Great Park's Fall Runs on a Temporary Stage and One New Drive-Thru

On the last weekend of August, people driving in for the Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival parked near a brand-new In-N-Out Burger about half a mile from the festival grounds. When they found the drive-thru still closed, they posted about it online. The OC Register's verdict on that disappointment was short: "They were six days early."

In-N-Out opened on Friday morning, Sept. 4. It was the first tenant to open at The Canopy at Great Park. The burger stand isn't really the news here. That festival weekend showed how the Great Park works right now. Its biggest crowds come for a stage the city calls temporary, and the restaurants and shops built to serve those crowds are only starting to open. October is the clearest example yet, and both of those pieces will stay that way longer than most people expect.

Four Weekends on the Event Lawn

Great Park Live started its 2026 season on Feb. 7 with a Lunar New Year parade and festival, and the season runs through October. This month's lineup leans more toward cultural festivals than concert tours:

The Global Village Festival turns 25 this year, which makes it older than most of the park around it. The Mega Night Market runs both days into the evening, so it's the longest event of the month. You can come for lunch and leave after dark.

Each of these weekends can be bigger than a festival of the same name could have been a few years ago. This year Great Park Live added 2,500 to its capacity and now holds up to 10,000 people for standing-room shows. The amphitheater opened with room for 5,000, and it can now host festivals with more than one stage. Daisy Chain Fields used that room on Aug. 29, spreading across several parts of the park that included Great Park Live, with its main stage set up on other park land. The Daily Pilot reported 45,000 attendees for the first year of the Olivia Rodrigo-founded festival, which had two stages and a lineup led by women.

The festival also left something behind that costs nothing. "Grrrl Germs: Punk feminism goes viral, 1991–2026" opened at the Great Park Gallery during Daisy Chain Fields. It's free and open to the public through Nov. 29. Any October date on the lawn can include a stop at the gallery.

The Temporary Stage Has a Long Lease on Life

The city calls Great Park Live a temporary amphitheater. Plans for a permanent replacement are still on paper. The city's July 2026 status report describes a planned venue for 10,000 people and expects construction to happen between 2028 and 2030. It gives no opening date.

The city's agreements point the same way. Irvine-based PSQ Productions has run the venue since it opened. In 2024 the city signed a three-year contract with the company for up to $6.6 million, and it extended that agreement the following year. After a council decision this spring, PSQ's stay could run until 2030, or until the permanent amphitheater is done. At a March Great Park Board meeting, the council asked the city manager to negotiate with PSQ and bring an agreement back for a vote. Councilmember Kathleen Treseder voted no.

Taken together, the 10,000-person crowds, the festivals on several stages and this month's calendar are what Great Park events will probably look like for the rest of the decade. PSQ founder and CEO Mark Entner described the range to the Register: "We are able to do everything from festivals, concerts, cultural celebrations, food festivals, car shows."

The Canopy Fills the Hours Around the Shows

The temporary stage is staying put for now. The center being built to serve it is moving faster. The Canopy at Great Park is a retail and dining center from ALMQUIST Development + Investment with about 90,000 square feet of leasable space, at 7900 Great Park Blvd. The City's September page on the Bosque area says the center will connect directly to the Bosque Trail.

The Orange County Business Journal reported in mid-September that nearly 20 tenants are lined up. Here is the announced list so far:

• Grocery anchor: T&T Supermarket, the Canadian Asian grocer, in a 34,000-square-foot space. It will be T&T's first Orange County store.
• Coffee, tea and sweets: Philz Coffee, Chicha San Chen, H&H Bagels, McConnell's Fine Ice Creams and Palmetto Superfoods.
• Meals: In-N-Out Burger, The Taco Stand, Shootz, Baba's Hot Chicken, JJANG Yakiniku and Social House, and Osen Urban Table.
• Fitness, retail and services: Free People Movement, Brooks Running, Sol Studio, Solestage, Rylee + Cru, Sunfeel and La Jolla Cosmetic.

Several names on that list are local firsts. H&H Bagels, the New York shop seen in "Seinfeld," "Sex and the City" and "The Office," is opening its first Orange County location here. Osen Urban Table is a new concept from Irvine's own Izakaya Osen. Brooks Running, based in Seattle, is making its California debut.

Don't expect most of them by Halloween. Almquist expects the rest of the businesses to open in phases from late 2026 through early 2027. "This is just the beginning, with many more openings ahead," founder and CEO Dan Almquist said in a September statement. The City's timeline runs a bit longer. Its Bosque page says the first phase is expected to open in late 2026 and the remaining areas in mid-2027. The Register's Sept. 4 story said T&T planned to open in the spring. In March, the paper had described the opening as early 2027. For now, In-N-Out is the only one open.

What's Next, in Order

The Canopy's tenants will open over the coming months. The rest of the Great Park's permanent projects are measured in years, and some have no date at all. This is the order the city's latest reports give:

1. Perimeter Park, Northern Sector: trail and landscape improvements plus open green space. Construction was expected to start in September 2026 and take about four months.
2. The Lakes: a planned 22-acre lake. Pipeline work starts this fall, and work on the lake bowl and pump station follows in 2027.
3. Professional baseball: Irvine announced a new Pioneer Baseball League franchise. It plans to start playing at the Great Park Baseball Stadium in summer 2027.
4. Permanent amphitheater: construction is expected between 2028 and 2030.
5. Great Park library: the city estimates about six years, counting the work of identifying and securing funds through completion, which means 2032 at the earliest.
6. Botanic Garden and Veterans Memorial Park & Gardens: both are still listed as future amenities, with no opening dates.

The Championship Soccer Stadium got its upgrades early because of the World Cup. When the U.S. Men's National Team used the Great Park as its base camp, the stadium got a new grass field, security fencing, better locker rooms and a media room. The Orange County Soccer Club had to move out temporarily during the work.

Wild Rivers closed its regular season on Sept. 7, so this month the water park is closed. October's options are the four weekends on the lawn, the free gallery show and one burger stand half a mile away. The Rise Against show on Oct. 23 is the last date on this season's calendar, and the doors open at 5:30.

Mike Doyle keeps tracking the Great Park Neighborhoods as The Canopy opens and the park's permanent projects move forward. If you own a home near Great Park Boulevard and want to know how those new businesses and amenities might affect its value, start with an instant home valuation.