Posted by Every week in Los Angeles there are tons of great things to do (even before the weekend gets started) that we think you ought to have on your radar. With that in mind, we put together a list every Monday morning to keep you in the know about what’s happening in the city you love (or maybe just like).
This week includes free Blue Star Donuts, a Fried Chicken Pop-Up in the SVG, Back to the Future Day the Long Beach Zombie Fest, and plenty more to choose from.
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Hope you find the rundown useful and, as always, enjoy your week!
[RELATED: The Best Way to Find Discount Events in Los Angeles]
[REMINDER: In some cases We Like L.A. does receive revenue when visitors click on ticket links and make purchases, however we maintain complete editorial control over the events we suggest. Basically, it only makes it on to the website if we think it is cool!]
Monday October 19th, 2015
1. Free Blue Star Donuts On Abbott Kinney!
Blue Star Donuts, renowned for its brioche-style, gourmet donuts from Portland, will officially raise L.A.’s donut game with its grand opening in Abbott Kinney on Wednesday, October 21. In anticipation to the opening, Blue Star will be having a preview TODAY (Monday) starting at 8:00am offering guests and locals who visit the shop a free donut until they run out. Some LA inspired flavors include Piña Colada and a Greek Yogurt Honey Granola donut!
2. Free Meditation Classes At The Springs DTLA
Urban wellness oasis The Springs is offering free meditation class, Monday through Fridays at 1:00pm! Grab one of their fresh pressed juices after, it’s pretty much the best in town.
3. Screamfest Horror Film Festival
Happening the 13th through the 22nd, the Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest and longest running film festival for horror in the U.S. Paranormal Activity was discovered in 2007 here, since then the festival has been called the “Sundance of Horror.”
4. Hot Tub With Kurt and Kristen
Comedians Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal’s Hot Tub With Kurt And Kristen is one of the most popular weekly variety shows happening at The Virgil. You might recognize Kurt from Chelsea Lately and Kristen from The Daily Show and Flight of the Concords. Laugh your butt off for just $5 bucks or $8 at the door. Get your advance tickets here.
Tuesday October 20th, 2015
5. Fried Chicken Sandwich Pop-Up From J. Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats/Food Lab
For one night only there will be a famous fried chicken sandwich pop-up going down in the SVG. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats/Food Lab fame will set up shop at restaurant Tasty Food to serve his renowned fried chicken sandwich that Bloomberg News called “perfect.”
6. Rooftop Film Club
The popular screening series that has already held court in London and New York is now here in Los Angeles! For each screening of the Rooftop Film Club series organizers will set up rows of lawn chairs on the r oof of the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre and provide headphones for each attendee. Doors open at 6:00pm with screenings starting at 8:00pm. Kicking off the week of screenings is Dirty Dancing on Tuesday, Amy on Wednesday, The Goonies on Thursday and Dazed and Confused on Friday.
7. Carrie: The Killer Musical
An immersive, one-of-a-kind musical production of the classic Stephen King tale of bullying, cruelty, and revenge. Now playing at the historic Los Angeles Theater. Performances all week and weekend long. Discount tickets and more information available via our friends at Goldstar.
8. The Ancient Forest At Descanso Gardens
Descanso Gardens just opened their brand new Ancient Forest over the weekend, the forest features plants virtually unchanged since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Highlight includes a new cycad collection that includes almost 175 plants representing 66 species including several endangered species.
9. LACMA Tuesday Matinee Film Series Screens Son of Dracula
LACMA will screen Son of Dracula. This ongoing Tuesday Matinee film series cost $2 for members and $4 for non members.
10. Gourmet Food Truck Night
Every Tuesday night the California Heritage Museum holds a Gourmet Truck Night at the museum showcasing a select of gourmet truck eateries. All happening from 5:30pm to 9:30pm.
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11. Bow & Truss Screens Scream
Latin-inspired restaurant Bow & Truss throwback movie night series is back. This week Scream will screen on the patio of the NOHO restaurant. Admission is $15 for a reserved spot and comes with a movie-themed cocktail and dessert!
Wednesday October 21st, 2015
12. Back to the Future Day
October 21, 2015 is the day in Back to the Future 2 when Marty comes with Doc 30 years into the future to help save his kids from going to jail. So what do we folks do when that date actually comes to pass in real life? They celebrate! Locally, there are a number of events, including trilogy screenings, parties, dances, and even a Million McFly March all happening this week.
