Top 5 Things to Know About COAST 2019

September 6, 2019 12:05 PM
by Miranda Iglesias

COAST is Santa Monica’s Open Streets Event where attendees can experience two miles of streets and their community in a fresh, car-free way. This year, the streets will be filled with a pageant of crowdsourced creativity. Come as a participant or observer. Just come and witness the fun!

  1. CROWDSOURCED CREATIVITY | All aboard! Join the people-powered transportation revolution. Everyone is invited to create and decorate your wheels, your shoes, yourself, or whatever your car-free way of getting around is. Come participate in this carnival of wheels, rigs, wings and feet. The event magic will be created by the community’s collaborative imagination.
  2. BE PART OF COAST | There are endless ways to be part of COAST. Over a dozen free artist-led workshops will be offered in the weeks leading up to COAST. They’ll provide you and your friends with inspiration and materials to create and decorate a costume, walking piece or wheeled device. You can also collaborate with friends, family and neighbors to create a communal large-scale human-powered mobile art piece that will be featured the day of the event. No need to attend a workshop to participate, you can DIY. There will also be event-day workshops where you’ll be able to do your own creating, then join in the colorful spectacle! Bring, wear, or ride your creation to COAST. Or simply come to observe and enjoy the day.
  3. COAST CONTEST | Enter your creation into the COAST Contest for a chance to win prizes for creativity and innovation. You can register online or sign up to enter the contest at the event. Contestants will be scored by an esteemed panel of guest judges.
  4. PERFORMANCES AND ACTIVITIES | Musicians, performances, drop-in workshops, demos and classes will be sprinkled throughout the event route. You’ll be able to borrow skates and glide to bumping disco and funk at the Pop-Up Roller Rink, join in the open-to-all mobile dance brigade led by Christine Suarez, or witness crazy skateboard tricks at a pop-up skate activation. Live music will include the carnival sounds of the band Sol e Mar, the solo pianist John Steven Morgan, the Dixieland blues and early swing of the California Feet Warmers, and the Latin folk group Cuñao. There will also be high-energy jump rope performances by Jump LA, communal art workshops, and a Bicycle Rodeo where all ages can practice their riding skills.
  5. FOOD AND BUSINESS SPECIALS | Businesses and restaurants along the COAST route will be open. Many will offer event-day specials, as well as a respite and spot to fuel up and people watch from picnic tables out front. A few food trucks will join the mix and add offerings near the Civic Auditorium. 

COAST takes place along sections of Ocean Avenue, the Colorado Esplanade, and Main Street. For more information, visit santamonica.gov/COAST.

Authored By

Miranda Iglesias
Public Information Coordinator