“Locals' Night” on the Santa Monica Pier
A monthly event on the Santa Monica Pier, relevant to the culture of Santa Monica locals, with all activities and presentations having ties to Santa monica.
Santa Monica’s “Locals’ Night” on the third Thursday of each month is curated with the intention to attract Santa Monica natives and locals. The event motto is “for locals by locals,” and refers to the classic cars, vendors and entertainment groups who are all either based in or have ties to Santa Monica. The once-a-month event runs from 3 to 10 p.m., beginning with childrens’ activities offered in the Pier’s historic Merry-Go-Round Building.
The City of Santa Monica only spans 8.4 square miles, but through 2019 it averaged a whopping eight million visitors annually. Pre-Covid tourism generated revenues of up to 1.8 billion dollars annually for Santa Monica, but despite the benefits for the city’s economy, locals have long felt their quality of life was a casualty of the city’s financial gain. They view the city as focusing its resources and planning around the beach town’s high volume of tourists, and the influx of visitors resulting from the 2016 opening of the new Expo train line station which is located just two blocks from the Pier.
"Locals have long felt that the pier and downtown were not ours anymore,” said Santa Monica Councilmember Phil Brock. “‘Locals' Night’ is an attempt to remind them that the pier is first and foremost theirs — to remind them it's their own city, built by residents for residents."
The 2017 discontinuation of the Santa Monica Pier’s iconic Thursday night “Twilight Concert Series,” was a devastating blow, as it was the loss of one of the last traditional gathering places for locals. So in March 2022, the Santa Monica Pier Corporation addressed the notable absence of a locals’ gathering place and of events relevant to local culture by launching “Locals’ Night" on the Santa Monica Pier.
“Locals’ Night” event organizer and Santa Monica native Jenny Rice spoke on the importance and motivation behind creating the event.
“It's an opportunity to bring locals down to the pier,” Rice said. “Sometimes they forget that the pier is for them so we create a space for them to come, and the goal is to have them run into neighbors and friends, so all of our programming — the music, the bands, the cars … is programmed for locals by locals … everything we do has a tie to Santa Monica.”
The April 20 ”Locals’ Night” featured Santa Monica High School’s Jazz 1 Combo. Jazz Program Director and Santa Monica Malibu School District Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator Tom Whaley sat in with the combo on trombone.
Performing on a nearby stage was Santa Monica band “Horny Toad!”. The band has been together since the ‘80s, and consists of several Santa Monica natives including Brian Behling on percussion, Louiche Mayorga on bass and R.J. Herrera on drums.
“I was excited to play in my hometown, at the pier, such an iconic location,” Herrera said. Mayorga and Herrera were also members of the notable band Suicidal Tendencies.
“There was such a great turnout of old friends and audience members, dancing and having as much fun as I was,” said Herrera. “Growing up in Santa Monica and being educated through the school system and music programs, made being the featured band at ‘Locals’ Night’ an experience we could treasure.”
The next "Locals’ Night" will take place on May 18, followed by a summer hiatus and resuming Sept. 21.
