Posted by Los Angeles provides no limit of things to do, some awesome and some not so awesome. Since time is precious in this fast paced city, we decided to curate a list of things to do in Los Angeles every weekend that’ll help you decide how you want to spend your limited supply of attention (not to mention dollars!).
This weekend includes Chinatown Summer Nights, a county-themed street fest, a star party at Griffith Observatory, tons of outdoor movie screenings and a Legally Blond musical.
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So grab some friends or go at it alone, but most importantly have fun and enjoy yourself!
[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!]
Friday July 24th, 2015
1. Legally Blonde: The Musical
This weekend come to the Morgan-Dixon Theater for a production of the Tony Award winning musical based on the novel by Amanda Brown (and perhaps more famously, the movie starring Reese Witherspoon). You can even grab half-off tickets via our friends at Goldstar for around $12.50
2. Summer Garden Party at The Natural History Museum
Great music, garden-inspired cocktails, hands-on garden and science projects, botanical tours, food trucks, and more at the NHM’s Summer Nights in the Garden. Join Blackrock Observatory in some stargazing ,bundle up some herbs to take home from the NHM garden, go on a botanical tour of the Nature Gardens led by NHM staff even sample smoke flies with NHM Citizen Scientists! Bring a picnic or enjoy the food trucks, just make sure you RSVP for free admission.
3. Round Up at L.A. Live
Los Angeles is going country (at least for a night) with a free street party called Round Up at L.A. Live. The festivities will includes free activities such as riding a mechanical bull, a cornhole tournament, live musical performances, line dancing, country themed vendors, rodeo ropers and plenty more. There will also be a beer garden, special deals at nearby eateries, and tons of craft vendors on hand to browse. The festivities kick of at 6:00pm.
4. TreePeople “Once Upon A Canyon Night” Presents The Rainmaker
TreePeople and the Actors Conservatory Ensemble are excited to announce the return of “Once Upon A Canyon Night” back for its 13th season, running on select weekends now through September. This week a staged reading of The Rainmaker will take place. The summer entertainment series is nestled in the woods and set under the stars in TreePeople’s beautiful S. Mark Taper Foundation Amphitheatre at its park headquarters at the intersection of Coldwater Canyon and Mulholland Drive. The complete lineup features a poetry jam, comics, staged readings, and shows for the whole family. Check out the website for a full listing of performances for this summer. All proceeds directly benefit the maintenance and care of TreePeople’s beautiful 45acre Coldwater Canyon Park. You can also get discount tickets to this Friday’s show via our friends at Goldstar (while supplies last).
5. Wildfox’s Warehouse Sale in DTLA
The insanely popular and playful L.A. label is having a two-day warehouse sale at the Cooper Design Space. Happening Friday from 10:00am to 6:00pm and Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm. The sale will feature Wildfox’s retro apparel, denim, accessories, lingerie, swimwear, sunnies, kids, and White Label. Prices range from $10 to $50.
Location: Cooper Design Space 860 S Los Angeles St (on Mezzanine 3) Los Angeles, CA 90014
6. LA Zoo Roaring Nights
This summer visit the LA Zoo after hours and experience indie bands, DJs, full bars, and L.A.’s favorite food trucks. There are also a limited quantity of discount tickets (to save a buck or two) to Roaring Nights available via Goldstar.
7. FIDM Museum Hosting Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design Exhibition
The 9th Annual Exhibition: The Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design will display about 100 costumes created by costume designers, supervisors, and this year’s Emmy Nominees® at the FIDM Museum in DTLA. Costumes include Gotham, Peter Pan Live! Wolf Hall and more. In addition you might want to view Helen Larson’s historic fashion collection with beautiful dresses and hats dating back to 1760! Both exhibits are free to the public and available Tuesday through Saturday 10:00am to 5:00pm.
8. Barnsdall Park’s Friday Night Wine Tasting
All summer long Barnsdall Art Park has a weekly fundraiser to benefit Barnsdall Art Park Foundation programs and projects. Perched on a hill with a gorgeous panoramic view of Hollywood, guests will enjoy fine wine and art in the gardens of Frank Lloyd Wright’s newly restored architectural gem, Hollyhock House. Silver Lake Wine will curate fine selections of boutique, small production, artisanal wines for park-goers as well as local gourmet cheese shop, Say Cheese.
