Be The People at Just Like Heaven Festival 2026

Turning a Festival Moment Into Local Action

On Aug. 22, Just Like Heaven Festival returned to Brookside at the Rose Bowl for one packed day of music in Pasadena. The Strokes and LCD Soundsystem led a lineup that included Feist, TV Girl, Matt and Kim, Whitney, STRFKR, Chromeo, The Rapture, Dayglow, Twin Peaks, Ekkstacy, This Is Lorelei, Porches, George Clanton, and Girl Tones.

Alongside the music, Be The People created a place for festivalgoers to discover work happening close to home. Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity joined us to share what they are doing across the region — and how more people can take part. Both organizations have deep roots in Pasadena and the surrounding region, bringing the work already happening in the community into the festival experience.

Experience Be The People at Just Like Heaven

Between sets, festivalgoers could step into the Be The People space and choose their own way in. The experience included a Pledge Wall, interactive areas focused on youth and education, civic engagement, and music and sports, a local partner wall, an opportunity sign-up, an information desk, and a lounge.

Featured artist Ladie One brought bold color and energy to the experience with a custom graffiti installation that became both a work of art and a place for festivalgoers to step inside and take photos. Creators Kel Cripe and Asia White also joined us at Just Like Heaven, sharing their own view of the activation and the organizations featured in the space.

The experience made community participation feel personal and approachable: starting with what inspired them, showing them others already doing the work, and helping them find their own way to get involved.

Meet the Pasadena Nonprofits Making a Difference

The creative elements gave people a reason to step into the space, but the organizations gave the experience its purpose. The festival gave two Pasadena-area organizations an opportunity to introduce more people to their work.

• Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena has worked with local kids and teens since 1953. Across seven locations in the Pasadena area, the Club offers after-school programs for ages 6 to 18. Its programs support education and career development, character and leadership, health and life skills, the arts, sports, fitness, and recreation. The organization creates places where kids can learn, build relationships, explore their interests, and develop the skills they need to reach their potential. At Just Like Heaven, festivalgoers had the chance to learn more about that work and how they can support it.

• San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity showed attendees another way to contribute. Founded by local volunteers in 1990, the organization now serves 31 communities across Northeast Los Angeles, Glendale, Pasadena, and the San Gabriel Valley. SGV Habitat builds new homes alongside the families who will live in them and helps homeowners complete needed repairs. Its ReStore also gives donated furniture and building materials a second life while generating support for housing work across the region.

Together, the two organizations showed that playing a part can look different for everyone. A stronger community is not built by one person solving every problem, but by more people finding ways to contribute what they can — whether that means making an ongoing commitment, giving a Saturday, sharing a useful skill, or pointing a neighbor toward a place to start.

Turn Festival Inspiration Into Community Action

Just Like Heaven lasted one day, but the opportunities to get involved continue.

Caring about your community is only part of the equation. People also need to know who is doing the work, what help is needed, and how they can participate. Be The People helps bring those pieces together by making community organizations and opportunities more visible and easier to access.

At Just Like Heaven, that meant creating a place where festivalgoers could meet Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity. You do not have to wait for the next festival to find your place.

Find your people. Play your part. Join an opportunity near you.