The Santa Monica Festival features live music, dance performances, art workshops, food trucks, cooking demonstrations, fitness classes, and other interactive activities.

OCEAN STAGE: Enjoy a full day’s line-up of eclectic music and dance performances, beginning with a heart-pounding, bass-thumping Hip Hop dance routine led by Angela Robinson. Other performances include: songwriter, singer, and accordionist Jessica Fichot, whose style combines the French chanteuse tradition with gypsy jazz and the folk music of China and Latin America; The Lions, a reggae-infused sound firmly rooted in soul music, drawing inspiration from sound system culture and Jamaican music old and new; and Contra-Tiempo, a non-profit, activist dance company, dedicated to transforming the world through dance, with their contemporary take on Salsa, Afro-Cuban, and urban styles. To honor the Sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, Juneteenth presents the Voice of ONE Gospel Singers. CREST Elementary School’s flash mob dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller will be an irresistible highlight of the day’s entertainment, and the 12-piece party band Boogaloo Assassins will close the event with their rousing fusion of R&B, doo-wop, Afro-Caribbean jazz, and salsa.

ACTIVE SANTA MONICA: Don’t just stand there—get moving! A variety of fun and active workshops throughout the day will prove that fitness can be fun. Classes range from square dancing and salsa, to yoga and self-defense – and of course, the festival favorite Zumba! 

CULINARY STAGE: MC Eddie Lin of Deep End Dining will get things cooking with local chefs and culinary experts who will share their secrets to sourcing and preparing meals that are delicious, budget-friendly, and sustainable. Chef Clemence Gosset of the Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories will start the day with a decadent dessert demonstration, followed by Ricky Flores of Co-Opportunity, who will demonstrate how to prepare his signature Co-op kale salad. This year’s Chef Challenge features Chef Josie Le Balch of Josie Restaurant and returning champion Chef Nyesha Arrington of Wilshire Restaurant. Their task is to create a “$15 Meal for Four,” a delicious and nutritious vegetarian dish that feeds four for $15 or less. 

ART ZONE: Step into a place where the only boundaries are those of the imagination with fun, do-it-yourself workshops and demonstrations to delight and amaze.The Mobile Mural Lab (MML), a traveling art studio and multi-media exhibition space, offers an interactive painting workshop, where everyone can contribute to creating a mural painted on the MML vehicle. The  Santa Monica Public Library reinvents the library experience as an “ant farm,” where kids can craft playful headband antennas and dig into a magical colony of engaging books. The Festival's Art Zone also features live music, drawing workshops, games, storytelling, and face painting with the Santa Monica Symphony, Kids on Stage!, the Santa Monica Playhouse, and The Broad Stage.

FOOD TRUCKS & CARTS