October arrives with a full festival calendar: films, plein air, and five nights at the Irvine Bowl
The Coast Film and Music Festival returns Oct. 16 to 25, the Plein Air Invitational paints the town Oct. 3 to 11, and the Sunset Serenades finale closes out Friday concerts at Heisler Park.
October is the month Laguna Beach's cultural calendar turns up loudest. Three separate festivals overlap this month, from plein air painters on the cliffs to documentaries in town and five concert nights at the historic Irvine Bowl.
The Coast Film and Music Festival returns for ten days, Oct. 16 to 25, with the whole town as the venue. Programming spans independent films on adventure, environment, surf, outdoor culture, music, and the human experience, each paired with post-screening conversations with filmmakers, athletes, and subjects. Venues within walking distance of each other include the Rivian South Coast Theater, the Festival of Arts grounds and Forum Theater, the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center, the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, and the Forest Avenue Promenade, where free outdoor Films on Forest screenings run under the string lights.
The festival's concert series, Concerts in the Canyon, anchors five nights at the 2,600-seat Irvine Bowl. Preservation Hall Jazz Band opens on Saturday, Oct. 3, followed by Aloe Blacc on Sunday, Oct. 4, presented alongside the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association invitational. The closing weekend brings three straight nights: Rainbow Body with Ignacio Maria Gomez on Friday, Oct. 23, Ben Harper with special guests Donavon Frankenreiter, G. Love, and Lily Meola on Saturday, Oct. 24, and Amos Lee with the same special guests on Sunday, Oct. 25. All shows are rain or shine with reserved seating. "We're thrilled to bring another year of world class music to the Irvine Bowl this October," said Enich Harris, cofounder of the festival.
Between the concert weekends, the festival adds the Coast Summit on Oct. 22, an afternoon of ideas built around the theme Intelligence of Nature, plus Hobie Night on Oct. 20, a celebration of the Laguna Beach icon, and the Coast Changemaker Dinner on Oct. 21 honoring leaders using creativity and innovation to drive change. A portion of event proceeds supports the Coast Film Foundation, which funds a scholarship for a graduating Laguna Beach High School senior studying film and donates to local environmental nonprofits.
Opening the month, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association hosts its 28th Annual Invitational from Oct. 3 to 11. Thirty of the nation's top plein air painters will spend nine days on the cliffs, canyons, and coves capturing Laguna's light, carrying on a century-old legacy in the historic birthplace of California Impressionism. The Collectors Art Party at the Festival of Arts is set for Saturday, Oct. 10. The LPAPA Gallery at 414 North Coast Highway will be closed Oct. 4 and Oct. 9 through 11, reopening Oct. 15.
And for one last free Friday, the city's Sunset Serenades fall concert series wraps up at the Heisler Park Amphitheater on Oct. 2, with music starting at 5:30 p.m. and running to sunset. The series, which opened Sept. 11 and has drawn blanket-and-picnic crowds to the bluff above the Pacific, is free with first-come, first-served seating. Festival passes for the Coast Film and Music Festival are on sale through the festival's website.
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