Surf Del Mar Festival 2026: Your Schedule and Village Guide

Bully's closed in 2017 after 48 years on Camino Del Mar. Its white brick building was torn down, and a new restaurant was built on the site from the ground up. In early September, nearly ten years after the closing, Honor Bar opened there. About a month later, on Oct. 8, the Del Mar Historical Society opens its first Surf Del Mar Festival. The festival brings together people who surfed Del Mar's waves in the 1950s and 1960s, plus some who surfed even earlier, with today's surfers and the generations coming up behind them.

Those two events overlap in place. The festival runs through Del Mar Plaza, St. Peter's Parish Hall, L'Auberge Del Mar, Powerhouse Park and the Del Mar Train Station. That is the same part of the Village where a restaurant, a boutique and a pastry shop opened or moved over the summer. For four days, the oldest story in town and its newest storefronts share one walkable stretch. Here is how to plan it.

Four days, four rooms

Every event is free and open to the public. The Historical Society says no tickets are required or sold. Free does not always mean walk-in, though. Several sessions have limited seating and ask you to register ahead. Those are marked below.

Thursday is the climate symposium, moderated by Del Mar TV personality Jeff Lehmann. Speakers start with Kevin Whilden at 10 a.m., followed by Patrick McDonough at 10:45 and Ryan Simkovsky at 11:30. After a lunch break, Yehuda Ben-Hamo speaks at 1 p.m. and Adam Young at 1:45. The evening moves to the Plaza. Peter Sprague and Group play from 5 to 7 p.m., and the Legends and Champions Awards Ceremony runs from 5:30 to 6.

Friday is film day at St. Peter's, presented with the California Surf Museum. The lineup:

• Godpower at 11:30 a.m.
• Birth of The Endless Summer at 11:45 a.m.
• The Rising Dawn at 1:30 p.m.
• Wade In the Water at 3 p.m.
• Shaped By The Sea at 4 p.m.
• Bustin' Down The Door at 5:30 p.m.

The last film runs 1 hour and 46 minutes and is followed by a Q&A with Shaun Tomson. The festival homepage also lists a "Surfer's Sunset Reunion Session — Day 2" at 5 p.m. Friday on the Plaza's upper level. That session does not appear on the full schedule page, so check the site before you go.

Saturday puts the whole Village in a few blocks

Saturday, Oct. 10, packs the most into the smallest area, and festival events are not the only things on the calendar. In order:

1. 10 a.m. The Surfwriter's Book Fair opens at L'Auberge. Chris Ahrens speaks first, then Shaun Tomson at 11, T. Jefferson Parker at 1 p.m. and Kim Dwinell at 2. A signing follows each session.
2. 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Del Mar Library celebrates 30 years in its current building at 1309 Camino Del Mar.
3. 11 a.m. The Surfer's Reunion begins at Powerhouse Park and runs until 9:30 p.m.
4. Noon to 3 p.m. Woodies are on display at the Del Mar Train Station. The Del Mar Farmers Market, now in its 40th year, is open the same hours, noon to 4, in the Civic Center's lower parking lot.
5. 2 to 5 p.m. The Mar Dels play at Powerhouse Park.
6. After dark. The Endless Summer shows on the Powerhouse Park lawn.

The schedule calls it the "Woody Wagon Parade Through Del Mar and Display," but the published pages give no parade route and no separate start time. Only the noon-to-3 display at the station is confirmed. The festival schedule and the City's Sept. 25 newsletter also say nothing about festival parking or road closures. The two sources also disagree on the film's start time. The festival schedule says 6:30 to 7 p.m., "as soon as it's dark." The Historical Society's page says 7 p.m. Arriving at 6:30 covers both.

Sunday is a little quieter. Jeff Divine discusses his new book, "Divine Surf," with Grant Ellis in the Ruby Room from 11 to 11:45 a.m. His signing follows right after. Women on Waves runs that afternoon with these speakers:

• Olga Freedman at 1 p.m.
• Kim Dwinell at 1:30
• Valerie and Victoria Du Prat at 2:30
• Meredith Rose at 3:30

The festival closes at 5 p.m. with "Del Mar Surf History: Roots," preceded by a short film honoring Don Hansen. Camino Books handles registration for the book signings.

Between sessions, the new Village

The time between festival events is a good chance to try the places that changed this summer, and most of them sit along the festival route.

Honor Bar, 1404 Camino Del Mar. Honor Bar comes from Hillstone Restaurant Group, the company behind Houston's and Rutherford Grill. The Del Mar location joins Honor Bars in Beverly Hills, Dallas, Montecito and Palm Beach. Its rules matter on a crowded weekend:

• No reservations. You can call ahead to join the wait list.
• Cashless.
• Built for parties of four or fewer.
• A dress code that excludes sportswear, backwards hats and flip-flops, among other items.

A group coming straight from a beach session at Powerhouse Park should plan for that. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Parking is under the building, entered from the alley off 13th Street. The menu includes the Honor Burger, a French dip, and the "Osaka style" pressed sushi the brand is known for. On weekends only, the bar adds the Kickstart, Honor Bar's take on a Bloody Mary.

Del Mar Plaza, 1555 Camino Del Mar. The Plaza hosts the Thursday reception and Art Walk, and it changed this summer too. Desserts By Clément opened its second San Diego location in Suite 304, and it is open daily. La La Land Café has signed a lease for the mezzanine terrace café space. When the Plaza announced it in August, construction and opening dates had not been set. Urban Girl spent 15 years at the Plaza. It held a ribbon cutting Aug. 20 at its new street-front shop at 1210 Camino Del Mar, and its owners turned the Plaza space into their Beachcity concept.

Via de la Valle. If your weekend usually ends with dinner near the fairgrounds, Market Restaurant and Sushi Lounge closed Sept. 21 for a remodel. Demolition is underway, and the restaurant expects to reopen in spring 2027. Market opened 20 years ago and has been recognized by the Michelin Guide. Founder and chef Carl Schroeder sold it in 2025 to Monica and Bernd Brust, who plan new interiors, more dining space and a new menu, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Nearby, Bacio di Latte has opened at Flower Hill Promenade, 2650 Via de la Valle, Suite C190. Toastique was under construction next door in late July, in the other half of the former Between the Sheets space.

The rest of the fall calendar

After the festival, the season moves toward the fairgrounds and the track:

• Through Oct. 31. Pumpkin Station is in the Del Mar Fairgrounds East Parking Lot, with free parking and admission and rides for children.
• Oct. 17–18. The Fall Home/Garden Show fills O'Brien Hall.
• Nov. 6. The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club opens its fall season.
• Nov. 13. The Del Mar Village Association's Breast Cancer Cheering Station sets up on Camino Del Mar just south of 15th Street, 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Closer to the bluffs, Shores Park is still in planning. On Sept. 22, the City Council generally supported a concept design for the park on 9th Street between Stratford Court and Camino Del Mar. The design now moves toward a final master plan. Construction has not started.

I'll be watching how the Village's new storefronts settle in through the fall, along with what replaces the remaining open spaces. If you'd like to talk about how changes along Camino Del Mar affect your home or your plans in Del Mar, Cynthia Monaco is happy to share what she is seeing. Let's Connect.