Fiesta Hermosa Arts and Crafts Exhibit & Festival Fall

Fiesta Hermosa, the twice-a-year business, art and music showcase that has traditionally attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the tiny beach city over the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, will return in September after a one-year coronavirus-induced hiatus — but will undergo a major overall that includes scaling the event back and focusing on local merchants.

Oh, and a slightly different name.

The newly dubbed Fiesta Hermosa Locale, set for Sept. 4 to 6, will focus on highlighting local businesses, artists and musicians rather than the national brands and out-of-town vendors it used to draw. That represents a significant change for the nearly 50-year-old Hermosa Beach festival, but one some residents rallied for even before the pandemic and as the event grew.

As the largest revenue source for the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the festival, the event is much needed in the wake of the pandemic, said Jessica Accamando, the business group's new president and CEO.

Scaling back Fiesta Hermosa Locale also allows organizers to exercise caution, Accamando, even though most coronavirus-related restrictions — including bans on large gatherings — have been lifted.

"Crowds were fun," Accamando said about previous Fiesta Hermosa events. "It's the great part of coming out, seeing everybody shopping at outdoor vendors. But in this world, we're still trying to be careful."

Fiesta Hermosa Locale's layout will also be different in September.

The festival grounds will stretch from Pacific Coast Highway to Hermosa Avenue, with only a portion of the latter street shut down. Previous iterations closed off streets to vehicle traffic in the entire downtown area to make way for the festival's hundreds of arts and craft booths.

Fiesta Hermosa Locale will have three parts, Accamando said: "The Lawn," "The Sidewalk" and "The Garden."

The Lawn will host approximately 100 vendors featuring art and handmade goods on the Hermosa Beach Community Center lawn, at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Pier Avenue. The chamber partnered with the nonprofit Arts Group of Hermosa Beach, which cancelled its fine arts festival in June because of the pandemic, to host The Lawn.

Pier Avenue, or The Sidewalk, will become a sidewalk sale, with businesses selling items from their storefronts. Stores that do not have a downtown footprint, Accamando said, will be able to partner with Pier Avenue businesses to promote or sell their merchandise.

The Garden, along Hermosa Avenue, will be the only area of that won't be free to enter. It will feature live music, children's rides and activities, and food and drinks. The Garden will also be the only spot where the street will be closed to traffic, from Pier Avenue to 10th Street. The west side of The Garden will be fenced off and the east side of Hermosa Avenue will be open to pedestrian traffic, Accamando said.

The Garden will also feature something new to Fiesta Hermosa Locale: "Experience Alley."

One of the 10 vendors in the alley will be the Hermosa Beach Historical Society and Museum, which will offer an experience detailing the history of the beach town and its surf and skating culture roots.

"If you're not a local and don't know the history of this town," Accamando said, "we want people to know and appreciate and respect this community."

Presale tickets to The Garden cost $15 a person, per day, and children 12 and under will be $2 a ticket each day. Early-bird tickets go on sale Tuesday, July 13, immediately after a virtual tour of Fiesta Hermosa Locale that the chamber will host at 11 a.m. that day. To view to tour, go to fiestahermosa.net.

Ticket sales will help keep the chamber afloat, Accamando said.

"We desperately need some revenue," Accamando said. "So we can keep going and to serve our business community."

Hermosa Brewing Company co-owner Dave Davis said he liked that the new fiesta format would focus on showcasing locals and the best of what the city has to offer.

"As a Hermosa resident, business owner and someone who is very active in the community," Davis said in an email, "I am beyond excited that the Chamber has taken this opportunity to listen to years of residents' feedback and incorporate them in to Fiesta Hermosa Locale."

City Manager Suja Lowenthal, for her part, said the city has been working closely with the chamber and is excited about the revitalization of this local tradition.

"We applaud the Chamber of Commerce's commitment to making Fiesta a more locally-oriented event," she said in an email, "and to protecting public health by complying with COVID-19 (recommendations) on large events."