The man behind the failed bid to turn The Lakes at El Segundo into a music venue is now one of the forces bringing the inaugural BeachLife Festival to Redondo Beach Friday, May 3rd through Sunday, May 5th. View the Facebook events here. Can’t make it? They’re streaming it here. and on their Facebook page.
And true to an entrepreneurial spirit that combines the arts with practical realities, Allen Sanford moved on with not much of a glance back from his El Segundo bid (TopGolf won the bidding war earlier this year when the city council selected their proposal) without missing a step.
“Nobody asked me to do BeachLife,” says the 41-year-old Beach Cities resident who grew up in the South Bay, returning after college and never leaving. “I thought Redondo was the perfect place and the conversations started between myself and the Mayor, and it grew from there. I think the RFP in El Segundo helped strengthen the conversation, but it wasn’t the impetus.”
Undoubtedly, Sanford’s credentials weighed in well in developing the BeachLife Festival, an outdoor, beachside, ocean-close three-day event full of music, food, and fun. Those credentials include co-owning the intimate music venue Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach, producing a concert series on the sand in Hermosa Beach every summer since 2010, co-owning Venice West, a restaurant that will soon offer live music, owning the popular Rockefeller eateries in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Beach, and co-owning restaurants Abigaile and Dia De Campo in Hermosa Beach and Primo Italia. Allen co-owns all of those enterprises with his brother Jed Sanford, with the exception of Primo Italia and Venice West which are ventures with BeachLife Partner Rob Lissner. Allen’s brother Jed “has become the best restauranteur I know in the South Bay” and also owns Steak and Whiskey and Little Sister in Hermosa Beach, BlueGold, and WildCraft.
With those credentials behind them, who wouldn’t green light the opportunity to bring world-class musical artists and the people they draw to Redondo Beach for a pre-summer weekend beach bash with some cool culinary events added in?
Set in the Seaside Lagoon and adjacent parking lot, BeachLife is expected to draw some 12,000 people each day to see and hear top artists such as Willie Nelson, Brian Wilson, Bob Weir and the Wolf Bros., Jason Mraz, Everclear, Berlin, Sugar Ray, Steel Pulse, Bruce Hornsby, Latchkey Kid, Violent Femmes, Venice, Blues Traveler, Colin Hay, Poncho Sanchez, Big Head Todd, Ziggy Marley, and others.
The setting and idea with BeachLife is to create a the Southern California beach vibe and add music, food, and fun to an all-day outdoor event.
And as a nod to the Beach Cities’ newly-established credo in Los Angeles’ culinary scene, BeachLife offers a first: a 50-seat pop-up restaurant next to the main stage, giving festival-goers access to an unprecedented upscale dining experience just feet from the main stage. Handpicked chefs who represent Southern California culture will curate menus, similar to band setlists, for a truly multi-sensory festival experience.
The three chefs lined up to handle these special culinary duties are David LeFevre of MB Post, Fishing With Dynamite, and Arthur J’s fame (all three restaurants are in Manhattan Beach), Michael Cimarusti, who’s at the helm at LA’s Providence and Connie & Ted’s, and who appeared on “Top Chef Masters” and “Hell’s Kitchen,” and Tin Vuong, of Little Sister, Abigaile’s, Dia De Campo, and Steak and Whisky fame (located in MB and Hermosa Beach with locations in downtown LA).
BeachLife Festival 2019 – Full Lineup Announce
Chef Michael Cimarusti will cook up dishes alongside Bob Weir and Wolf Bros. on Friday, May 3.
“As a DeadHead of 35 years if you would have told me that one day I’d be cooking at a festival where Bob Weir was playing I’d have told you that you were nuts,” said Chef Michael. “But this life is truly a ‘Long Strange Trip’ and you never know what’s just around the bend.”
Chef Tin will cook when The Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson plays on Saturday, May 4.
“My parents migrated to SoCal in the ’80s and The Beach Boys were synonymous with the SoCal lifestyle, so I assimilated through their music, along with other popular artists at that time,” explained Chef Tin. “Now, I get to perform with Brian, which totally connects me to my childhood. He’s iconic. Excited to have some ‘good vibrations’ going alongside him.”
Chef LeFevre will helm SideStage while Willie Nelson performs on the main stage Sunday, May 5.
“I’ve been listening to Willie all my life, from my parents’ records of ‘Shotgun Willie’ and ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ to my own love of ‘Teatro,’” shares Chef David. “Creating a menu that matches the setlist of such an iconic musician and activist is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
“The BeachLife Festival is about more than music; it’s about the Southern California lifestyle that we live every day,” said Allen. “Eating and drinking with friends is core to our beach culture, and we wanted to offer a culinary experience in a festival setting that is bucket list worthy. We’re handpicking distinct Los Angeles based Chefs who we love — David, Michael, and Tin — to feature at our SideStage Experience, with the intention of creating an exceptionally memorable and unique festival element.”
SideStage features a $150 per person prix fixe menu, excluding tax/tip and alcohol, and each seat includes a signed collectors menu by the Chef. A vegetarian option will be available and diners will have access to a premium full cash bar and specially curated wine list only available on the SideStage. Patrons will also be permitted in the front press pit where an exclusive photographer will capture diners’ BeachLife Festival experience.
SideStage will accept reservations on all three days of the festival, with approximately 3 p.m. on Friday, May 3 being the first time slot and reservations will last 90 minutes, coinciding with the artist sets on the Main Stage.
Reservations are extremely limited and will only be permitted to BeachLife ticket purchasers, with priority by ticket level starting with the Captain’s Pass, then Founders Passes, followed by VIP Passes prioritized by date purchased. Reservations can be made through a dedicated concierge after ticket purchase. Reservations are non-refundable and there are no cancellations.
In addition to SideStage, the BeachLife Festival offers a curated wine village with hand-picked boutique wineries and upscale food pairings, a massive craft beer bar focused on LA breweries, a VIP poolside experience and grill, and multiple bars, food vendors, and food trucks throughout the venue, accessible to all festive-goers.
With such a large first-time endeavor underway and the big weekend already started, how does Allen feel? “I could not be more excited,” he said. The vision has come together.”
For those unable to get to the BeachLife Festival this weekend, the festival will be live streamed by LiveList, founded by Allen with Lissner.
“We see live streaming as a perfect online complement to the world of events and venues,” he said. “We estimate the live stream this weekend will be watched by millions.
“We are focused on working hard to create really rad things,” said Allen. “That’s it.”
And there’s no doubt Allen is doing just that, and will continue to do so.
As for the El Segundo music venue he’d proposed? His vision was to bring together “music and the arts.”
Said Allen, “The South Bay is sorely lacking in both. The vision was to bring a complex to the South Bay rooted in those two things I care about most, and then complement that with great local restauranteurs, and a public park that was going to be curated by a friend and special person, Steve Nash.”
For now, his focus is on the BeachLife Festival. After that he will head to Catalina Island “to decompress” and enjoy more Southern California beach life.
The BeachLife Festival is at 137 N. Harbor Drive in Redondo Beach.
Tickets: $95 daily or $259 for a three-day general admission pass; $275 daily or $795 for a VIP three-day pass; $995 daily or $2,500 for a Captain’s three-day pass. The meals at the side stage are $150 per person.
