it at our size, we like what we’re doing, and now we’re refining the offering.”