39 Things to Do in L.A. This Weekend [4-16-2021 to 4-18-2021]

We used to tell you about all the things you could go out and do in Los Angeles on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Then, COVID-19 changed life for all of us, in a thousand small and massive ways. Until the pandemic is behind us, we’ll post events that adhere to Public Health’s current protocols—including plenty of at-home and online events—every Monday and Thursday.

This weekend, we’ve got the reopening of the Huntington, the Hammer, and LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, plus a new AR exhibit from LACMA, a virtual wellness fest, free affogatos, and more. Have something you want to submit for next week? Hit us up: [email protected].

In-Person Events

The public will finally get to view Made in L.A. 2020: a version in person when the Hammer Museum reopens on April 17. The exhibition takes place at the Hammer and The Huntington and features commissioned works by 30 Los Angeles-based artists. Advance reservations (free) are required.

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens will reopen the first floor of the Huntington Art Gallery, the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery, and a portion of the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art on April 17. Guests will get to view the exhibit Made in L.A. 2020: a version and a recently restored The Blue Boy, Thomas Gainsborough’s 18th-century portrait. Advance reservations are required.

Go for a morning stroll with your dog on April 18 at South Coast Botanical Gardens. Tickets are $15. This event takes place every third Sunday.

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes reopened to the public on April 15, with exhibits including Carlos Almaraz: Evolution of Form, the LA Plaza Village Murals show, and afroLAtinidad: mi casa, my city. Open Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. 

LACMA and Snap Inc. present LACMA × Snapchat: Monumental Perspectives. Per a release: “This multi-year initiative brings together local artists and technologists to create virtual monuments that explore just some of the histories of Los Angeles communities in an effort to highlight perspectives from across the region.” The first batch of augmented reality monuments are available to see now.

Taiji Terasaki’s TRANSCENDIENTS: Heroes at Borders opens at the Japanese American National Museum on April 16. Per a release: “Terasaki’s weavings tell stories ranging from issues around race and class, to food sustainability, art, scientific innovations, and climate adaptation.” On view through May 16.

The 2021 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival kicks off April 16 and features five days of online screenings and outdoor drive-in celebrations. The program includes 10 features and over 40 shorts from 18 countries, including nine premieres. A dozen community workshops, industry masterclasses, a One Minute Movie Contest, and live performances are all in the mix, too. View a list of the curated programming here.

The LA Choral Lab presents SOUNDWALK in Griffith Park. Guests wear headphones as they explore the park, and the choral music they hear will change based on their location. SOUNDWALK will remain available for the next few weeks. Tickets are $0-$25.

At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, see Charles Long’s solo exhibit WORKLIGHT through May 28. The show consists of a new body of assemblage works that play with “the openness of consciousness (light) against the seeming limits of physical material (work).” Make an appointment here.

Electric Dusk Drive-in opens its new Bergamot Station location in Santa Monica on April 17, screening The Big Sleep and The Big Lebowski. Tickets for all Electric Dusk Drive-in shows are here.

Board and Brush in Santa Monica has reopened for DIY home decor and wine workshops. Learn how to make wooden signs in a variety of styles and other fun crafts. 

Artist Ben Sakoguchi’s new show “Chinatown” at the Bel Ami gallery in Chinatown focuses on the violence and discrimination against Asian Americans for centuries in the U.S. Sakoguchi spent a few years as a child in a Japanese internment camp in Arizona during World War II. The works in his exhibit remind viewers that xenophobia isn’t something new and predates the recent shootings in Atlanta and the on-going attacks on Asian Americans during the pandemic.

Through April, Alo Yoga will host outdoor yoga sessions at The Grove every Wednesday at 9 a.m. Open to all experience levels. $10, bring your own mat.

Wallis Annenberg PetSpace has reopened with free reservations for small, socially-distanced groups. Guests are welcomed back to enjoy an hour-long PetSpace Experience that includes a behind-the-scenes presentation of the workings of Annenberg PetSpace, activities for kids, a visit to the all-new Critter Corner, and a live Pet Encounter! Bookings are available now.

Cinespia is going the drive-in route this season with weekend movie screenings at the Greek Theatre. Hairspray screens this Saturday.