13. The 15th Annual Valley Film Festival
The first film festival to ever call the San Fernando Valley home is back for it’s now 15th year with a 5-day run of feature and short films showcasing established and emerging talent. All screenings to take place at the Laemmle’s NoHo 7. Get more information and discount tickets to the screenings via our friends at Goldstar.
14. The Super Serious Show
Expect to see some of today’s best working comedians alongside a few young up-and-comers at one of the best live comedy shows in Los Angeles, The Super Serous show! Although the lineup changes each month, the creators of the show Mandee and Joel of CleftClips try to consistently create a intimate and magical atmosphere to have a laugh. This week’s line up has Nina Daniels, Solomon Georgio, Randy Liedtke and more hosted by Chris Fairbanks with videos by Good Cop Great Cop.
15. Lit Crawl
Third annual Lit Crawl is a walkable event celebrating all things literary. Over 30 venues in North Hollywood’s Arts District will participate and over 40 events will take place, including readings series and performance groups. Lit Crawl is free and takes place in the NoHo Arts District.
16. Tickets To ‘Rain Room’ At LACMA Go On Sale
The Rain Room is a 2500 sq ft. installation featuring fields of falling water presented in a carefully choreographed downpour that is able to respond to the movements of the viewer as they navigate through the space. It’s sort of like walking through a massive rainstorm but without getting wet, and it’s set to open to the public at LACMA starting on November 1. Grab your tickets starting Wednesday it’s going to be the most talked about art piece this year.
17. Bootleg Theatre Offering Free Yoga With Kali Yoga All October
The Bootleg Theatre in Echo Park is offering one hour long FREE yoga classes with Kali Yoga every Wednesday and Sunday at 11:00AM all October long. Updates,schedules and an indie rock instrumental playlist for the classes can be found on their Facebook event page.
18. Helmut Lang’s First LA Sample Sale
Helmut Lang is taking over Santa Monica’s Lincoln Creative Studios for a four-day blowout sale. Happening Thursday through Sunday, shopper can score up to 70% off the brand’s women’s apparel and accessories. The sample sale schedule goes as follows: Thursday and Friday 10:00am to 7:00pm, Saturday 10:00am to 5:00pm, and Sunday 10:00am to 2:00pm.
Location: 1656 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404
19. Old World Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest is in full effect down at the Old World Village in Huntington Beach. Enjoy beers, brats, German baked goods and plenty of live music and activities. Happening this Wednesday through the weekend.
20. Knotts Scary Farm
For 2015, the Knotts Scary Farm features 11 menacing mazes, tons of interactive scare experiences and more than 1,000 monsters roaming the park and lurking in the fog, whatever you’re imagining, it’s here…at Knott’s Scary Farm. Knott’s Scary Farm takes place on select nights September 24 – October 31. Tickets go for around $46, but sure to check our friends at Goldstar for discount offers throughout the month.
Thursday October 22nd, 2015
21. Howl-O-Ween Bash
Join Healthy Spot in Santa Monica for some frighteningly fun festivities for pets and pet parents. The spooktakular pawty will take place from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. There will be some pretty hilarious doggie activities going down! From bounce houses to a doggie photo booth and even a pie eating contest for dogs. Howl-O-Ween Bandanas will be given out to the first 100 dogs too. The event is completely free! For more information check out their Eventbrite page.
22. MOCA Free Night
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Every Thursday evening from 5:00pm – 8:00pm admission is free to both the MOCA on Grand and The Geffen Contemporary.
23. The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor
Long Beach Harbor transforms into a seaport of the damned this Halloween. At Dark Harbor, six mazes await you that will take you through never-before-visited areas of the haunted Queen Mary. There’s also the Monster Midway, where you, zombies, food and entertainment intertwine, including a sinister freak show and the Mechanical Monster. Be sure to grab discount tickets (while available) for select dates via our friends at Goldstar.
24. Free Night At The Skirball Cultural Center
The Skirball Cultural Center is free to all every Thursday.