9. FIGat7th Downtown Festival
The Plaza Level at FIGat7th in DTLA invites the public for a free night of music with Joe Kay, Andre Power, SoSuperSam, Esta, SPZRKT and Chris Mcclenney. Explore the bars and restaurants at Fig during the Taste happy hour starting at 4:00pm! Doors open at 7:00pm for the Plaza Bar and the show starts at 8:00pm.
10. Rachel Pally Warehouse Sale
One of the biggest Rachel Pally Warehouse Sales of the season will take place for two weekends! Get up to 75% off Spring and Summer Contemporary and White Label styles plus all swimwear styles start at $20, Rachel Pally Baby Collection will also be on sale for just $10. Happening Friday from 10:00am to 6:00pm, same time on Saturdays sale and Sundays sale will run 11:00am to 4:00pm.
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Location: 201 S. Anderson Street, Los Angeles, California
11. DineL.A.
DineL.A. (aka L.A. Restaurant Week) started last week and it’s still going till the end of this Sunday. If you are not familiar with DineL.A. this is where some of the best restaurants in Los Angeles offer special menus at a special price for foodies across the city. More than 100 restaurants are in participation for lunch and dinner. Check the full lineup of participants via DiscoverLA.com and if you need some ideas on where to go, check out our picks.
12. Summertime Cinema Returns To Westfield Culver City and Westfield Fashion Square
Westfield Culver City and Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks are bringing back Summertime Cinema, a summertime family fun movie screening series. Every Friday, starting July 10th through August 7th, beloved movies will be screened outdoors at both centers allowing attendees to relive the magic of the big screen. The movies are free to the public and viewers will enjoy various special goodies at the event.
13. Grand Performances
Grand Performances has a summer-long concert series that brings Angelenos together with an eclectic mix of musical performances at a unique setting in Downtown L.A.
14. Friday Night Jazz at LACMA
LACMA’s award winning Department of Music Program is a remarkable city resource, providing hundreds of free concerts and musical events every year for Angelenos to enjoy. This Friday their summer-long jazz series continues at the BP Grand Entrance.
15. Bring Your Own Dance Moves
Get your boogie on at this FREE weekly summer dance party hosted by the Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles.
Saturday July 25th, 2015
16. Chinatown Summer Nights
KCRW’s signature FREE summer series returns to Chinatown and will feature live cooking demonstrations, cultural activities, the Downtown Flea Craft and Vintage market, live bands, food trucks, authentic Chinese restaurants, and KCRW DJs rockin’ tunes till midnight
17. Eat|See|Hear Screening Of Love Actually
The Eat|See|Hear Summer Movie Series (winner of L.A. Magazines Best Outdoor Movie Series), is in full effect! This weekend they will be screening Love Actually at the Santa Monica HS Memorial Greek Amphitheater. Food trucks participating this weekend include Tainamite, Baby’s Badass Burgers, No Jodas Kitchen, Mangia Ristorante, Street Foods Co, Slangin Corea, The Lobsta Truck, Pizza & Co, Phantom, Oh My Gaga, Crepe de Ville, Coolhaus and Brasil Kiss. ALSO: Make sure to take advantage of the discount tickets available via Goldstar for this event (while supplies last).
18. Tropicalifornia Featuring The Do-Over All Stars
Kick it outdoor with live music and evening views of the city courtesy of The Getty Centers Saturdays Off the 405. Kicking things off are the folks of The Do-Over, started by DJs Haycock, Strong, and MC Aloe Blacc (YES that Aloe Blacc!),as a backyard Sunday BBQ which now has now spread its awesome vibes to nearly 40 cities across the globe. For this very special engagement, they have assembled the ultimate live-band tropical dance party to cover classic Do-Over jams alongside a spin on modern day anthems.
