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In our latest Metro x We Like L.A. collab, we’ve got a fresh mega list of the best free things to do over the next 5+ weeks around Los Angeles as the calendar advances to the heart of autumn. This time around we’ll start things off by pointing a few of the best upcoming community-based celebrations for Día de los Muertos, then we’ll sort out sections on arts and culture, movie screenings, and workshops.
And of course as is our standard, the rundown features dozens of ideas that you can get to utilizing Metro’s bus and rail service, so skipping out on parking costs and traffic jams becomes the norm and not the exception.
Now on to the freebies!
M = Metro Accessible
Día de los Muertos Events
October 19 M – Gloria Molina Grand Park hosts an opening celebration for their Día de los Muertos altars. The day-long event features family-friendly activities, a free film screening, and the first Downtown Día de Muertos parade. The altars remain on view through November 2. Go Metro: Take the B or D Lines to Grand Park / Civic Center station.
October 27 M – The City of Downey hosts a free Día de Los Muertos Art Festival at the Downey Theater. Go Metro: Take Lines 115 or 127 along Firestone Blvd.
October 27 M – LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes hosts a Día de Los Muertos Family Day featuring special musical and dance performances. Go Metro: Take the A, B or D Lines to Union Station.
November 1 M – Día de los Muertos at San Gabriel’s Mission Playhouse features live music, a community altar, small bites and drinks and more. Go Metro: Take Line 487 to Ramona / Main.
November 2 M – Self-Help Graphics presents their 51st Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration at the LA County Civic Center Park in East LA. Go Metro: Take the E Line to East LA Civic Ctr Station.
November 2 M – Downtown Long Beach hosts Día de Los Muertos parade along Pine Ave. coinciding with an Arte y Ofrendas Festival at Marina Green Park. Go Metro: Take the A Line to Downtown Long Beach station.
November 2 M – Wallis Annenberg PetSpace hosts a pet-friendly Dia de los Muertos celebration. Go Metro: Take Line 108/110 to Jefferson / Inglewood.
November 3 M – Día de los Muertos at the Fowler Museum includes live music, ofrenda making with artist Maria Elena Cruz, and pastries from La Monarca Bakery & Cafe. Go Metro: Take Line 602 to Westwood UCLA Amtrak Bus Stop OR take Line 2 to Hilgard / Wyton.
Arts & Culture
October 19 M – Grand Ave Arts: All-Access bands together over 15 arts and culture institutions along Grand Avenue for a day of art, activations, and family fun. Go Metro: Take the A or E Lines to Grand Ave Arts / Bunker Hill Station.
October 19 M – Taste of Soul brings a massive, free family festival to Crenshaw Blvd. between Barack Obama Blvd. and Stocker Avenue, with live entertainment, special vendors, and plenty of food for purchase. Go Metro: Take the E Line to Expo / Crenshaw station OR the K Line to Martin Luther King Jr. station.
October 19 M – Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home brings a day of poetry performance to Gloria Molina Grand Park to kick GP’s Día de los Muertos programming. Go Metro: Take the B or D Lines to Grand Park / Civic Center station.
October 19 M – The 19th Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar returns to the campus of USC. Go Metro: Take the E Line to Expo Park / USC station.
October 19: M – The P-22 Day Festival honors L.A.’s most famous big cat (may he rest in peace!) with a one day, family-friendly celebration in Griffith Park. Go Metro: Take Line 96 along Crystal Springs Dr.
October 19-20 M – Fall Festival at the Original Farmers Market offers two days of a petting zoo, pumpkin patch, fall-themed games, live music, kids crafts, and photo opps. Go Metro: Take Line 16 along W. 3rd St OR Take Line 217 or 218 along Fairfax Ave.
October 19-20 M – The Getty Center’s family hosts an Art & Science Family Festival celebrating Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide. Go Metro: Take Line 761 to Getty Center Dr / Sepulveda Blvd.
October 19-20 M – The fall edition of the bi-annual Beverly Hills Art Show comes to Beverly Gardens Park with over 200 artists expected to participate. Go Metro: Take Line 4 along Santa Monica Blvd.