25. Rise of The Jack O’ Lantern Festival
Attention pumpkin carving enthusiasts! The Rise of the Jack-O’-Lantern Festival features more than 5,000 hand-carved illuminated jack o’lanterns created by professional artists and sculptors arranged in creative ways along a 1/3-mile scenic walking trail all set to an original music score. In 2015 there are two L.A. locations where you can enjoy The Rise, at either Descanso Gardens or Santa Anita Park.
26. Game Night At Grand Central Market
Eat, drink and play every Thursday at Grand Central Market. Grab dinner and cocktails then top the night off with an assortment of games from Jenga to ping pong. The festivities end at 9pm for all the early risers out there!
27. Sip Cocktails, See The Sights With The Historic Hollywood: Stars & Bars Gang!
Get a taste of Old Hollywood sip on classic cocktails as an awesome guide share history tidbits, celebrity stories and more on Urban Adventures tour of Historic Hollywood. Grab discount tickets via Goldstar.
Friday October 23rd, 2015
28. The 8th Annual Long Beach Zombie Walk & Festival
The 8th Annual Zombie Walk & Festival is set for the weekend October 23-25 at Rainbow Lagoon Park with promises of undead attractions, music, guts, blood, interactive events, and pretty much anything zombie related you can think. A main draw for the weekend is of course Saturday night’s zombie walk, which starts around 7:00pm as costumed guests gather to roam the streets of Long Beach around Shoreline Village (in a roundtrip 35-45 minute walk). Be sure to check out our friends at Goldstar for discount tickets to this event.
29. IndieCade
IndieCade, is a three day event, featuring indie games from around the world, it’s also an award show, and a conference! Takes place in Culver City, from October 22-25, 2015.
30. Beware The Dark Realm
Based off a medieval castle, Beware the Dark Realm is a high intensity walk-through attraction complete with flickering torches, stone walls, torture chamber, three-dimensional ghosts, live scare actors and fire breathing creatures. The haunted house is also a non-profit Halloween haunt helping to raise funds/food for the local Santa Clarita Food Pantry.
31. Front Porch Cinema Screens Guardians of The Galaxy
The Santa Monica Pier presents Front Porch Cinema, a free movie night under the stars taking place every Friday during the month of October. Unwind on old-timey lawn chairs and watch oceanfront films on a giant inflatable screen, this week the featured presentation is Guardians of The Galaxy. The Cinema Lounge will open at 6:00pm and the movie begins at 7:30pm.
32. LA Haunted Hayride
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If the idea of hopping on a bandwagon that travels through the darkness of Griffith Park while costumed characters seep out of the shadows to try to terrify you sounds like the time of your life… then step right up to the L.A. Haunted Hayride!
33. Oktoberfest At Fairplex
The Fairplex transform into a German playground for Oktoberfest every Friday and Saturday of this month. Expect Bavarian music, chicken dancing, bratwurst and pretzels while knocking back some authentic German beers. Entry is only $5.
34. LA Boo at the Zoo
Every weekend in October, the LA Zoo’s special season program offers live music, storytelling, fun photo opportunities, jack-o-lantern carving demonstrations, costumed characters, crafts and more. There will even be a “Graveyard Safari” to discover creatures that emerge in the dark corners of Los Angeles.
35. Oktoberfest at Alpine Village
Enjoy traditional Bavarian fun, food, and beer at the oldest running Oktoberfest celebration in Southern California at Alpine Village in Torrance. Things kick off on September 11 and the festivities continue all the way until October 31.
36. Halloween Horror Nights
Halloween is just a couple weeks away but if you can’t wait till then head on over to Universal Studios for a pre-game scarefest! Universal Studios has announced some new features to their annual horror night including the Crimson Peak: Maze of Madness, based on the upcoming Guillermo del Toro film. Walk into the world of Insidious, outrun the park’s monsters and try to survive the walkers of The Walking Dead. They even revamped the Terror Tram with a 3-D maze based on the apocalyptic comedy This is the End.
37. The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D With 4-D Sensory Effects
El Capitan Theatre’s dazzling 4-D screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas, will bring Halloween Town and Christmas Town to life. Watch the movie in Disney Digital 3-D while the 4-D sensory effects, that include fog, wind, snow and more, enhances your movie experience. Find a full schedule of screenings and discount tickets at Goldstar.
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