JW Marriott Los Angeles Live‘s poolside dinner & a movie is $45 per guest and includes one appetizer, one entree, unlimited popcorn, and the screening. This Friday, catch Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. On Saturday, it’s Hairspray. Other snacks, beer, wine, and cocktails are also available for purchase. Tickets and more info are here.

Desert X’s biannual public art show continues through May 16. Artists have been commissioned to use the desert landscape as their canvas with breathtaking results. You’ll find the works spread throughout the Coachella Valley in various outdoor locations.

At-Home & Online Events

Earth Day Initiative (EDI), March For Science NYC (MFS), and EcoArt Project will host an interactive art exhibition during the Earth Day 2021 Virtual Festival. The exhibition features work Alex Nero, Peter Gerakaris, Cicely Carew, Stephen Mallon, Sam Nester, and Hara Woltz. Guests can create a virtual avatar to explore the fest, attend discussions, and more. Check it out April 18-19. Register for free here.

KCRW will host 24 Hours of Serenity, a free all-day wellness festival via Zoom this Sunday, April 18 from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. Programming includes a guided meditation with Valerie June and Garth Trinidad, soothing DJ sets by KCRW DJs Valida and Jeremy Sole, animal cams, Tai Chi, Yoga, Story Time with Bookworm’s Michael Silverblatt, DoLab sound baths, and much more. RSVP to attend. 

The LA Times’ Festival of Books is the nation’s largest in-person literary event. Due to the pandemic, events will be held virtually this year from April 17-23. The lineup includes Guy Raz, Mindy Thomas, Terry and Rebecca King Crews, Don Lemon, Gustavo Arellano, and many more. Most of the events are free with registration, while some require a book purchase.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s virtual gala “Meet the Moment” streams on April 18 at 6 p.m. here. Catch performances filmed at iconic L.A. locations and reflections from Music Director Jaime Martin and others. The program is free, but donations are accepted to support LACO musicians. 

NewFilmmakers LA presents a discussion with Dayna Lynne North (Insecure) on April 16 at 7 p.m. She’ll discuss her career as a producer and showrunner. Register here.

Join the Wende Museum for an artist talk with Research for the Bermuda Triangle‘s Regina Mamou and Lara Salmon on April 15 at 2 p.m. They’ll discuss their current project Common Fantasy, a two-part exhibit that includes an installation inside the Wende’s ADN guardhouse and a scent-by-mail experience. The conversation will be moderated by Joes Segal, the Wende Museum’s Chief Curator and Director of Programming. RSVP here.

Take a virtual tour of everything Friends with On Location Tours. Host Roseanne Almanzar leads a 40-minute tour of 18 locations from the series. A ticket includes access to On Location Tours’ monthly Friends trivia night, and you can also add on a Friends box that includes a Central Perk mug and other keepsakes. Tickets for the tour and trivia are $29. Tickets that include the gift box are $68.

Linked Dance Theatre has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Charity, Hilarity for Charity founded in 2012 by Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen, on She Sends Herself / Elle S’Envoie. It’s an interactive virtual experience that uses multiples teams of performers across two continents to tell the story of Elle, a woman who is struggling with memory loss and how it affects her family. View-only tickets are $30, while interactive tickets, which include a box of curated materials to enhance the experience, are $200. Proceeds benefit Hilarity for Charity. Tickets are available through April 25.

Murder at Winterberg Manor is a new streaming comedic play written and directed by Meghan Pleticha. The play follows Jessica (Elizabeth Guest) as she hosts a virtual murder mystery party for her friends on Zoom. Tickets are through April 18 for $15 here.

Bake the Change is a virtual raffle to benefit Safe Place for Youth in Venice, taking place now through April 28. Enter a raffle, maybe win a pie, and join a virtual cooking class with Giada De Laurentiis. More info here.

The Japan Foundation presents the online exhibit 11 Stories on Distanced Relationships: Contemporary Art from Japan through May 5. It features 11 new works from Japanese artists on the theme “translating distance.”

Underneath the Freeways of Los Angeles is a virtual interactive murder-mystery experience by Matthew Paul Olmos and directed by Michael Alvarez. The show is set in 1960s L.A., where two bodies have been discovered in Hollenbeck Park in East L.A. The audience must ask the right questions to find the guilty party. Show dates are April 2-28. Tickets are $15-25 here.

