Del Rey Day takes over Bill Rosendahl Del Rey Park at 4601 Alla Road on Sunday, October 25, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Del Rey Neighborhood Council hosts it, and it's free. Venice Paparazzi's listing promises live music, games, food, community booths and a dog costume contest. The format barely changes from year to year. Over the past few years, the most reliable public events in Del Rey have been the ones neighbors put together themselves. Meanwhile, the commercial project being built at the neighborhood's northern corner has pushed its completion date back again.
Four Octobers, One Park
Del Rey Day has landed on a late-October Sunday at the same park for four years in a row. The council's own previews show how steady the format has been.
| Year | Date | What the council advertised |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Sunday, October 22 | The council's 20th-anniversary celebration, with school performances, a spelling bee, a dog-costume contest, tie-dye, face painting and bounce houses |
| 2024 | Sunday, October 27 | Del Rey Jazz Band, student acts, the spelling bee, and a dog contest set for 1 p.m. |
| 2025 | Sunday, October 26 | Del Rey Community Jazz Band, student performers, Courtney and the Cruisers, tacos, pizza, paletas and popcorn |
| 2026 | Sunday, October 25 | Live music, food vendors, 15+ booths, a bounce house, an inflatable obstacle course, an ice bath and the dog-costume contest |
The 2026 entries come from Ballona Creek Renaissance's event page. It lists performances, food vendors and booths for more than 15 community organizations and local businesses. It also names tacos, paletas, popcorn, the bounce house, the obstacle course, the ice bath and the dog-costume contest as expected attractions. The stage schedule and the food details are still marked TBA. Expect the lineup to be confirmed close to the day.
Parking is still an open question. For 2025, the council's event page offered free parking at 4553 Glencoe Avenue. That was last year's arrangement, and nothing published so far confirms it for 2026.
A Park That Kept the Neighborhood's Name
The festival's setting comes from the same neighborhood effort. Until recently, the park was known as Glen Alla Park. When the city considered renaming it, the Del Rey Neighborhood Council asked to keep "Del Rey" in the name to strengthen the neighborhood's identity. A later proposal added Bill Rosendahl's name. That history is in the June 17, 2021 Recreation and Parks report. The same report notes that Rosendahl represented the district on the City Council from 2005 to 2013 and was responsible for the park's play equipment.
So Del Rey's festival takes place in a park whose name the neighborhood council asked for. The council's May 2021 letter in that file also lists the improvements neighbors had already seen there. Earlier playground and restroom work came first, followed by updates to the dog park, new exercise equipment and resurfaced tennis courts.
Today the city's park page lists lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, picnic tables, paddle tennis and an off-leash dog park, open dawn to dusk. The 2021 report describes the grounds as 4.8 acres, with separate dog areas for large dogs and timid ones. With a dog park already on site, a dog costume contest fits right in.
Building the Rest of the Sunday Around It
The festival runs five hours, and the blocks around it fill out the day well.
Coffee before the gates open. Häsi Bread is at 4119 S. Centinela Avenue, near Washington Boulevard. It opened its first permanent bakery and café on May 13, 2025, as Eater LA reported at the time. According to its site, the café is now open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. or until it sells out. The bread is wild-fermented with no commercial yeast, and the case holds croissants, bagels and English muffins. The fall menu adds an Apple Pie Latte that debuted October 1, made with house-made spiced apple syrup and an optional vanilla-bean cream, and served with espresso or matcha. Because it can sell out, an early stop at Häsi before an 11 a.m. start is easier than a mid-afternoon one.
Getting there by bike. Del Rey sits right on Ballona Creek, and Ballona Creek Renaissance's path guide lists ramps at Inglewood Boulevard and Centinela Avenue. The guide describes the Inglewood ramp as flat and says Centinela has entrances on both sides of the creek. The full path runs about seven miles from Syd Kronenthal Park to the coast bike path. Entrances may close when heavy rain is possible. The guide is several years old, so check the ramps before you plan a route around them.
Lunch or dinner after 4. Two restaurants are close to the park. El Abajeño at 4515 Inglewood Boulevard, which lists a Culver City mailing address, serves Mexican food from El Grullo, Jalisco. J. Nichols Kitchen at 4375 Glencoe Avenue, which lists a Marina del Rey address, is locally owned and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The Corner That Keeps Moving Its Date
About a mile north of the park, the corner of Washington Boulevard and Centinela Avenue tells a different story. The project now called Culver Commons, first proposed as Culver Public Market, got its approval years ago. According to Culver City Crossroads, little happened on the site after that "other than the occasional Christmas tree lot." That January report described about 13,000 square feet of restaurant space, a restored neon "Culver" sign and a stage for performances. It also noted that developer Regency Centers dropped the larger market hall concept in 2024. The leasing materials at the time promised completion by the end of 2026.
That date has already moved. The City of Culver City's project page now shows construction in progress, with completion estimated for Spring 2027. In January, only Smog City and Churrería El Moro had been announced. The tenant list has since grown to five, as Westside Current reported from the leasing brochure:
- Vox Kitchen
- Wanderlust Creamery
- Smog City Brewing
- Rol Handroll Bar
- El Moro Churros & Coffee
Smog City expects its taproom and kitchen to open in early 2027. No opening dates have been published for the other four. When it opens, the complex will have a performance stage and a churro-and-coffee counter. For now, its schedule is an estimate, while Del Rey Day's is already printed.
Change on that stretch of Centinela isn't limited to the corner. At 4129 Centinela Avenue, just south of Washington and on the former site of New Flavors Chinese restaurant, an eight-story building with 72 affordable apartments had topped out its wood framing as of Urbanize LA's June 2026 report. That puts it a few doors from Häsi. No newer update on its progress has been published.
The Next Date on the Neighborhood's Calendar
The Culver Boulevard median shows how long some neighborhood plans run. The Del Rey Neighborhood Council and Ballona Creek Renaissance proposed upgrading the median and adding stormwater capture, and applied for $400,000 for a first-phase feasibility study. As of the council's November 2025 update, the application was still under review. The estimated schedule had the study finishing in July 2027, construction starting in June 2030 and completion in June 2033. Every one of those dates is an estimate, and nothing newer has been posted.
The neighborhood's nearer plans are much more concrete. Three weeks after Del Rey Day, on Saturday, November 14, Ballona Creek Renaissance holds its fall creek cleanup from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Volunteers meet on the north side of the creek near the Marvin Braude Bike Path and the UCLA Aquatic Center. No preregistration is needed, and supplies will be on hand.
That makes two dates in four weeks, both organized by neighbors and both open to anyone who shows up. Del Rey Day is Sunday, October 25, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 4601 Alla Road.
If you're getting a Del Rey home ready for its next chapter, or just want to talk about which corners of this neighborhood are changing and which aren't, JoJo Steinberg would be glad to compare notes over a latte from Häsi. Work With JoJo.
