The Venice Beach Games is a sun soaked celebration of sports and fitness, that brings together the entire community and beyond in a healthy, fun, day of sports, fitness, competition, and camaraderie in the world's greatest beach front recreation center.

The entire park and its glorious amenities are full of organized activity put on by the fantastic groups of people playing here. It is a day where the public can join 25+ sports groups running free activities, clinics, contests, games, and tournaments. Our Fitness Village and Main Stage also facilitate guest interaction with the best in local gyms, group workouts, personal training, athletic brands, recovery, nutrition, and more.

The Venice Beach Games is Venice Beach’s premier summer sports festival. With thousands of participants and tens of thousands of spectators, it is not to be missed.

Date: Saturday, July 29, 2023.
Time: 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.
Admission: Free
Who can participate: You can! And everyone else too!
Location: Venice Beach Recreation Center.
1800 Ocean Front Walk. Venice, California 90291

The 2023 event will included:

- Battle of the Bars presented by World Calisthenics Org.
- Calisthenics Reps competition by United Nation of Gains
- Skate park competition: Pup cup, snake run, big bowl, highest ollie by Skateparks Intl.
- Muscle Beach Stage group fitness classes with: CAMPLA, MODO yoga, Sweat Yoga, Basecamp LA, F45 Fitness
- Epicenter Fitness Stage group fitness classes with: Barry's Bootcamp, Box Union, Team 3XT, Capoeira Brasil, Santa Monica Striking, JFM Boxing, Movement Co. and more!
- On the Mat Martial Arts Zone classes with Animal Flow, Jiu Jitsu Flo, Wrestling with Westside Mat Monsters, Jiu Jitsu with Rey Diogo, and Sambo with Make Step Foundation.
- KinFlo: The New Aerodynamic Flow Sport the World has been waiting for!
- Soccer clinics and organized games by Venice Beach Football Club
- Handball tournament by Mike Koss
- Bicycle clinic by Venice Electric Light Parade
- Paddle tennis clinics and tournament by Street Paddle and Pop Paddle
- Pickle ball clinics and tournament by Venice Pickle Ball
- Beach volley ball games by Westside Volley Ball
- Basketball clinics and games and dunk contest by Venice Ball
- VibeRide LA and LA Skate Hunnies host Long board, flat land, scooter, blades, and more, competition, lessons, and open dance jam with beats by Sound Box and Alf Alpha.
- Roller Skating open dance and lessons with Venice Beach Skate Dance Assoc.
- Kids Zone with arts and crafts by Venice Beach Rec. Center
- Beach clean up contest by Venice Com
munity Cleanups, Venice Beach BID, and Spogomi.
- Ping Pong with Venice Pong Club - Fitness Zone Vendor Village featuring Santa Monica Row House, Perfect Bar, Venice Beach Beverage, Life Way Foods, Jiant Kombucha, Guayaki Yerba Mate, Basecamp Santa Monica, CAMPLA, Venice Chamber of Commerce, and more!



For more info, Click Here

On Wednesday, June 14th, at 3:05pm, Venice resident Laura Michele Rosenfeld took her beloved dog Bart out for a quick walk when a homeless man who appeared to be on drugs "danced" up to them and kicked Bart so hard, he flew into the metal claw of the bobcat tractor city workers were using to repair the street. As Laura screamed in horror, a good samartitan (and former firewoman) on vacation with her son jumped into action.


The attack was caught by a security camera. The above photos shows him walking up towards the dog, the photo below shows the moment just before he kicked the dog.




"The dog was not breathing. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth. There was no life in his eyes. There was no pulse so I asked bystanders to call 911 and began CPR. After about seven minutes, he started to breathe but was still unconscious. He started to display seizure-like symptoms including clonic-tonic convulsions and uncontrolled urination."

Bart is 15 years old. He is still in the hospital and in critical condition with brain swelling. My neighbor has organized a gofundme to help with his medical costs

Photos of the attacker from Wednesday.



