TA
Tricia Avenido
Aug 15, 2026
I hadn't been back to Pacific Palisades since the wildfires. When I found out that Palisades Village was going to have a grand reopening, it was a good excuse to go back.
The first thing that caught my eye were the charred mountains. Next, were buildings being reconstructed everywhere. It was heart wrenching. At the same time, it was hopeful. So many signs around Pacific Palisades are about being resilient. There are also mirrored sculptures that talk about being broken, but still here, still together.
The reconstructed Village is elegant, clean, and beautiful. It truly feels like a welcome. You can tell that a great deal of effort was put into making this a celebration.
So much was free: parking, food, drinks, postcards, keychain charms, even a lawn chair.
There was a surprise jet formation flyby.
It was my first time seeing a robotic dog in person. It was so weird. I wish they would put a head on it. It freaked at least one big, fluffy real dog the heck out. It freaked me out a little, too.
They had guest speakers like Elyse Walker and Caruso himself, but it was too crowded for me to see anything and at one point the speakers cut out, so I couldn't hear anything either. As a result, most visitors just started chatting with each other. "Did your house burn down?" "Are you rebuilding?" "I'm glad things are starting to look hopeful again."
If anything, that's what this reopening represented: Hope, rebirth, optimism.
Update: I went back for the 8pm event where we didn't know what we were going to see. All they said was that it would blow our minds and it did. They had guests like Anthony Hopkins, Kate Hudson, OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, and American Idol's Pia Toscano, along with a full orchestra and a drone show. Plus, the stage looked like a mini Hollywood Bowl, but everyone was close to the stage.