Things to do in L.A. this weekend

Can’t get enough of his yearly appearance at the Bowl? The LA Phil complements John Williams’s summertime set with the first of two years of live scores and concerts in his honor at Disney Hall. The series wraps up with a Gustavo Dudamel-led evening that includes a performance of a suite of Harry Potter compositions (May 18, 19).

The aughts indie nostalgia shows no signs of stopping, so its no surprise that Just Like Heaven—a music fest that’s featured basically every beloved 2000s indie band—is coming back for its fourth edition. The fest will take over the golf course next to the Rose Bowl on May 18, 2024 with a lineup that’s pulled straight from your old iPod: The Postal Service, Phoenix, Death Cab for Cutie and the War on Drugs top this year’s lineup, with additional sets from Miike Snow, Gossip, Passion Pit, Tegan and Sara, Washed Out, Alvvays, Phantogram, Broken Social Scene and more.

Every spring and fall since 1973, artists have descended upon the Beverly Gardens Park to showcase their works to browsers and buyers at this festival (once called the Affaire in the Gardens). This year will feature 230 artists exhibiting paintings, sculptures, watercolors, photography and much more. Set on four blocks along the grassy Santa Monica Boulevard between Rodeo and Rexford Drive, the event will include something for everyone with free kids’ activities, food trucks and beer and wine gardens with live music.

In an effort not only to entertain Westsiders but to support the area’s community programming, much of Santa Monica’s Main Street will transform into essentially an interactive Monopoly board game, allotting attendees “MAINopoly dollars” to be exchanged for food tastings across the street’s finest establishments. Trade a couple fake bucks for dishes from spots like Ashland Hill, Holey Grail Donuts, Jameson’s Pub, the Victorian and Pasjoli, or add on a couple of drinks in the “Go to Jail” VIP lounge and beer garden.

Listen to classical music in a dome more than a mile above L.A. during this mountaintop concert series. The Mount Wilson Observatory is hosting monthly concerts this summer inside the dome of its 100-inch Hooker telescope, which was the largest telescope in the world for much of the first half of the 20th century.

The Academy Museum marks the unveiling of its new exhibition on the Jewish founders of the Hollywood studio system with this conversation between associate curator Dara Jaffe and historian Neal Gabler (you can buy a signed copy of his book, An Empire of their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood, before the event).

Pedal along just over two miles of car-free streets in Wilmington as CicLAvia brings this mini edition of its bike-friendly events to the harbor.

It’s been nearly a decade since, Divers, onetime “freak-folk” icon Joanna Newsom’s singular opus full of artfully swooping vocals, deft harp skills, world-building lyrics and meticulous, knotty arrangements. Catch her pull from that and the rest of her remarkable catalog at this string of solo shows at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever. Newsom will play but piano and harp, and she’s even scheduled a matinee specifically for kids.

Join the Natural History museum and their winged, multi-legged, squirmy and sometimes bug-eyed friends for this annual event. Expect a variety of exhibitors featuring everything from exotic insect collections to pet tarantulas, plus bug-related products like honey and silk or artwork and jewelry.

A consummate pro, J.T. mixes Sinatra’s swagger and charisma with the airtight funk of Michael Jackson at his peak. Though the former NSYNC member’s last few albums haven’t quite lived up to the rest of his catalog, he’s still adept at making magic on stage night after night (especially when with an accompanying big band).

The summertime screening series returns for the season, first with screenings at L.A. State Historic Park (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on May 17) and the Rose Bowl (Almost Famous on May 25), and then back at Hollywood Forever Cemetery toward the end of the month.

Love all things Arts and Crafts? This Pasadena event celebrates the earthy movement with craft fair that features over 200 exhibits of jewelry, woodwork, ceramics, clothing and food.

Irish playwright-director Conor McPherson spins a tale of strife in the Great Depression—set to songs by Bob Dylan—in Girl From the North Country, which we gave four stars during its New York run.

The hour stands before another springtime, and the Renaissance Pleasure Faire is nigh. Good mistresses and masters, prepareth thy schedules and costumes for the return of the oldest Ren Faire in the country, a spectacle that cov’reth 20 Irwindale acres with Elizabethan libations and amusement: fully armored joust tournaments and tea parties with the Queen along with beguiling stage acts, rides, games, delicious edibles and ales abound. The fesitivies will transpire each weekend at the Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area; procureth day or season passes in advance by visiting ye olde online box office. And no, we can’t stop talking like this.

The Venice Artwalk returns for its 45th year to benefit the Venice Family Clinic with an auction and a free opportunity to glimpse the Venice and wider L.A. art scene. From May 10 to 19, pop into 910 Abbot Kinney to see pieces from Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, Ed Moses, Alison Saar, Kenny Scharf, Patrisse Cullors, Sayre Gomez and more.

One of L.A.’s best free live music offerings, Jazz at LACMA has featured legit legends over its three-decade run at the museum. Seating for the program is available in the museum’s plaza on a first-come, first-served basis, though you’re welcome to picnic on the grass, too (you won’t really be able to see the show, but you’ll still hear it). You’ll find the series on Friday evenings in LACMA’s welcome plaza (just behind Urban Light) throughout the summer.

L.A. has changed immeasurably since 1921, when this event was first staged as an agricultural fair. However, the perennially popular event still has farm-friendly appeal (livestock beauty contests, local produce) alongside the more modern acrobats, wine tastings, exhibitions and concerts.