Some nearby city construction workers saw and ran after the man. They held him till the police showed up.



“The attacker has since been arrested", FOX 11's crew reports. "As of Friday night, the suspect has not been publicly identified and charges against the man has not been announced.”

Barty is doing a tiny bit better today thanks to all of the good wishes and his mother that spends every moment of the two separate visiting hours by his side. The swelling in his head is going down, but he still cannot stand on his own. The staff is hopeful that time will change that. In the meantime, he is being monitored 24 -7 thanks to everyone’s generosity in donating here and also directly to the hospital. I requested an up-to-date bill for transparency and I’m working on making the donations go straight to the hospital.

Friday morning, county crews installed interpretive signage on the newly-painted lifeguard towers at Ginger Rogers Beach.

From Santa Monica Close Up:

"On Friday, June 16, 2023, the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, in collaboration with Clean Harbors Environmental Inc., conducted a cleanup operation at the Venice Pier to address the homeless encampment. To ensure safety, sanitation workers wore white hazardous materials suits as part of the protocol. LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) was also present, offering homeless outreach during the operation."

Santa Monica Close Up is a photo blog by Santa Monica based Photojournalist/Press photographer Fabian Lewkowicz. Fabian is the former staff photographer for the Santa Monica Daily Observer Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Corsair.

Support Santa Monica Closeup/Fabian Lewkowicz with Venmo or PayPal to help earn money to make these videos:

https://venmo.com/u/santamonicacloseup

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/fabianlewkowicz

From Santa Monica Close Up:

"In a swift response to an emergency call, Los Angeles firefighters successfully extinguished a fire that broke out in a trash dumpster at the picturesque Venice Beach earlier today. The incident occurred on Friday, June 16, 2023, causing temporary disruption but no injuries were reported."

Santa Monica Close Up is a photo blog by Santa Monica based Photojournalist/Press photographer Fabian Lewkowicz. Fabian is the former staff photographer for the Santa Monica Daily Observer Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Corsair.

Support Santa Monica Closeup/Fabian Lewkowicz with Venmo or PayPal to help earn money to make these videos:

https://venmo.com/u/santamonicacloseup

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/fabianlewkowicz

Join the organizations behind the restoration of Topanga Lagoon for an overview and update of the project on Saturday, June 17 from 10 a.m to 12 p.m. in Calabasas. The meeting will be both in person, streamed live, and a recoding will be posted on the project website in about two weeks.

About The Topanga Lagoon Restoration Project



California State Parks, along with partners including the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, Caltrans, and Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors are working on a project funded by the California State Coastal Conservancy to restore Topanga Lagoon.

Topanga Lagoon is located at the mouth of Topanga Creek, which drains from a watershed within the Santa Monica Mountains. The lagoon is currently approximately 1 acre in size and is crossed by the Pacific Coast Highway. The historic lagoon area has been filled and developed over the years with buildings and hard-scape infrastructure. The beach adjacent to the lagoon hosts millions of visitors per year and is an important regional coastal access and recreation location. Though reduced from its historical size, Topanga Lagoon still hosts important natural resources, including the federally endangered tidewater goby and federally endangered Southern California steelhead trout. The lagoon area also includes remnants of the Historic Topanga Ranch Motel.

The Topanga Lagoon Restoration Project seeks to restore ecological values by expanding Topanga Lagoon from 1 acre to 7-10 acres and reconstructing an existing PCH bridge to accommodate the wider lagoon. The project also seeks to improve visitor services and coastal access.

California State Parks and the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains are seeking public input on the proposed restoration of Topanga Lagoon and the efforts to protect and enhance its biological, cultural, and recreational resources.

For more info, Click Here

APD respond to an alleged assault that took place at the Sidewalk Cafe. Officers locate the suspect at an encampment off the boardwalk. As they question the suspect, she laughs at them and tells them to “relax” then walks away to light up a cigarette.

Body Glove is having a Father's Day sale, 25% Off sitewide. Use code: dad25 at BodyGlove.com