Dining

Weekend brunch is back at Caravan Swim Club at Hotel June. The two-level outdoor restaurant features a Baja-inspired menu of chilaquiles, breakfast taco plates, almond horchata french toast, and more alongside brunch cocktails. Brunch is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Make a reservation here.

In honor of Earth Day, vegan ice cream company Brave Robot will team up with Alfred’s to offer free affogatos at the shop’s Melrose location (8428 Melrose Pl, 90069). Available at 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 17 until supplies last. 

Manuela, located in the Arts District, will debut The Garden at Manuela, a new al fresco concept on the property’s scenic garden space, on Friday, April 16. The Garden will feature a new SoCal-inspired menu and on-site bar offering produce-driven cocktails. Seats are first-come, first-served every Friday, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 2-9 p.m.

Chefs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee’s new culinary endeavor Pasta|Bar will officially open on Friday, April 16 with a 13-course tasting menu inspired by the flavors of California. The intimate experience seats eight guests at a time and features four pasta dishes and nine seasonal dishes prepared by Chef Nathan Tauer (Coi, Petit Crenn, Bouchon). The menu will shift frequently and can include cavatelli with lobster and peas or sunflower agnolotti with duck and wagyu ragu. Desserts will be imagined by Kallas-Lee, such as goat milk mousse with strawberry and Meyer lemon granita or candied pistachios and brioche donuts with Castelvetrano powdered sugar and bergamot whipped cream. The tasting menu costs $125 per person with beverage pairings available for an additional cost. Reserve on Tock.

Vilailuck ‘Pepper’ Teigen’s The Pepper Thai Cookbook, Night + Market, and The Gelato Festival will collaborate on some special dishes starting Friday, April 16. Night + Market’s WeHo location will offer Bow-Thai See Ew, Pepper Thai’s Shrimp and Bacon Glass Noodle Salad, for $14. It’s available for takeout and delivery through Doordash and Caviar. Teigen will also partner with The Gelato Festival on a new flavor, Coconut Mango Sticky Rice, available at The Gelato Festival store in West Hollywood.

New Tex-Mex restaurant Justin Queso’s opens in West Hollywood on April 16, offering Frito pie, puffy tacos, fajitas, albondigas soup, enchiladas, brisket, nachos, wings, and four styles of house-made queso. Frozen margaritas and cocktails are also available.

Chef Kuniko Yagi of Japanese fried chicken concept Pikunico is teaming up with Chef Jihee Kim of Korean banchan purveyor Perilla LA for a limited-time collaboration from April 17 through May 1. The Chicken Dupbap ($15) is made with Chef Jihee’s one-year aged kimchee, marinated kombu seaweed, sesame shishito peppers, Pikunico’s chicken tenders, and seasoned egg, served over ginger rice. Limited quantities are available daily at Pikunico’s storefront at ROW DTLA. The dish is available for dine-in and phone orders (213) 278-0407 for pickup.

Bill Esparza’s taco festival Taqueando pivoted last year to a multi-week pop-up in DTLA featuring rotating guest chefs and their most popular tacos. The series continues with a six night pop-up with James Beard Award winning Chef John Sedlar coming out of retirement and returning to Los Angeles to bring back his landmark modern Latin American restaurant Rivera for two weekends only. On the Rivera menu are Tortillas Florales, Duck Confit Enfrijoladas, Caracoles (snails), Mole Ice Cream and signature Rivera cocktails like the beef jerky garnished Barbacoa. Reservations can be made now for April 15-17 and April 22-24. Takeout and delivery is also available.

It’s always charcuterie board season but now that Spring brings warm weather and lush greenery, look to Haute Mess for grab-and-go platters that include an assortment of meats, cheeses, toast, jam, and accompaniments. You can also get a charcuterie board delivered to you through GrubHub, Postmates, and DoorDash.

Savoca, a Sicilian restaurant now open at The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles, offers limited indoor dining, plus outdoor seating in individual cottages. The menu includes inventive Italian dishes, including burrata with coccoli bread (delicious fried dough), an eggplant and braised beef lasagna where the noodles are layered vertically for extra crisp, and a bombolini filled with vanilla gelato.

Need delivery and takeout options? Check out our latest comprehensive guide here.