For roughly six weekends between mid-August and Labor Day, the marina behaves less like a hotel district off the 90 and more like a working harbor town. Free concerts fill Burton Chace Park on Saturday nights. Sailboats crowd the main channel on Wednesday evenings. A dollar buys a boat ride between eight docks. A drum circle starts up on Sunday afternoons in the same park that hosted a symphony the night before. If you already live here, this is the stretch when the marina's programming compounds, and the smartest way to move through it is by water.
This is a resident's map to what the harbor is actually doing between now and early October, and one small change coming to the north basin that will reshape a decades-old habit.
The $1 WaterBus is the connective tissue
The Summer WaterBus is the most under-discussed piece of infrastructure in Marina del Rey. It runs on select days from June 19 through Labor Day, September 7, 2026, at $1 per person, cash only. The open-air boat stops at eight scenic locations throughout the marina, including Burton Chace Park.
The reason it matters right now: it collapses the geographic problem of concert night. Traffic delays on the roads surrounding Marina del Rey are heavy on concert Saturdays, and public parking lots near the park typically run $7 to $10. If you live on the Peninsula, in Silver Strand, or up by Villa Marina, the WaterBus is faster than driving, cheaper than parking, and the ride itself is the pre-show.
Two practical notes locals figure out by their second summer here. Bring cash in singles. Give yourself an extra ferry cycle on Saturdays after 6 p.m., because the boat fills up with concertgoers headed the same direction you are.
Saturday nights at Burton Chace: two shows left
The 25th Annual Marina del Rey Summer Concert Series is a free tradition at Burton Chace Park. Two dates remain in the 2026 run:
| Date | Performer |
|---|---|
| Saturday, August 8 | Monsieur Periné |
| Saturday, August 15 | D Smoke and Carl Thomas |
The full 2026 schedule opened with the Marina del Rey Symphony's Encanto live-to-film on July 11, followed by Los Lobos on July 18, Tyrese on July 25, the symphony's Video Game Music program on August 1, then Monsieur Periné on August 8 and D Smoke and Carl Thomas closing on August 15. The August 15 bill is the strongest crossover night on the calendar for anyone who tracks the Inglewood-to-Westside R&B pipeline, and it is the last free waterfront concert of the summer.
A few things worth knowing if you have never gone. Gourmet food trucks arrive at 5:00 p.m., or you can pack a picnic. The atmosphere is family-friendly, and there is no reserved seating, so early arrival matters. The waterfront park makes a solid picnic setting, but bring a jacket because it gets chilly at night.
The picnic detail is where local knowledge separates from tourist knowledge. The marine layer usually rolls back in around 8:15 p.m., which is roughly the middle of the headline set. A layer is not optional.
Wednesdays belong to the Sunset Series Regatta
The most reliable free show in the harbor is not on the concert calendar. It is a race.
The Sunset Series Regatta is a weekly sailing tradition in Marina del Rey since 1964. Every Wednesday evening through September 2, 2026, up to 75 sailboats compete across eight classes in 21 scheduled races, lighting up Santa Monica Bay.
If you have only watched the regatta from Mother's Beach, you have watched it wrong. The starting line sits off the main channel, which means the best free viewing is from the seawall at the end of Bora Bora Way, from the Marina "Mother's" Beach playground jetty, or from any waterside patio in the D or E basin. Fleet warm-up begins around 5:30 p.m., first gun around 6:00 p.m., and boats are usually finished and headed back to their slips before sunset.
For anyone who has lived in the marina long enough to stop noticing the masts, the Wednesday regatta is the answer to the question of why you moved to a harbor in the first place. Six Wednesdays remain in the 2026 series.
Sundays: two very different rhythms in the same park
Burton Chace Park hosts a Saturday concert and a Sunday drum circle in the same weekend, and the two audiences barely overlap.
The World Cup at Burton Chace Park continues on five select match days, presented by the Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors, with free outdoor watch parties and big-screen matches. That is the daytime crowd through mid-August.
The Sunday afternoon program is new for 2026. Presented by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, Marina Drum Circle is a family-friendly event held on summer Sundays from August 18 to October 18, 2026 at Burton Chace Park, led by Christopher Ramirez.
Nine consecutive Sundays of a communal drum circle is not typical for the marina, and it extends the park's programming a full month past when the concert series ends. If you have kids who age out of the summer camps in late August, this fills the gap.
Fisherman's Village stays loud on weekends
The other Sunday rhythm is at the south end of the harbor. Fisherman's Village runs free live music every weekend, with bands playing Saturdays and Sundays from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM right on the waterfront at 13723 Fiji Way. Multiple bands are booked across weekend afternoons through the summer, with styles running from oldies and pop to zydeco, surf rock, funky sax, country, and reggae.
If you would rather skip the drive, the Marina del Rey WaterBus runs on weekends through the summer and stops near the Village. The Village is the anchor stop that closes the loop between the drum circle in Chace Park, the concerts, and an afternoon drink at La Marina Trattoria without ever getting in a car.
One quiet change on Panay Way
While the summer calendar has been running its course, a shift has been developing at the north end of the marina that will affect where residents eat for years.
Los Angeles County officials entered a license agreement with the California Yacht Club for the former Tony P's Dockside Grill site following the restaurant's closure. The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors announced the agreement, which allows the club to operate at the site while both parties work toward a lease amendment.
The plan is a new sea-to-table restaurant, aiming for a Spring 2026 opening, though the project remains in the design phase. In the interim, the club is offering bar service for its members at the site.
For anyone who spent two decades taking guests to Tony P's on Washington Boulevard, this is worth tracking. Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, whose district includes Marina del Rey, said Tony P's was a cherished part of the community for decades and that the agreement keeps that energy alive. A yacht-club-operated sea-to-table concept in the same footprint is a different proposition, and it signals that the county is comfortable letting private clubs steward public waterfront real estate at a higher standard than a chain grill.
Watch for two things when it opens. First, whether the club structures any of the dining program to be accessible to non-members, which will determine whether the site keeps its neighborhood function. Second, whether the outdoor patio survives the redesign, because the original wraparound deck is the reason Tony P's held its lunch crowd for as long as it did.
What to do with all of this
The pattern to see: the marina's on-water programming in August and early September overlaps in a way it does not the rest of the year. A resident with a good Wednesday-through-Sunday plan can hear an orchestra, watch 75 sailboats race across Santa Monica Bay, drum along with a hundred neighbors, and ride a dollar boat to all of it. None of this requires a reservation. Most of it requires a chair.
A working itinerary for the last three weekends of the concert calendar:
- Wednesday: Post up on the seawall near Bora Bora Way at 5:45 p.m. for the Sunset Series start.
- Saturday afternoon: WaterBus to Fisherman's Village for the 2 to 5 p.m. music set.
- Saturday evening: WaterBus to Burton Chace Park for the 7 p.m. concert. Bring the jacket.
- Sunday: Beginning August 18, back to Burton Chace Park for the Marina Drum Circle.
None of this is a secret to people who have lived in the marina for a decade. It is often invisible to people who moved in during the last two years, especially those who commute into the harbor rather than out of it. The point of a summer here is not to visit the water. It is to let the water set the schedule.
If you are thinking about how a Marina del Rey home fits into the way you actually spend a summer, or you own here already and are considering what your slip-adjacent or Silver Strand property could achieve in a well-timed sale, Laura Brau Estates works quietly across the Westside with sellers and buyers who care about lifestyle fit as much as price. Request Your Private Home Valuation.