October 20 M – 18th Street Arts Center hosts an all-ages event to celebrate the exhibition An Earth Twin at the Digital Dawn: Tom Van Sant’s GeoSphere Project. Go Metro: Take the E Line to 17th St / SMC Station.
October 20 M – The Sherman Oaks Street Fair brings a day of live music and family entertainment along Ventura Blvd from Kester Ave. to Van Nuys Blvd. Go Metro: Takes lines 158 or 240 along Ventura Blvd.
October 25 – The 7th Annual Redondo Beach Pier Halloween offers a costume contest, DJ, Halloween-themed photos, giveaways, prizes for best costumes and Trick-or-Treating on the Pier and Boardwalk at participating businesses.
October 25 M – Angel City Brewery hosts Boos and Brews, a night of costumes, live performances, and special beer pairings. Go Metro: Take the A or E Line to Little Tokyo station.
October 26: M Haunted Little Tokyo Block Party is a 21+ affair offering live music, a full bar, costume contest, and food. Go Metro: Take the A or E Line to Little Tokyo station.
October 26 M – One Colorado in Old Pasadena hosts a free one-hour performances of the Bob Baker Marionette Halloween Spooktacular. Go Metro: Take the A Line to Memorial Park station.
October 27 M – California African American Museum hosts a Black Comics Festival featuring a marketplace of Black-owned comic vendors, special panels, and food trucks. Go Metro: Take the E Line to Expo Park / USC station.
November 2 – The Adaptive Sports Festival returns to Brookside Park in Pasadena.
November 2 M – It’s Alive! A Plant-Base Horror Market returns to Common Space Brewery in Hawthorne. Go Metro: Take Line 209/210 to Crenshaw / El Segundo
November 9-10 M – The annual Inglewood Open Studios art walk offers a mix of tours and talks at galleries and artists studios in the city of Inglewood. Go Metro: Take the K Line to Downtown Inglewood Station.
November 9-10 M – Jackalope returns to Central Park in Pasadena with pop-up market featuring 200+ local, hand-selected artisans. Go Metro: Take the A Line to Del Mar station.
November 9-11 M – La Brea Tar Pits hosts the PST ART: Art x Science Family Festival, which will offer three days of family-focused and kid-friendly art and educational experiences. Go Metro: Take Line 20/720 Along Wilshire Blvd.
November 14 M – Clockshop’s Listening by Moonrise quarterly series returns to L.A. State Historic Park with performances by Los Angeles-based artists Maral and SY3. Go Metro: Take the A Line to Chinatown Station.
November 15-16 M – The Music Center and IndieCade team up for Night Games, showcasing the creativity and innovation of the indie game community over two nights at Jerry Moss Plaza. Go Metro: Take the B or D Lines to Grand Park / Civic Center station.
November 16-17 M – Renegade Craft market pops up for a day-two affair at Los Angeles State Historic Park. Go Metro: Take the A Line to Chinatown station.
November 17 M – To celebrate the addition of The Commons at Natural History Museum Los Angeles, the museum is hosting a massive public block party. Go Metro: Take the E Line to Expo Park / USC station.
November 17 M – A Day of Quantum Listening with Claire Chase comes to The Ebell as part of PST ART: Art and Sciene Collide. Go Metro: Take Line 20 to Wilshire / Lucerne.
November 21 M – Every third Thursday from September to May, Locals Night brings at the Santa Monica Pier offers a free evening of youth activities, a car show, local DJs and live music from local bands, and art exhibits. Go Metro: Take the E Line to Downtown Santa Monica station.
November 23 M – The annual Great Los Angeles Walk will meet at the oldest palm tree in Los Angeles, found in Exposition Park. Go Metro: Take the E Line to Expo Park / USC station.
November 23-24 -The Museum of Latina American Art in Long Beach is hosting a Latino Comics Expo over two days in November. Day one (Saturday) is included with museum admission and Sunday is free for all.
November 24 M – The Pasadena Doo Dah Parade returns for its 44th edition, featuring an irreverent and oddball cast of characters marching down Colorado Blvd in Old Pasadena. Go Metro: Take the A Line to Memorial Park station.
