SANTA MONICA, CA – June 19, 2025 — Thousands of people packed the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday for a historic Juneteenth celebration hosted by the Ebony Beach Club and Black Lives Matter. The all-day event transformed the iconic pier into a vibrant stage for culture, community, and remembrance—drawing such an overwhelming turnout that crowds spilled over onto the sand and surrounding boardwalk.
Festivities began in the morning with free surf lessons, encouraging participants to reconnect with the ocean as a symbol of liberation and joy. By the afternoon, the pier was at capacity. The evening portion—headlined by a sold-out lineup of DJs including BRICK! & Dirty Dell, B4BYL3XIGIRL & Faucet, and WaveIQ—turned the waterfront into a powerful gathering of sound, movement, and solidarity.
This year’s Juneteenth on the Pier was more than a celebration; it was a cultural reclamation. Organizers spotlighted the story of the original Ebony Beach Club, founded in 1957 by Silas White at 1811 Ocean Avenue. Intended as an exclusive Black-owned social club offering leisure and elegance in the face of segregation, the club never opened—its building seized by the City of Santa Monica under eminent domain for a “civic parking lot” that was never built.
Thursday’s turnout marked a symbolic return to those shores, fulfilling the promise of a space that once was denied.
“Ebony Beach Club on the Santa Monica Pier is more than a Juneteenth celebration,” organizers stated. “It is a rejoice, restoration, and reclamation of space rooted in real Los Angeles history.”
With thousands in attendance and the pier pulsing with energy, this year’s Juneteenth event marked one of the largest cultural gatherings on Santa Monica’s coast in recent memory—serving as both a tribute to the past and a powerful step forward in reclaiming place and presence.
Fabian! The pier has been good to u in past couple weeks! Twice! Or 4times depending on how you count it!
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