What's on in Laguna Beach, United States through the year

Peak crowds — Christmas and New Year, Winter / Christmas break in United States

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Gray whale migration (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually)), Christmas and New Year (24 Dec – 1 Jan)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Gray whale migration (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Patriots Day Parade, Spring break in United States

• Festival

  Patriots Day Parade

  7–15 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A community tradition since 1967: marching bands, veterans' groups and floats close Laguna Canyon Road and Coast Highway for a Saturday parade each March. Source ↗

Still on: Gray whale migration (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Gray whale migration (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Summer season, Memorial Day weekend

• Season

  May gray and June gloom

  10 May – 10 Jul · usuallyFog season

  The marine layer sits on the coast most mornings from mid-May and some days never lifts, while ten miles inland it is clear. It is the reason locals treat September as the real summer here.

• Season

  Summer season

  23 May – 7 SepSchool holidaysCrowded

  Coast Highway through the village backs up from Memorial Day, the beach lots fill before nine, and the free summer trolley is the only sane way in. Labor Day ends it as abruptly as it started.

• Holiday

  Memorial Day weekend

  23–25 MayNational holidayCrowdedBook early

  Memorial Day, the last Monday of May, opens the summer travel season: over the long weekend campsites and lodging book out, roads are slow, and parking at the most popular spots fills early in the day. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Summer season, Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Sawdust Art Festival

  24 Jun – 6 Sep · usuallyArts festival

  Two hundred local artists selling out of their own booths in a eucalyptus grove, on ground actually covered in sawdust. It has run since 1966 as the artists' answer to the show over the road. Source ↗

• Festival

  Summer art festivals

  7 Jul – 3 SepArts festivalCrowded

  Three shows run at once in the canyon all summer: the Festival of Arts with the Pageant of the Masters staged nightly as living tableaux, Sawdust across the road, and Art-A-Fair beside it. Park at ACT V and take the shuttle. Source ↗

Still on: May gray and June gloom (10 May – 10 Jul (usually)), Summer season (23 May – 7 Sep)

Peak crowds — Summer season, Summer art festivals

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: May gray and June gloom (10 May – 10 Jul (usually)), Summer season (23 May – 7 Sep), Sawdust Art Festival (24 Jun – 6 Sep (usually)), Summer art festivals (7 Jul – 3 Sep)

Peak crowds — Summer season, Summer art festivals

• Holiday

  Labor Day weekend

  5–7 SepNational holidayCrowdedBook early

  Labor Day, the first Monday of September, is the last big getaway of summer: the long weekend books out campsites and lodging and fills parking early, and families thin out quickly once it has passed. Source ↗

Still on: Summer season (23 May – 7 Sep), Sawdust Art Festival (24 Jun – 6 Sep (usually)), Summer art festivals (7 Jul – 3 Sep)

Peak crowds — Summer season, Summer art festivals

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Summer season (23 May – 7 Sep), Sawdust Art Festival (24 Jun – 6 Sep (usually)), Summer art festivals (7 Jul – 3 Sep), Labor Day weekend (5–7 Sep)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Peak crowds — Sawdust Winter Fantasy, Thanksgiving break in United States

• Festival

  Sawdust Winter Fantasy

  20 Nov – 21 Dec · usuallyArts festivalCrowded

  The Sawdust Art Festival's smaller winter edition turns its Laguna Canyon Road grounds into a holiday market of local art, ice skating and lights before Christmas. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Sawdust Winter Fantasy, Christmas and New Year

• Nature

  Gray whale migration

  15 Dec – 15 Apr · usuallyWhale season

  Grays pass close inshore heading for Baja from about Christmas and come back north with calves in March and April. The bluff-top path at Heisler Park works without a boat on a calm morning.

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year

  24 Dec – 1 JanChristmas & New YearClosuresCrowded

  Christmas Day and New Year's Day are federal holidays: on 25 December most shops, museums and many restaurants close, and airports stay busy through the week between as families travel. New Year's Eve fills bars and restaurants, many at set-menu prices. Source ↗

Still on: Sawdust Winter Fantasy (20 Nov – 21 Dec (usually))