19. Wizards Market Crafts Faire
Attention all witches and wizards of Los Angeles! It’s that time again for Whimsic Alley to open it’s doors for a big sale of their home made art, accessories, and apparel. The Wizards Market Crafts Faire is the perfect place to score wizard themed goodies. The Crafts Faire will be held in the Great Hall from 10:00am to 6:00pm Saturday and Sunday.
20. 11th Annual Tiki Night!
All things Tiki going on at Cinematheque’s annual Tiki Night sponsored by Primo Beer! Things kick off at the Tiki Marketplace open at noon in the Egyptian Theatre Courtyard, selling new and vintage tiki related art, memorabilia, clothing, accessories and more. The marketplace will be open to the general public until 4:30pm and from then on the event becomes exclusive to ticket holders. Performances from King Kukulele & The Friki Tikis and the Polynesian Paradise Dancers will perform in the courtyard and Co-authors Luis I. Reyes and Ed Rampell will sign copies of Hawaii Movie and Television Book: Celebrating 100 Years of Film Production Throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Plus, Wonderama will present a Tiki Fashion Show, featuring authentic vintage and vintage-inspired reproductions! Tiki cocktails and food will be available for purchase and your ticket gets you free beer from Primo Beer.
21. FREE Public Star Party At The Observatory
See the Sun, Moon, Planets and constellations magnified for your pleasure with the powerful telescopes at the Griffith Observatory. Their popular (and free) monthly Public Star Party happens from 2:00 pm to 9:45 pm this Saturday outside on the lawn of the Observatory.
22. Opening Ceremony for the Special Olympics World Games
The Special Olympics has always been about providing citizens with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to display courage, build self-confidence, and experience the sheer joy of competition that comes with sports. With an expected 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches representing 177 countries, along with 30,000 volunteers and an anticipated 500,000 spectators, the 2015 Special Olympics World Games (staged in Los Angeles July 25 – August 2, 2015) will likely be the largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in 2015. Competitions throughout the week are free and open to the public, and tickets for the Opening Ceremony are now available for purchase at LA2015.org.
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23. Float’s Annual CineRamaDena
Watch a movie inside the British Burlington Arcade during a summer screening series curtesy of Pasadena sandwich shop Float. Twice a month, Float will create a specialty ice cream float to go with the evening’s film this week they will screen Guardians of the Galaxy. The movie starts at 8:00pm!
24. Portraits of Hope 24 Hour Paint-A-Thon
For 24 hours, the Portraits of Hope studio in Marina Del Ray will host a Paint-A-Thon, completely free to the public, in hopes of putting a real dent in the largest civic art exhibition Los Angeles has ever seen! As guests enjoy some live music and performers, blank spheres and loads of paint will fill the room, adding color to the existing number of spheres that will consume MacArthur Park later this summer. If you plan on attending, please email [email protected] for full instructions.
25. U.S. Open of Surfing
It’s that time of year again where all the best surfing athletes go down to Surf City USA to compete in a weeklong battle of gnarly waves. This annual summer competition takes over Huntington Beach and is the largest surfing competition in the world.
26. The Humans vs. Zombies Game
Want to nerd out in the most apocalyptic way possible this weekend? Take a drive up to Camarillo on Saturday and see if you can survive a massive onslaught of the (pretend) undead using nothing but your wits and a nerf blaster.
27. The 6th Annual Reggae on the Mountain
Check some of the top ranking international and local reggae talent of 2015 in this two-day, two-stage event featuring food, drink and 30+ unique craft vendors. Starts Saturday at 10:00am at Topanga Community Club. Tickets via Eventbrite.
28. Giant Robot Presents: Game Night 27
In conjunction with AngryBananas.com & DESTRUCTOID, GiantRobot is proud to host Game Night 27, an event that takes place at GR2 about every two months. For more information on the games and the schedule check out their Facebook events page.
29. Christian Marclay: The Clock (24-Hour Screening)
The Clock has been praised as a masterpiece since it’s debut in 2010. The art piece playing at LACMA is a 24-hour single-channel montage constructed out of moments in cinema and television history where a clock appears. The Clock combines Christian Marclay’s interests in collage and found visual and aural artifacts with his own roots in live performance. The film will start Saturday at 10:00am and will run for 24 hours ending Sunday at 10:00am. Free and open to the public; general admission tickets are required during regular museum hours. This is a first come first served event with no reservations. Space is limited, and because of the popularity of the work there may be extensive waiting times so come prepared. Enter the museum at Wilshire Blvd. and Spaulding Ave. if coming between 7:00pm on Saturday and 10:00am on Sunday.