Movies & Screenings
October 17 M – BLOCtober Movie Nights presents a screening of Monsters Inc. at The Bloc in DTLA. Go Metro: Take the A, B, D, or E Line to 7th St / Metro Center.
October 19 M – Marina del Rey Movie Nights at Burton Chace Park screens Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Go Metro: Take the 108 Line to Mindanao / Lincoln.
October 22 M – PBS SoCal, the Los Angeles Public Library and LACMA co-present a free screening of the new ARTBOUND documentary Black Art: A Brockman Gallery Legacy at Central Library. Go Metro: Take the A, B, D, or E Line to 7th Street / Metro Center Station.
October 24 M – BLOCtober Movie Nights presents a screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas at The Bloc in DTLA. Go Metro: Take the A, B, D, or E Line to 7th St / Metro Center.
October 25 M – As part of The Getty’s Art on Screen series, the museum presents Halloween at Getty featuring a screening of Prey along with an accompanying discussion. Go Metro: Take Line 761 to Getty Center Dr / Sepulveda Blvd.
October 25 M – Hotel Transylvania screens at Ovation Hollywood’s monthly Friday Movie Nights series. Go Metro: Take the B Line to Hollywood / Highland station.
October 26 M – Marina del Rey Movie Nights at Burton Chace Park screens Hocus Pocus. Go Metro: Take the 108 Line to Mindanao / Lincoln.
November 8-9 M – The South Central Film Festival returns to Mercado La Paloma. Go Metro: Take Line 45 to
Broadway / 36th
November 20 M – The Hammer’s Flux screening series showcases outstanding short films and music videos from around the world, all paired with a courtyard party and DJ’d music. Go Metro: Take Line 20/720 Along Wilshire Blvd.
November 22 M – UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series “Science Fiction Against the Margins” screens Night Raiders at The Hammer’s Billy Wilder Theater. Go Metro: Take Line 20/720 Along Wilshire Blvd.
Talks, Workshops, & Classes
October 19 M – The FitspoLA series pops up at The Bloc, offering participants an hour-long session focusing on dynamic movements to increase flexibility, restore balance and strengthen core muscles. Go Metro: Take the A, B, D, or E Line to 7th St / Metro Center.
October 22 M – Zócalo Public Square presents Will the Real Young Voters Please Stand Up?e, a panel of civically engaged Gen Zers and young millennials from across the political spectrum. Go Metro: Take the A or E line to Pico station OR take Lines 35/38 along Broadway.
October 23 M – As part of Cal Tech’s Watson Lecture Series, Bil Clemons, Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Biochemistry, will share how viruses can help us fight bacterial infections. Go Metro: Go Metro: Take Line 267 to Del Mar Blvd & Wilson Ave.
October 27 M – “Gangsta Gardner” Ron Finley joins conceptual artist and co-curator of Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice Glenn Kaino for a conversation at The Hammer. Go Metro: Take Line 20/720 Along Wilshire Blvd.
November 2 M – Pacoima Beautiful hosts a community conversation on the importance of sustainable gardening followed by cooking demo and tasting, all at PST ART community hub at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. Go Metro: Take the A, B or D Lines to Union Station.
November 14 M – ALOUD on Ideas presents Where Does Democracy Go From Here? at The Mark Taper Auditorium at Central Library. Go Metro: Take the A, B, D, or E Line to 7th Street / Metro Center Station.
November 14 M – Oxy Arts hosts a free workshop on Watercolor & Textiles, inspired by their latest exhibition Invisibility: Powers & Perils. Go Metro: Take Line 182 to York / Armadale.
November 20 M – As part of Cal Tech’s Watson Lecture Series, Katerina Chatziioannou, Assistant Professor of Physics, will discuss the violent collisions of black holes and neutron stars. Go Metro: Take Line 267 to Del Mar Blvd & Wilson Ave. Go Metro: Take the A, B or D Lines to Union Station.
November 21 M – The November edition of All Space Considered brings Griffith Observatory curatorial staff as together for a discussion/presentation on the most-talked-about subjects in astronomy and space science. Go Metro: Take the B Line to Vermont/Sunset station then ride the DASH Observatory Shuttle (free to ride) to Griffith Observatory.
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