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A fun look at the lively and popular twice-annual event in this LA beach city.

Welcome to Fiesta Hermosa!
Fun, Food, Bands and a Beer Garden!

Fan Halen, a popular Van Halen cover band rocks the beer garden.

As if a holiday weekend in lively beach town is not enticing enough, the city of Hermosa Beach, CA makes it more of a festival atmosphere with Fiesta Hermosa.

Held each Memorial Day and Labor Day weekend, the three-day event features local arts and crafts booths, food booth, live music in two locations and, of utmost interest to the many singles of this South Bay part of L.A., a beer and wine garden.

Labor Day 2011 is Sept. 2-4 (USC and UCLA open their football season, both at 12:30 p.m.).

People turn out on the Pier area for Fiesta Hermosa.

Thousands turn out each day, crowding lower Pier Ave., which runs right into the Pacific Ocean, and for five blocks along Hermosa Ave. Vendors hawk jewelry, clothes, photography, wall and house decorations.

In addition to the festival itself, several more people are participating in local beach volleyball tournaments, are cruising along The Strand – a sidewalk that runs parallel to the Pacific – on bikes and rollerblades or are enjoying the ocean, wide beach.

"You can feel the excitement," one resident says. "It just says: celebration!"

That's certainly evident at the intersection of the Strand and Pier Ave. It's the focal point of activities. The centerpiece is a stage featuring live music and along the sides are the restaurants and bars of downtown Hermosa, their patios filled with pacified patrons.

The Pier area vendor booths

There are families and couples, to be sure, but the place is also swarming with singles. They patrol the crafts and eventually head to the food booths, which are located in a parking lot just south of Pier Ave., Grilled meats and shrimp, Thai, Mexican, corn on the cob and other tasty treats are sold, for prices in the $4-7 range.

This is a necessity for those who spend their afternoons in the beer garden, And several people do, enjoying the rotating bands, the beer (of course) and the boys and babes that comprise the crowd.

Grilled shrimp is one of he offerings in the food court.

It's such a popular destination that there's always a line, and while it tends moves fairly quickly it's also evident it's time for a small beer garden expansion. This could be accomplished by relocating three food booths next to the beer garden's entrance.

The beer garden lines require some planning and perhaps planting, as it's difficult to check out the bands here and also at the Pier. And those bands are one of the key draws of Fiesta Hermosa. Organizers bring in great music.

Babes and bands – that's Shari Puroto singing – in the beer garden.

Many are cover bands of popular acts – Fan Ha len (Van Ha len), Led Separating (Led Zeppelin) and The Long Run (Eagles) – along with bands playing classic rock and local musicians such as Hermosa Beach's own blues rocker Shari Puroto. Fan Halen is particular popular and has closed out the last two beer gardens on Mondays.

Fiesta Hermosa runs Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with bands playing from 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

– Fiesta Hermosa Labor Day Bands Schedule – 

– Fiesta Hermosa Photos – 

What's a holiday weekend festival without festival characters!?

Crowd on the Stand and lower Pier Ave, prove the event's popularity.

Bikes are a major method of transportation to Fiesta Hermosa.

John Post photos and funky signs are among the items for sale.

A bar's eye view of the Fiesta Hermosa beer garden.

The view inside the beer garden.

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Related Article: Hermosa Beach