Free events in LA: The best free things to do in the city

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.

Every Sunday, you can find dozens of food vendors at this market at ROW DTLA, a Brooklyn import that boasts a mix of much-loved pop-ups and future foodie stars. Over a dozen new vendors joined the lineup this year: Feast on Afro-Caribbean cuisine from withBee, Lebanese street food from Teta, ice cream tacos from Sad Girl Creamery and more. Wash it all down at the family-friendly beer garden. You’ll also find shopping stalls selling everything from framed vintage ads to jewelry made locally with ethically sourced gemstones. Entry and the first two hours of parking are free.

Hilltop sunset views and rising bands combine to make this Getty tradition a worthy destination for Angelenos on both sides of the 405. This year’s lineup of free Saturday-night shows includes SML (May 31), Madi Diaz (July 12), Empress Of (July 26) and Emile Mosseri (Aug 23). Tip: Avoid the traffic and the crowds and arrive early, preferably after 3pm when the parking price drops to $15 (though it’s actually free if you wait until the show starts, after 6pm). You’ll get to visit the exhibits, which stay open until 8pm on Saturdays, and beat the dinner rush.

Roam the stalls at this Memorial Day arts festival, sample the food and listen to the music—and then take a dip in the nearby Pacific. A few logistical changes for the last few fests have streamlined the layout: You’ll still find on-the-street stalls and sidewalk vendors along Hermosa and Pier Avenues, but there’s now live music at the beach (one of five stages throughout the fest), and there’s a proper carnival (with a wine garden) inland at Pier and Monterey Boulevard. When is Fiesta Hermosa? This year’s event takes place Saturday through Monday—May 24, 25 and 26, 2025—from 11am to 7pm on the weekend and 11am to 6pm on Monday. You’ll find it along Hermosa and Pier Avenues. The carnival runs from noon to 8pm Saturday and Sunday, and noon to 6pm on Monday. Is Fiesta Hermosa free? Yes, though food, drink, games and craft vendors will of course cost you. Also, the Garden, a 21+ area with drinks and music, has a $5 cover fee. Is the event dog-friendly? The gated Garden area of the event isn’t dog-friendly (and, as is the case in nearly all of L.A. County, neither is the beach), but you’re welcome to bring a dog with you to the rest of the Fiesta.

The term CicLAvia stems from a similar Spanish word for “bike way,” and in L.A. it’s become a shorthand for the temporary, festival-like closing of L.A.’s streets. The event (inspired by the first Ciclovías in Bogotá, Colombia) welcomes bikes, tricycles, skateboards, strollers and basically anything else without an engine to ride a rotating cast of car-free routes. You’ll inevitably always find a route each year around Downtown, but past events have taken it anywhere from the harbor to the San Gabriel Valley. Expect music, street performances and food trucks, as well as general whimsy and shenanigans along the way. Shop owners and restaurants along the CicLAvia route also tend to host specials. It goes without saying that you should bike or take the Metro to your desired spot along the route.

Sure, you’ve seen the archival television clips of the Beatles’ famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, but what about firsthand, long-lost photographs from that same time shot by one of the band members? This spring, Beverly Hills gallery Gagosian displays 36 recently rediscovered photographs of the Beatles, all captured by Paul McCartney. A mix of black-and-white and color prints, the McCartney photos were shot during peak of Beatlemania, from December 1963 to February 1964. Expect to see a mix of self-portraits of Paul and candid shots of John, George and Ringo—as well as hysterical fans waiting outside the windows of the band’s car.

The California Science Center is inviting kids to get in the game with a new 17,000-square-foot exhibition about the power of play and the human body in motion. Besides teaching about the science behind sports, it also offers interactive challenges and video coaching from a team of Los Angeles-based mentor athletes including dancer Debbie Allen, the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, Olympic medalist softball player Rachel Garcia and more. For the first time ever, the center has commissioned public art—all by local artists—to complement the exhibition, including a Dodgers mural by Gustavo Zermeño Jr. The free exhibition kicks off May 15 and will remain at the Science Center at least through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Summer’s just heating up, but thanks to a returning summer event series it’s set to be scorching: Beginning May 29, Santa Monica mainstay the Bungalow will host its night market every Thursday just a block from the beach. Over the summer, expect food from the likes of Tacos 1986, House of Empanadas, Lei’d Cookies and All About the Cinnamon. As in previous years, families can enjoy a kids’ play area with complimentary face painting. The event will  will also feature a variety of brand activations, celebrity guest appearances, and DJ and musical performances with more info to be announced as the summer kicks off. The fun runs every Thursday night through Labor Day, from 5 to 11pm. 

