Santa Monica Pier Adds a Two-Day Dance Festival, From $90.64

Meduza, Monolink and Claptone headline the 21-and-over festival, which runs 2:30 to 10:30 p.m. both days.

Pier Play, the dance festival on the Santa Monica Pier, runs two days for the first time this fall. The dates are October 3 and 4, 2026. Each day goes 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on the pier deck at Ocean and Colorado avenues, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. It's 21 and over, so carry ID. The producer, RASA World, says it added the second day after four sell-outs in a row.

Budget for two things your pass doesn't cover. Parking on the pier is paid, and organizers say there are no refunds — so if your Sunday falls apart, that's your money, not theirs.

Presale registration opened at $65. The ticketing platform DICE lists passes from $90.64 with fees included, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. Prices climb as tiers sell, so the floor you see now isn't the floor you'll pay in late September.

VIP tables are by inquiry, with expedited entry, a dedicated section with service, and lounge and activation access. No capacity number has been published; RASA calls the event "limited-capacity."

The bill splits by day.

Saturday, October 3 leans on Monolink, Mind Against, LP Giobbi and Kaz James. Sunday, October 4 carries Claptone, Meduza and Rinzen. Bain, HRSHY, Lara G and Malas are listed in support, with more names promised.

Plan on walking the deck rather than parking in front of one stage. Earlier editions have lined the boards with old arcade and carnival games, art installations and learn-to-DJ stations, next to food and drink vendors. Organizers say the programming is built to move you from set to set.

By RASA's count this is the fifth edition, billed as Pier Play V. The run so far:

• October 2024, the debut
• May 2025
• October 2025
• May 2026

RASA says yearly attendance is now five times what it was at that 2024 debut. It puts the combined crowd for its two 2025 dates above 6,000. Those are the producer's own figures, not an independent count.

The pier has been renting its deck out for dancing for a century. It opened in 1909. The La Monica Ballroom followed in 1924, sold to the public as the "acme of dance palaces." The free Twilight Concert Series pulled crowds onto the same boards for more than 35 years. What's different here is the hour: the stretch of boardwalk that usually thins out after dark is the part being sold.

Passes and the full lineup are at rasa.fyi. Doors 2:30 p.m. both days, and the price goes up the longer you sit on it.

Source: smdp.com, retrieved September 10, 2026.