For 53 years, Fiesta Hermosa has filled the streets of Hermosa Beach with art, music, food, and fun. Originally known as Fiesta de las Artes, the festival celebrated artisan culture and welcomed visitors to the beach to shop, experience the arts, and enjoy the community. It eventually became known as one of Southern California’s largest beachside arts and crafts festivals - but here in Hermosa, we simply think of it as a treasured tradition.
The Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce’s history of producing community celebrations goes back even further.
In the 1930s, the Chamber held an early event called Fiesta de las Artes over Fourth of July weekend. The three-day celebration ran until midnight each evening and featured festivities and goods created by local artists and craftspeople.
In 1952, the Chamber launched “1912 Days,” named for the year the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce was founded. During this citywide celebration, local businesses rolled back the prices of food, drinks, and other goods to what they might have cost in 1912 - including penny candy and five-cent beer.
The annual event featured a parade, a festival queen, carnival rides, booths, games, period costume and beard contests, dancing, and food. Celebrities, local elected officials, and California governors attended over the years, and the festivities often concluded with a grand ball at the Biltmore Hotel. More than 50,000 people attended in 1957. The final 1912 Days celebration was held in 1965.
A 1962 Chamber report written by then-President Seymour Bilowit also described an Exhibit Fair and Demonstration Days held in partnership with local merchants. Designed as a “showcase of goods,” the event attracted visitors from across Southern California and was considered a success, with vendors eager to return.
Fiesta Hermosa began its current chapter in the 1970s as Fiesta de las Artes, a one-day event held along Pier Avenue between Hermosa Avenue and The Strand. It was organized by the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce in partnership with members of Colony Arts & Crafts.
The festival expanded to two days in the early 1970s and became a three-day event in 1979. By the early 1980s, it stretched north along Hermosa Avenue to 14th Street, although its focus remained primarily on arts and crafts. In just eight years, Fiesta grew from approximately 20 booths to more than 400.
By 1989, Crafts and Fairs Magazine had rated Fiesta among the top fairs in the Western United States. In 1991, the Memorial Day and Labor Day festivals welcomed a combined 200,000 attendees who came for the artisan vendors, international food pavilion, live entertainment, petting zoo, and unmistakable Hermosa Beach atmosphere.
Today, Fiesta Hermosa continues twice a year over Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Following a three-year hiatus, the longstanding Labor Day Fiesta returned with a smaller, more localized footprint highlighting Hermosa Beach businesses, artists, musicians, and community.
We thank the Hermosa Beach Historical Society and Museum for providing the photographs and historical information featured here. Visit their website to learn more about Hermosa Beach history.