Best Things to Do in Palos Verdes Estates This August

By early August the light shifts at Malaga Cove Plaza. The Neptune fountain still runs, the Ranch Market rotisserie still perfumes the arcade, and the peacocks still wander the courtyard at Yellow Vase. What changes is the traffic pattern. Residents who used to come by only for a morning coffee or a Saturday errand are now stopping in the evening, cone in hand, on the way home from a concert two blocks away.

For a long stretch, that was not the Plaza's rhythm. When the beloved Rolling Hills Estates institution Yummy Yogurt closed in 2018 after more than three decades, the Peninsula lost its default evening treat stop, and Malaga Cove reverted to a daytime plaza. That gap sat open for seven years.

This summer it is closed. Two new soft-serve shops opened within a short drive of each other, the Malaga Cove concert series is back at Farnham Martin Park through August 12, the Lunada Bay Homeowners Association has one more concert on August 30, and the Palos Verdes Art Center's Summer Show runs through August 22. The through-line is not a single event. It is that the Plaza is once again an evening destination, and the last three weeks of August are the best window all year to notice.

The Plaza Has an Anchor Again

The most visible change sits in the corner unit where a RE/MAX office used to be. In Malaga Cove Plaza, Palos Verdes native Katherine Kemps, along with her mother, Gemma, has just opened Neptune's Frozen Treats in the former RE/MAX office space, named as a wink to the Plaza's famous Neptune statue at the fountain, and the shop serves frozen yogurt, sorbet, custard and gelato in a reinvented space lined with white subway tile, coastal-inspired hues, natural wood accents and subtle metallics, including a massive mosaic tile wall installation depicting Neptune's logo by Jonathan Cohen of Joseph & Sons.

The ownership story matters here. Katherine graduated last year from Southern Methodist University, and her great-great-grandfather, William Henry Kemps, ran Beverly Dairy in Los Angeles and Kemps Ice Cream in the Midwest, so the family name is still tied to the ice cream industry. That is a level of local rooting that is difficult to replicate.

The mechanic that pulls people back in the evening is a small design choice most residents miss on their first visit. "We're really big on the third handle, it's really important," explains Katherine Kemps. "On one side is one flavor, on the other side is another flavor and the middle handle, that's the twist. You can combine flavors like pumpkin pie and California tart in a sweet swirl." The rotating menu means the shop worth visiting on a Wednesday is a different shop by Sunday. The rotating menu includes Cookies N Cream, Pumpkin Pie, Oat Milk Vanilla, Mango Sorbet, Yellow Cake Batter Gelato, and classic Vanilla and Chocolate Custard.

Address and hours, because these change more than websites keep up with. Neptune's sits at 55 Malaga Cove Plaza, open Sunday through Thursday 12:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 12:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Neptune's is not the only new soft-serve shop on the Peninsula. For Julie Anthony and her husband, Jason, the idea for Lunada Creamery sprang from the desire to have a local frozen treat shop within walking distance of their house, after years of frequenting favorites like The Big Chill in Los Angeles. The pair of openings changes the calculus of an evening out. A resident who drives from Valmonte to Lunada Bay for a walk now has a natural second stop that did not exist a year ago.

Where to Land on a Wednesday

The reason the Plaza is busier at dusk is not just the ice cream. It is the concert calendar. Malaga Cove 2026 Summer Concert In The Park returns on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at Farnham Martin Park located next to the Malaga Cove Library in Palos Verdes Estates, and continues through August 12, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

That leaves a narrow window. Here is what remains before the series ends:

The setting rewards residents who know the site. Farnham Martin Park sits next to the Malaga Cove Library, which means the walk from the concert to a cone at Neptune's is roughly the length of the Plaza. Bring a low chair. The grass rises gently toward the library, so the sight lines favor the back rows more than most residents expect on their first visit.

One More Sunday in Lunada Bay

For anyone who cannot make a Wednesday, the second-tier calendar still has one date worth marking. Lunada Bay Homeowners Association is hosting their summer concert series on Sundays: June 14, July 5, July 12 and August 30, 2026, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. August 30 is the closer, and Lunada Bay Park is located on the corner of Palos Verdes Drive West and Via Carrillo in Palos Verdes Estates.

The pairing here works differently. A Sunday afternoon concert at Lunada Bay Park sits within walking distance of the second new soft-serve shop, Lunada Creamery, in Lunada Bay Plaza. If you have already been to Neptune's, this is the way to see the other side of the pattern without doubling back.

If You'd Rather Walk It Off

The city is small enough that most residents already know the bluff paths by feel. What is worth naming is which one to pick when. Two options bracket the difficulty scale:

• Paseo Del Mar Bluffs at the Palos Verdes Estates Shoreline Preserve. Considered an easy hike that covers 1.4 miles with an elevation gain of 101 feet, it takes about half an hour to an hour to complete. The paved path runs parallel to the coastline and offers panoramic views, and there's usually a nice ocean breeze but no shade, so bring plenty of water and sun protection. Best in the hour before sunset, when the west-facing bluff cools down and Catalina sharpens against the horizon.
• Bluff Cove Trail off Paseo del Mar. The Bluff Cove Trail begins at the end of Paseo del Mar and winds its way down to Bluff Cove Beach on a well-maintained pathway that is wide and gently sloping, with wooden steps and handrails. One of the fun elements is the opportunity to explore the tidal pools and sea caves at the base of the cliffs during low tide, when you can venture down to the rocky shoreline. Check a tide chart before you commit to the descent.

Both trails feed back toward Malaga Cove, which is the practical reason to take them in August. A shore walk that ends with a cone is a very short answer to a very common question, which is what to do with restless kids between dinner and bedtime on a hot week.

A Last Look at the Summer Show

For residents who prefer their culture indoors, the Palos Verdes Art Center's programming closes out later this month. The Palos Verdes Art Center is hosting "The Summer Show" now through August 22, 2026. This is a low-friction stop. The Art Center is a familiar landmark for most Peninsula residents, and the show is the kind of exhibit you can see in forty-five minutes without planning around it.

Pair it with a stop at Malaga Cove Ranch Market, which has been anchoring the Plaza since 1997 and still runs the deli, bakery, and wine and beer bar that most residents default to for a picnic pack. It is worth remembering, if you are hosting out-of-town guests, that the Ranch Market's rotisserie chicken plus a bottle from the wine bar is a legitimate concert dinner, and one that does not require a reservation you no longer have time to make.

Why This August Is Different

The straightforward reading of the calendar is that it is a good month with a lot happening. The more useful reading, for anyone who has lived here through the last few summers, is that the Plaza has recovered a function it lost when Yummy Yogurt closed. A place to go after something. That is the small mechanism behind the fuller parking lot, the longer lines at Yellow Vase, and the mother-daughter operation at Neptune's that opened in a corner unit that had been leased to a real estate office for years.

None of this changes the case for living in Palos Verdes Estates. What it changes is the shape of an evening here. The best three weeks to feel that difference start now and end when the Malaga Cove concert on August 12 wraps up and the Lunada Bay concert on August 30 closes the season.

If you're thinking about your next move on the Peninsula, whether that is selling a longtime family home in Valmonte, preparing an estate property in Lunada Bay, or finding the right coastal fit for a first purchase here, John Morgenstern works quietly and precisely across these communities. Let's Connect.