Pacific Beachfest returns on Saturday, October 3, 2026. It's free, it runs along the boardwalk between Felspar and Thomas, and it pulls in up to 50,000 people over the day — live music, food vendors, a beer garden, and the whole neighbourhood out at once.
It's one of the best days of the year in PB. It is also, without question, the single worst parking day of the year in PB.
The parking problem, stated honestly
Pacific Beach has limited parking on an ordinary Saturday. On Beachfest day the streets nearest the boardwalk fill early — often well before the festival really gets going — and what's left is a long walk in from the residential streets east of Mission Boulevard.
Circling for a space during the festival is close to pointless. If you're driving in, the realistic options are to arrive very early, park well east and walk, or use a rideshare and accept surge pricing plus a drop-off point that isn't where you wanted.
Where a golf cart actually helps
A street-legal cart is far easier to place than a car. It's shorter, it fits spaces a full-size vehicle can't, and around the beach communities there are simply more places it will go.
But the bigger win isn't the parking spot — it's not needing one twice.
If you're staying anywhere in Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Mission Bay or at Campland, a cart lets you leave the car where it is for the whole day. Drive in, park close, and go home whenever you want without renegotiating the parking situation after dark. With six seats, one cart carries the group that would otherwise need two cars and two spaces.
Worth knowing: our carts are street-legal Low-Speed Vehicles, so they're road-legal anywhere posted at 35 mph or under — which covers essentially the whole route through the beach neighbourhoods. Details in street-legal golf cart rules in San Diego.
A few practical notes for the day
- The boardwalk itself is closed to vehicles, including carts. Park it and walk the festival — that's the point.
- Go early. The morning is calmer, cooler, and far easier to move around in than mid-afternoon.
- Same weekend as the PB Half Marathon — the 5K runs Saturday morning, the half on Sunday — which brings its own road closures and its own crowd. Check the route before you plan your morning.
- October is genuinely good beach weather here — average highs around 74°F, and the June marine layer is long gone. More on that in is September a good time to visit San Diego.
Booking a cart for Beachfest weekend
We run a small fleet — two 6-seat street-legal carts — so festival weekends go early. If you want one for October 3, book well ahead rather than the week of.
Rates are from $160 the first day and $140 each additional day, plus tax, with a refundable $200 deposit. Delivery and pickup in the beach communities is one flat $40 — free to Campland — or unlock it yourself with a code.
Check availability for Beachfest weekend →
Festival date per Discover PB and the official Beachfest site; attendance per San Diego Tourism Authority. Race days per San Diego Running Co. Event details can change — check the organisers before you travel.
