Downtown Laguna's New Plaza and Surf Museum Get Their First Real Fall

On the night of September 25, more than 500 people gathered on the brick plaza where lower Forest Avenue used to be. A full moon was out, the 133 Band played, and Moulin staff handed out baked goods. At least one couple told the Laguna Beach Independent they planned to stop by the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center afterward, "because it's open now."

That week gave downtown Laguna two new public rooms. This fall is the first season either one gets real use, and the city timed it that way. Meanwhile, a few familiar fall fixtures have gone missing. So for October through early December, the center of the town calendar has moved onto Forest Avenue and Broadway.

A Plaza Finished Weeks Early and Saved for Fall

The Promenade on Forest had been done for more than a month before the ribbon was cut. Mayor Mark Orgill explained the timing at the dedication:

"We thought that it was an appropriate time to do the ribbon cutting and announce the grand opening of the promenade before we get into the fall and winter months where we start to have hospitality night and some of the other events."

So the plaza was built for the cooler months, when downtown runs on evening gatherings more than beach traffic. The idea is older than most of the businesses on it. Orgill traced it to Vision 2030, a community plan drawn up 27 years ago that called for a downtown social space on Forest. The pandemic street closure in 2020 then served as a live trial run. The Daily Pilot reports that the permanent closure runs from Glenneyre Street to Coast Highway. The City Council awarded a $5.5 million construction contract to Superb Engineering in January. Estimates of the total cost vary a little: about $7.3 million in the Daily Pilot and $7.2 million in the Orange County Register.

The finished plaza has features the temporary version never had. City Manager Dave Kiff told the council on Sept. 22 that full electrical service would switch on a fountain, an audio system and Wi-Fi. He also said brickwork was still being finished at the Coast Highway end, the end that faces Main Beach. Sculptor Gerard Basil Stripling summed it up at the ceremony: "this is now our piazza."

The businesses on the plaza are familiar ones. Bushard's Pharmacy marked 80 years and Moulin marked 10 at the dedication. Alessa, 230 Forest, Bouillon by Moulin, Brussels Bistro and Hobie Surf Shop also face the bricks. The plaza itself is what changed. The tenants are the same, which matters for a regular planning dinner: the tables at Alessa are where they always were, but the street outside is now a permanent public room. For more on how this stretch fits the rest of town, see our guide to the Village and downtown Laguna Beach.

The Surf Museum Downtown Now Has

The Surfing Heritage and Culture Center opened its new downtown home the same week. A collection that spent about 20 years in an industrial building in San Clemente, much of it out of public view, is now near Main Beach. Founder Dick Metz, 97, started the nonprofit 27 years ago. He says the 1939 building was a rare downtown find because of its high ceilings, size, parking and closeness to the beach.

Inside, surfboards line the walls in chronological order, from redwood and pine through balsa and foam. The collection includes five boards that belonged to Duke Kahanamoku, and an upstairs library and archive holds thousands of photographs and films. The current featured exhibition is "PAE KA NALU: Catch the Wave."

News coverage places SHACC on Broadway. For a visit, the address that matters is the one on the museum's own visitor page, which lists the parking lot and main entrance at 232 Ocean Ave.

The last row of that table is easy to miss. Anyone hoping to take out-of-town guests to see the Kahanamoku boards during the third week of October will need festival tickets or a different week.

Coast Film & Music Festival Is the First Big Test

The Coast Film & Music Festival makes the case that downtown's center has moved. For its eighth year, running Oct. 16 to 25, the festival is screening more than 80 documentary features and shorts. Two of its venues opened weeks ago. The full list from the Laguna Beach Independent:

• Rivian South Coast Theater
• The Surfing Heritage and Culture Center
• Festival of Arts
• Forum Theater
• Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center
• The Promenade on Forest Avenue
• Hobie Surf Shop

Opening night features "SURFILMUSIC," which follows Jack Johnson from surfer and filmmaker to musician. The after-party is in SHACC's theater and is ticketed through the festival. On Oct. 17, SHACC's theater hosts the Follow the Light Awards, with photographer Chris Burkard as host, and a "Big Wednesday" screening with a filmmaker and surfer panel. The closing weekend moves to the Irvine Bowl for concerts Oct. 23 to 25 with Ben Harper, Amos Lee, Rainbow Body, Donavon Frankenreiter, G. Love and Lily Meola.

The festival sells access in bundles, and the cheapest one fits a resident who only wants films. The Opening Weekend Bundle costs $200 and covers ticketed programs Oct. 16 to 18. The All Film Pass costs $400 and covers films and workshops for the whole festival but not the concerts. Closing-weekend bundles with concerts start at $450, and the Patron Pass is $2,500. Most programs need advance seat reservations, and reservation windows open by pass tier.

SHACC's busiest public day comes right after the festival peak. On Oct. 25, the museum holds a surfboard sale in its parking lot. Members get in at 8:30 a.m., and the general public from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A Jeff Divine book launch follows in the theater on Oct. 29.

What Dropped Off the Fall Calendar

Some fall routines are gone this year. The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce canceled the 2026 Taste of Laguna Food & Music Festival, which had been set for Oct. 1 at the Festival of Arts grounds. The Deck and Driftwood Kitchen closed on Monday, Sept. 7, to make way for redevelopment of the Pacific Edge Hotel complex on Sleepy Hollow Lane.

So two oceanfront dining spots and a food festival are off the fall schedule, just as the plaza and the museum come online. The city's free live music series on the promenade ran on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from July 10 through Aug. 30, and its posted schedule does not reach into fall. This fall, the plaza's biggest programming comes from events that bring their own stages.

From Late October to December 4

After the festival, the season builds toward Hospitality Night. Laguna Art Museum's Art + Nature Celebration Week runs Nov. 1 to 9, with free outdoor art and activities. The listing points to the museum at 307 Cliff Drive.

The city has set Hospitality Night 2026 for Friday, Dec. 4, from about 5 to 9 p.m. The tentative program includes performances on a Forest Avenue main stage, open houses at downtown businesses, and free trolley service. This is the event the mayor had in mind when he scheduled the plaza dedication. It will be the first Hospitality Night held on permanent brick.

The next downtown change is still being designed. The city's project for Ocean Avenue between Forest Avenue and South Coast Highway, plus Beach Street between Broadway and Ocean Avenue, has a public meeting on Oct. 20, 2026. Construction is currently targeted for fall 2027. Ocean Avenue is where SHACC's entrance sits. The project page has the meeting details for anyone who wants to weigh in on the block between the museum and the plaza.

If you want to talk through how the new plaza and museum are changing your stretch of downtown Laguna, or you're tracking how civic projects like the Ocean Avenue redesign play out block by block, Alcove Collective is glad to compare notes. Connect with the Collective, and find more of our local coverage on the Laguna Beach neighborhood page.