Santa Monica Will Close Ten Blocks of Montana Avenue Oct. 3

The Montana Avenue Art Walk is free with no ticket, and the merchants' association posts no start time at all.

Roughly ten blocks of Montana Avenue in Santa Monica will close to cars on Saturday, October 3, 2026, for the street's Art Walk. It's free and there's no ticket, according to the Montana Avenue Merchant Association, the 501(c)(6) trade group that puts it on. What the association's event page doesn't post is an hour of any kind.

So if your Saturday on that stretch usually involves a curb space and a ten-minute errand, October 3 isn't that Saturday. The traffic lanes are where the event happens.

The two published listings don't agree on where the closure starts. The association gives the boundaries as 6th to 17th Street. Secret Los Angeles, which wrote up the event on September 22, 2026, puts it at 7th to 17th and describes the footprint as approximately 10 blocks.

That's one block of daylight between them.

If you're meeting someone, pick a cross street both listings cover — anything from 7th east to 17th sits inside either version, so you won't be standing outside the barricades wondering.

Hours run 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., per Secret Los Angeles. The merchants' association lists none, and its page argues against the idea of a schedule: "Come anytime, walk the avenue, and enjoy the event at your own pace," it reads. There's no gate and no wristband, so showing up early costs you nothing but the walk.

The Route 66 angle belongs to Secret Los Angeles alone. That write-up bills the day as an official Route 66 centennial event; the association's page doesn't mention Route 66, the centennial or classic cars anywhere in its text.

Same with the crowd. More than 10,000 attendees are expected, Secret Los Angeles reported — a figure the organizers don't publish themselves.

What both agree on is the part that decides your morning: Saturday, October 3, on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, free, no ticket. Check the association's event page for the boundaries before you point the car at 6th Street.