30. National Dance Day
Thousands are expected to celebrate National Dance Day as The Music Center partners with The Dizzy Feet Foundation to present the West Coast’s flagship National Dance Day event for the fourth year in a row. Dance lovers of all ages and skill levels are invited to participate in the official NDD routines at the free all-day dance extravaganza. Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer and judge of the hit FOX TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance,” and Season 9 winner Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, along with other celebrity dancers, will be on hand to lead two dances for The Music Center audience. This year’s celebration will also provide aspiring dancers the chance to learn repertoire from some of Los Angeles’ best dance companies and enjoy interactive performances by some of the finest young dance talent in Los Angeles.
31. Street Food Cinema: The Karate Kid
Good movies, amazing venues, up and coming local bands and tasty food trucks. What more could you ask for? This weekend Street Food Cinema screens The Karate Kid at Glendale Central Park. Movie starts at 8:30pm. ALSO: Make sure to take advantage of the discount tickets available via Goldstar for this event (while supplies last).
32. Bad Jews
The New York Times called Bad Jews the best new comedy of the season while the Chicago Tribune hailed it as “savagely good comedy.” You can catch the Los Angeles run at the Geffen Playhouse now till July 26. Get more information and discount tickets via our friends at Goldstar.
Sunday July 26th, 2015
33. The Instant Film Fest
This weekend check out the 29th edition of the Instant Film Fest, which definitely puts the ‘short’ in short turnaround. The festival features eight short movies written, directed, edited and produced in just 48 hours. Writers have 12 hours to write a script starting on Friday night, then the following morning directors scramble to put together a film by Sunday night’s screening time. Get more information and discount tickets to check out the films via Goldstar.
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34. A FREE Pinball Tournament at EightyTwo
Come to the Art District for a little afternoon pinball action at the EightTwo barcade on Sunday. Entry is free for a double elimination tournament and the winner even gets a small trophy. Make sure you’re there by 2:45pm to sign in.
35. Cruel Summer Pool Party Series
Summer’s in full effect, play it cool at Cruel Summer. The pool party returns this Sunday at The Standard Hollywood from 1:00pm to 6:00pm. Music provided by Luxxury, Filthy Gorgeous, Pleasure Principle, Val Fleury and Victoria Van Damn. RSVP over at cruelsummerLA.com
36. Break a Guinness Record to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of the ADA
[UPDATE: Eventbrite link now shows this event has been cancelled]
July 26, 2015 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and to mark the occasion there will be a gathering at Dodger Stadium to attempt to break the Guinness World record for most moving wheelchairs in a line. No entry fee is required, but you can get more information / RVSP via Eventbrite.
37. Wheelchair Wash Festival LA
Folks with disabilities come from all over Southern California to celebrate their wheels at the 12th Annual Wheelchair Wash Festival. Open to the public and family supporters this event and its perks are completely FREE. Special sponsors are providing lunch for every guest and there is a huge list of free services that include haircuts, manicures, massages, crafts and more available to the community that day. The goal is to bring awareness to those living with a disability, and let people experience a free day of fun. Formed by Familia Unida a non profit committed to making a positive difference in the lives of individuals and families living with disabilities through programs and services that embrace cultural diversity, family unity, promote healthier lifestyles, socialization, employment opportunities and social advocacy.
38. Romeo + Juliet: Love is a Battlefield
What happens when a classic Shakespearean story gets merged with a soundtrack by Pat Benatar? A highly entertaining dinner theater show at the Rockwell in Los Feliz starring Family star Ashley Argota (The Fosters) as Juliet and handsome Corbin Bleu (High School Musical) as Romeo. Get more information and discount tickets via Goldstar.
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Have an upcoming event you’d like suggest for listing? Drop us a line at [email protected]
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