Add some culture to your daily commute. Nonprofit arts organization the Billboard Creative mounts this annual show around town which, as you probably guessed, covers 30 billboards around L.A. with works from artists, turning the city streets into a de facto art installation. This latest edition shows off works from 30 international and local artists across an assortment of mediums on billboards from May 5 to 30. You can see a map of where you’ll find the artwork here.

Tied to Earth Day, Friends of the L.A. River is pivoting its monthly cleanup into a bit of post-fire empowerment with this habitat resoration effort at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Preserve. Volunteers will help remove invasive vegetation inside the San Fernando Valley park while learning about how they factor into flammability, as well as about the region’s watershed. Participation is free, but registration is required.

CicLAvia, but make it Glendale—that’s the basic premise of Let’s Go Glendale, the newest open-streets experience to hit L.A. On the last day of May, South Glendale Avenue from Chevy Chase to Lexington Drives will be transformed into a car-free space welcoming all to walk, roll, shop and stroll past local businesses and eateries. The free event, presented by Metro, will also feature a curated schedule of live music and activities. Dogs, as long as they’re on a leash, are welcome too.

Downtown Burbank shuts down its main thoroughfare to car traffic for this biannual arts festival, curated by indie artisan marketplace Jackalope. Over 170 local hand-selected artisans will fill San Fernando Boulevard from Magnolia Boulevard to Angeleno Avenue. Shop art and photography, original fashion and jewelry, paper goods, home decor, food and more. You’ll also find live art and activities for kids like terrarium- and slime-making workshops and face painting. And unlike some artisan markets, Jackalope offers free admission.

Everyone’s favorite NPR member station has a hand in a slew of summer concert slates at public plazas and beloved museums, and this summer’s schedule is reliably packed. Familiar KCRW DJs and local buzz bands will be providing free, open-air tunes on select nights from June through September at Union Station, CAAM, Descanso Gardens, Bowers Museum, Wende Museum, the Autry, Benny Boy Brewing, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, California Plaza and—our favorite—the party-till-midnight bashes at Chinatown Central Plaza. The details slightly differ at each spot, but you can typically expect a bunch of food trucks, beer gardens and after-hours museum admission. This year, there’s even a kid-oriented installment at the Kidspace Children’s Museum, where DJ Lance Rock of Yo Gabba Gabba is the special guest. Regardless of the location, you really can’t go wrong with any evening spent at Summer Nights. (Note: The kickoff June 7 event at Benny Boy Brewing and Aug. 29’s Descanso Gardens event are only for KCRW members).

The Los Angeles–based conceptual artist and now-retired CalArts educator is back with his first L.A. solo exhibition since 2019, debuting new works from his Numbers and Trees series. The colorful and complex works combine Plexiglas, watercolors and his signature numeric grid systems to depict the baobab trees Gaines photographed on a recent trip to Tanzania. The show opens February 19 with a conversation between the artist and LACMA’s Naima J. Keith, followed by an opening reception (6–8pm). The event is free, but reservations are recommended.

One of the biggest pride events in the country, LA Pride attracts thousands to a what had typically been a two-day fest and parade in West Hollywood but is now located a bit to the east. The parade portion will step off in Hollywood, where it’ll be accompanied by LA Pride Village, which will take over Hollywood Boulevard from Argyle to Bronson. The free street festival is taking the place of music fest L.A. Pride in the Park, formerly in Chinatown. Expect live music, food, drinks and shopping—plus a “Ballroom Battle” judged by celebs including Margaret Cho. The atmosphere is good-natured and raucous; local color is provided by divas, drag queens and DJs. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to LA Pride

This epic (and free) outdoor concert series features live performances by artists from around the world at the totally overhauled California Plaza stage in DTLA, where the shallow water separating the stage from the audience has been replaced by a proper event lawn. Don’t miss a diverse and highly intriguing mix of bands, DJ sets and dance parties. Saturday nights from June 14 through August 23 you’ll find free concerts (though you should RSVP ahead of time to reserve a spot)—highlights this year include a 30-year anniversary show by Grand Performances mainstay Ozomatli and tributes to John Coltrane and Dr. Dre. And on Friday nights, you’ll find a mix of poetry, film and classical music during Fridays in the Amphitheater. 

