September is the month the coast exhales. The biggest summer crowds begin to thin, the water is still warm and the cultural calendar becomes unexpectedly full. This year’s September events in Orange County move easily between art, food, music, maritime history and time spent giving the coastline some care.
These are the dates worth keeping open.
Close the Summer Art Season in Laguna Beach
Festival of Arts continues through September 3, while the Sawdust Art Festival closes September 6. The overlapping dates create one final opportunity to experience Laguna Beach’s summer art season without trying to fit everything into the middle of July.
Festival of Arts offers a juried presentation of work by 120 Orange County artists, while Sawdust brings more than 180 Laguna Beach artists into its eucalyptus-lined canyon setting. Visit both and the contrast becomes part of the pleasure: polished exhibition on one side, immersive artist village on the other.
Enter Roger’s Gardens After Dark—At Least in Spirit
Roger’s Gardens opens its annual Halloween boutique on August 28. The 2026 theme, Moonlight Masquerade, continues through October 31, turning the Corona del Mar destination into one of the first signs that the season has shifted.
The opening weeks are usually the best time to see the installation at its most complete. Go for the theatrical styling and unusual decorative pieces, then stay for a walk through the nursery before the afternoon heat settles in.
See The Second City Go Coastal
On September 4, The Second City brings its improvisational comedy to Newport Beach with The Second City Goes Coastal. The performance adds an unexpected note to Labor Day weekend—less predictable than another dinner reservation and considerably livelier than an early night.
Because the show lands at the start of the month, it also works as the unofficial turn from summer programming into the fall cultural calendar.
Taste the Coast at Pacific Wine & Food Classic
Pacific Wine & Food Classic returns to Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort on September 12. The event gathers chefs, wine and an open-air waterfront setting into one concentrated afternoon.
Early entrance begins at 1 p.m., general admission at 2 p.m. and the event concludes at 5 p.m. Arrive with enough time to settle in rather than treating the afternoon like a race through tasting stations. The most memorable events of this kind leave room for conversation between bites.
Watch Tall Ships Return to Dana Point
Ocean Institute’s 42nd Annual Maritime Festival runs September 11 through 13 at Dana Point Harbor. Tall ships are the visual centerpiece, but the weekend extends into sailor reenactments, local marine life, food trucks, beer gardens, children’s activities and vendors.
The festival’s proceeds support Ocean Institute’s educational mission, giving the weekend a deeper connection to the harbor than spectacle alone. It is one of the few September events that feels equally rooted in history, science and the working identity of the coast.
Give the Coast a Morning
California Coastal Cleanup Day takes place September 19 from 9 a.m. to noon. The statewide event brings volunteers to beaches, creeks, rivers, lakes and inland waterways, recognizing that nearly everything carried through a watershed eventually reaches the ocean.
Local cleanup sites and registration details are updated as the date approaches. Choose a site with personal meaning, bring reusable gloves and water when requested, and read the organizer’s instructions before arriving. Three hours is a small commitment with a visible result.
See Light Differently at Laguna Art Museum
Radiant Terrains: Elements of Light in Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection opens September 19 at Laguna Art Museum. Drawn entirely from the museum’s holdings, the exhibition examines how artists from the 1960s onward have used light as material, atmosphere, optical effect, technology and metaphor.
The timing feels especially apt. September light on the coast has a clarity of its own, and the exhibition connects that familiar experience to generations of Southern California artists.
Experience Music in Motion
Laguna Beach Live continues its 25th anniversary celebration on September 24 with Music in Motion at the Rivian South Coast Theater. The evening brings the Zelter String Quartet together with composer Steve Wood and filmmaker Greg MacGillivray for live music, film clips and conversation.
It is a distinctly Laguna collaboration: chamber music, filmmaking and the natural world meeting in an intimate historic theater.
End the Month at Ohana Festival
Ohana Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary at Doheny State Beach from September 25 through 27. More than 35 performances unfold across three stages, led by Maná, Eddie Vedder & Friends, Tyler Childers and Pearl Jam, with Billy Idol, Alabama Shakes, Jon Batiste, Fontaines D.C., Pixies and Rilo Kiley among the wider lineup.
Music is only part of the experience. Storytelling in the Cove brings conservationists, researchers, environmentalists and surfers into the weekend, while beachside food and the setting itself keep Ohana connected to Dana Point.