RECOMMENDED: A guide to the L.A. County Fair

No, the Academy Museum isn’t staying open past midnight—but it is celebrating films that have typically screened then. To complement the museum’s John Waters exhibition and Pink Flamingos’ place as a late-night mainstay, it’ll be screening some cult favorites this April and May, including Eraserhead, Up in Smoke, Donnie Darko and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Nature lovers rejoice! Spend a day at the Natural History Museum’s Butterfly Pavilion, which will open from March 17 through August 25 with up to 30 butterfly and moth species and an assortment of California plants. The seasonal outdoor exhibit allows for adults and children alike to witness nature up close—we’re talking having bufferlies take flight and land on your arms or shoulders. Prime time for these unique butterfly flight experiences are between 10 and 11am each morning.

Walk through a pavilion of fluttering butterflies and peep a chamber with pupae and caterpillars at South Coast Botanic Garden’s seasonal exhibition. For an extra $6, you can pick up a flower vial or ring filled with nectar to attract and feed butterflies.

The masters of alfresco rooftop movie viewing have returned for another season of screenings in Downtown L.A., with nearly-nightly showings this spring.

Watch a slate of classics from the past couple of decades on one of the prettiest rooftops—now called Anita’s Oasis—in Hollywood at this outdoor screenings series. All movies are piped in over sets of provided wireless headphones. Before showtime, make sure to hit up the bar or the on-site kitchen.

Every Sunday you can find dozens of food vendors at this market at ROW DTLA, with a mix of much-loved pop-ups and future foodie stars. Look out for this year’s new vendors, including Basket Taco Co, Battambong Barbecue and Taste of the Pacific.

Let the wild rumpus start at this celebration of beloved children’s author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. The Skirball Cultural Center will be displaying more than 150 sketches, storyboards and paintings from the Where the Wild Things Are creator.

This major Ed Ruscha retrospective includes his meticulous photos of L.A. streets and a reconstruction of his Chocolate Room (which, yes, is a room made out sheets upon sheets of chocolate).

Did this past year’s Basquiat exhibition in DTLA leave you wanting more? Head to Beverly Hills where Gagosian will be displaying 50 rarely loaned Jean-Michel Basquiat pieces that were created in L.A. during the iconic artist’s time spent at his Venice studio between 1982 and 1984.

It’s more than just the low clearance: This exhibition at the Petersen explores the custom paint, engraving, upholstery and, of course, the gravity-defying suspension of the lowrider scene. In addition to iconic cars, the exhibit spotlights influential artists in the Chicano lowrider art scene.

You might’ve noticed Johnson’s beautifully carved and gilded redwood organ screen on recent visits to the Huntington. Now, for the first time in four decades, you can see it paired with other pieces he created for the California School for the Blind in Berkeley, California—with 41 works in total on display.

Judy Baca’s half-mile–long The Great Wall of Los Angeles, a collaborative mural painted in the ’70s along the Tujunga Wash, has received all sorts of museum love in the past few years. But LACMA has a particularly unique show to boast about: The local Chicana muralist and SPARC artists will paint two new sections of The Great Wall during museum hours. The exhibit also debuts a new section of the wall, in honor of activists known as the Freedom Riders, dubbed Generation on Fire.

See how the Hairspray and Pink Flamingos writer and director’s delightfully filthy style has redefined the possibilities of independent cinema—as well as what exactly goes into making an indie movie—during this career-spanning exhibition at the Academy Museum.

Former HiFi space Gabba Gallery ushers in its new DTLA home with this retrospective of counterculture illustrator EMEK, famous for his posters for the likes of Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails and Neil Young, as well as the annual Coachella poster.

See works from seven contemporary artists (Eliseo Art Silva, Allison Hueman, Anthony Francisco, Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza, Christine Morla, Maria Villote and Junn Roca) who address issues related to Filipino culture and the Filipino-American experience during this exhibition at the Forest Lawn Museum.

What does living in L.A. look like? It’s a wildly different picture depending on each Angeleno’s point of view, and so to celebrate that diversity of perspectives, Hollywood gallery Jeffrey Deitch will display pieces from a dozen local artists that delve into underground economies, landscapes, surveillance, backyard hangouts and public transit, among other topics.

Hollywood’s Japan House has tapped artist Sebastian Masuda to dive into the roots of all things cute and colorful with this exhibition on Japanese kawaii culture. The free show includes multiple pieces and installations from Masuda.

See 1930s-to-50s concept cars plus artwork from Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol and David Hockney at this Petersen exhibition.

The GRAMMY Museum celebrates hip-hop’s 50th anniversary with interactive DJing, rapping and sampling stations and instantly recognizable artifacts like LL Cool J’s red Kangol bucket hat and the Notorious B.I.G.’s red leather pea coat.

No Andy Serkis, no problems for Wes Ball’s thoughtful ape adventure.

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt share a ton of goofy chemistry in this nitrous pull of an action-comedy.

Alex Garland’s brutal, dystopian vision of America at war with itself is visceral but vague.

Eschewing gimmicky callbacks, this horror prequel is thoughtful and engaging—but still unsettling.

Dev Patel conceives, directs, produces, punches, stabs and brawls his way through this brash and frequently brilliant action flick.