The Hammer Museum’s excellent, ongoing series of biennial exhibitions ups the ante each year with its spotlight on emerging and under-recognized L.A. artists. Though its theme is still to come, this October’s edition—the seventh such show—will bring together works from 27 artists.

Walk, run, skate, bike and explore car-free stretches of South Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel during the latest edition of this open streets event series (formerly known as 626 Golden Streets). The Metro-presented Active Streets clears cars off the road in different parts of the San Gabriel Valley for one day only. On Sunday, June 22, you’ll be able to set foot on five miles of streets sans cars, from Mission Street in South Pasadena, down Marengo Avenue and along Alhambra Road, Main Street and Las Tunas Drive toward Mission Drive in San Gabriel (hence the “Mission at Twilight” name of this particular event).

The Getty Center’s new featured exhibition explores the transformative role photography has played in the history of the LGBTQ+ community as a tool for exploring gender, sexuality and self-expression since the mid-1800s. See examples of the homosocial, homoerotic and homosexual imagery that helped shape the world’s awareness of queer life. During your visit, be sure to check out the accompanying exhibition “$3 Bill: Evidence of Queer Lives,” a look at the contributions of LGBTQ+ artists in the last century, in the museum’s Research Institute Galleries. 

Santa Monica illuminates the Third Street Promenade with a canopy of rainbow lights as part of this citywide LGBTQ+ celebration. Look out for a party along the expanse of the Promenade on June 21 with music, games, drinks and giveaways (2–7pm). Nearby, you’ll find drag bingo at Main Street Beer Garden (3–6pm). Over at the Santa Monica Pier, the day begins with a family-friendly morning of drag storytelling and face painting presented by the Crow comedy club at 10am. And from 11am to 5pm, you can try practice your sporting skills with open-format beach volleyball, as well as mini kickball, dodgeball, soccer, football, tennis and cornhole tournaments. 

The Los Angeles LGBT Center hosts this annual celebration of the TGI community. First up is a free festival where you’ll find workshops, local queer vendors, resource tables and even some free food. Afterward, keep the party going with Trans Pride After Dark, complete with trans go-go-dancers, music and neon lights.  

Shop local at this celebration of small businesses, held not in Venice but in downtown Mar Vista, along Venice Boulevard. The arts and music festival brings together over 300 local brands and artists three times a year, attracting some 100,000 shoppers. The summer edition will kick off with a free morning yoga class. You’ll also find live music, art installations and food trucks on Venice between Centinela Avenue and Inglewood Boulevard. The fest is free and pet-friendly. Meanwhile, a ticketed beer garden features an open bar, games, lounges and cabanas, and part of the proceeds go to nonprofit Nourish LA.

Before the dog days of summer start to scorch the Southland, celebrate this dog day: a pup-friendly party and “yappy hour” at the Los Angeles Central Library’s Maguire Gardens with dog-friendly vendors selling everything from gourmet dog food to CBD pet products to handcrafted bandannas. You and your four-legged friend will also find pet portraits, treats, activities, community dog walks, photo ops and live music. Drinks from on-site Italian restaurant Settecento will be available for purchase, with a portion of sales benefiting the Vanderpump Dog Foundation.

Rodeo Drive fills with rare cars and motorcycles both new and old during this free Father’s Day tradition. For its 30th edition, the “Luxury in Motion”-themed event will feature supercars and hypercars from McLaren, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, Pagani and Bentley, as well as the North American public debut of Lamborghini’s latest models and a skills demonstration from the Beverly Hills Police Department Motor Unit, all set amid the luxury shopping of its 90210 setting.

Celebrate the launch of Armani’s new men’s fragrance, Stronger With You, with sun, surf and a free performance by Grammy-nominated artist (and backflipper) Benson Boone when the brand takes over Venice Beach. After pop-rocking out, sample the scent and shop special Emporio Armani x Benson Boone merch. Admission is free, but RSVP is required for entry—you’ll get exact location details when you sign up.