All are invited to attend “A Day in the Canyon” at The Ranch Laguna Beach, 31106 South Coast Highway, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, at Scout Camp. The interactive community event will include outdoor activities, organic cuisine, beer and wine pairings, and family fun. At 7 p.m., the day will shift to a separate adults-only VIP event called “A Night in the Canyon,” featuring an outdoor movie screening under the stars in a remote part of the canyon.
The daytime event offers entertainment and immersive outdoor experiences for all ages, concluding with a Santa Maria-style BBQ, sustainable and local seafood, an artisan cheese station, wine, beer and whiskey tastings, with live music and interactive tours of the Ranch’s organic Harvest Garden led by the on-site farm manager throughout the day.
The evening VIP experience will include a private outdoor screening of the Academy Award-winning documentary “Free Solo,” as well as hosted dessert, wine, beer and cordials, live music, and astronomer-led stargazing and night sky photography.
Tickets to “A Day in the Canyon” are $75 per person and $25 for children ages 6-12. Tickets to the adults-only “A Night in the Canyon” VIP experience are $150 per person. All proceeds for the ticketed events will benefit The Ranch at Laguna Beach’s Adventure Camp, which provides no-cost overnight camping and day programs for nonprofit organizations serving underprivileged youth.
Tickets to both events are available at www.ocean-institute.org/day-night-canyon or by calling 949-496-2274.
Summer Breeze Returns, Trolley Service Expanded
This summer, the free Laguna Beach Summer Breeze trolley can be boarded at the free parking lot near the 405 freeway and Laguna Canyon Road. The service runs every half hour on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to midnight through Sept. 1. It travels along Laguna Canyon Road with stops at: Sawdust Art Festival, Laguna Art-A-Fair, Festival of the Arts, Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Playhouse, and the Laguna Beach Bus Station.
From the Laguna Beach Bus Station, see all of Laguna Beach by connecting to the free Laguna Beach Trolley system. Expanded summer trolley service features Canyon service running from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and Coastal service running from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.lagunabeachcity.net/trolley or call 949-497-0766. For real time trolley arrivals, download the Visit Laguna Beach app and access the Trolley Tracker.
LBHS Offers Summer Camps
Laguna Beach High School will offer drama and dance camps Monday-Thursday, Aug. 5-8 and Aug. 12-15. Estee Fratzke will teach the dance camp from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and Alexis Karol and Roxanna Ward will teach the drama camp from 1-3:30 p.m. Each class is $200 per week. A supervised lunch break will be provided for middle school students attending both disciplines. Register at lbhssummercamps.8to18.com.
Boys & Girls Club, City Team Up for Camp Bluebird
This year the city is partnering with the Boys & Girls Club to offer a unique summer camp experience. Residents can sign their children up for Junior Lifeguards (ages 8-12). Boys & Girls Club staff will pick up children when Junior Lifeguards ends and transport them to Bluebird Park for sports, games, arts, and other activities. When parents are done with work or errands, they can pick up their kids before 6 p.m. at Bluebird Park. For more information about the program, contact Adam Gufarotti at (949) 497-0304 or [email protected].
City Launches ‘Laguna Beach Parking’ App
Laguna Beach residents, visitors, and business owners can now find available parking in real time using the new “Laguna Beach Parking” mobile smartphone app. City officials said their goal is to “make parking easier from start to finish for Laguna Beach residents and for the city’s six million annual visitors.” Those interested in using the app can download it for free in the App Store, Google Play Store or at www.lagunabeachparking.net.
After downloading the app and creating an account, users can enter a destination in Laguna Beach to find the closest available parking in real time. Users can also pay for their parking through the app, keep track of remaining time, and extend their parking session remotely.
The app will provide drivers with the flexibility to either pay for individual parking sessions with their debit and credit card or load funds onto a digital wallet. Once parked, users can enter their space number located on the street, their desired length of stay, and confirm their payment information.
Parking enforcement officials can view the parking sessions on their handheld device and collect parking data to help the city better anticipate future transit and parking needs.
Laguna Beach City Manager John Pietig said the app “will reduce the amount of time users spend searching for parking and in turn lower traffic congestion in the city.”
The app was developed as part of a partnership between the city and Frogparking.
“Through the ‘Laguna Beach Parking’ App, users will see there is a lot of available parking in the city’s peripheral parking lots and other lots in the city,” said Paula Faust, Deputy Director of Public Works. “Once users park in those lots, the city’s free trolley systems will take them right into the heart of downtown, to the beach or shopping. Users can ride the free trolley and hop on and off to all the city’s different attractions, without fighting traffic or continually worrying about feeding the meter.”
For more information on trolley routes, visit www.lagunabeachcity.net/cityhall/transit_and_trolleys/default.htm.
