{"id":347325,"date":"2026-06-05T00:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T00:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347325\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T00:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T00:49:13","slug":"55-parking-shuttles-and-water-taxis-how-will-11000-people-get-to-long-beachs-new-amphitheater-long-beach-post-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347325\/","title":{"rendered":"$55 parking, shuttles and water taxis: How will 11,000 people get to Long Beach\u2019s new amphitheater? \u2022 Long Beach Post News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long Beach this week is putting the final touches on its new waterfront amphitheater: painting row numbers, setting up concession stands, fine-tuning the stage and laying plans to get 11,000 people to and from the venue with very little on-site parking.<\/p>\n

The newly named F&M Bank Amphitheater sits next to the Queen Mary, on an old port pier nearly surrounded by water. There\u2019s one small bridge connecting it to downtown Long Beach, a ramp to the 710 Freeway and no room for thousands of cars.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, when Snoop Dogg opens the venue with a concert, the city\u2019s plans to get people there smoothly will be tested for the first time. Here\u2019s how they hope it will work.<\/p>\n

How will parking work?<\/p>\n

There will not be any general admission parking at the amphitheater, but attendees can opt for a shuttle, water taxis, rideshare, bike, e-scooter or bus to get to the venue.<\/p>\n

Anyone with a ticket for Saturday\u2019s show can hop on the free shuttle from the parking lot on Shoreline Drive south of Ocean Boulevard, said Meredith DeSanti, a spokesperson for Legends Global, the venue\u2019s operator.<\/p>\n

Parking in that lot will cost $55, purchased ahead of time through the ParkWhiz app<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The shuttles start running at 4 p.m., and the venue opens at 5 p.m., with the show scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Shuttle service will also run after the show ends.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Queen Mary serves as a backdrop for the new F&M Bank Amphitheater in Long Beach on Thursday, June 4, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n

Hoping to keep concertgoers entertained before the show, there will also be free admission to the Queen Mary on concert days, DeSanti said.<\/p>\n

You can also get to the waterfront venue by water: AquaLink boats run by Long Beach Transit will leave every 30 minutes from a dock near the Aquarium of the Pacific before and after the show. They cost $5 for a round trip.<\/p>\n

There will also be storage outside the venue for bikes and e-scooters.<\/p>\n

Hoping to boost the tourism economy<\/p>\n

At a ribbon-cutting for the venue on Thursday, Mayor Rex Richardson hailed the opening as \u201ca major milestone for our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials are essentially betting on the amphitheater help replace declining oil revenue, drawing in tourists \u2014 and their tax dollars \u2014 while bolstering foot traffic downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can show up early, grab a bite, have a drink, a little pregame, stay the night at one of our incredible hotels,\u201d Richardson said Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson speaks before the ribbon cutting for the new F&M Bank Amphitheater of Long Beach on Thursday, June 4, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n

City Manager Tom Modica echoed that, encouraging ticketholders to return to downtown Long Beach after the concert to \u201cspend time and invest in our businesses and our beautiful downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

The $21.3 million venue was originally promised to open in fall 2025 and have a $14 million price tag. But the city altered plans midstream to add upgraded seating and a VIP lounge, along with two more screens on stage. Increased construction and labor costs also inflated the bottom line.<\/p>\n

Projections shared previously by the city\u2019s Economic Development Department estimate the venue should pay for itself within eight years, with a projected $7.4 million in profit over its final two years of operation.<\/p>\n

Long Beach is paying the massive venue-management company Legends\/ASM Global to run the amphitheater. Their contract includes a $15,000 monthly fee for consulting work until it opens and a $300,000 annual fee thereafter.<\/p>\n

Farmer & Merchants Bank purchased the naming rights for the venue for an undisclosed amount. The Long Beach Post has submitted a request to review that contract.<\/p>\n

Ice Cube, Lil Wayne, Toto and Luke Bryan are a few of the artists signed on to perform at the venue through August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Beach this week is putting the final touches on its new waterfront amphitheater: painting row numbers, setting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-347325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}