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September 2024 events calendar for Los Angeles

Plan your month with our September 2024 events calendar of the best activities, including free things to do, festivals and concerts

Michael Juliano
Edited by
Michael Juliano
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September may signal the end of summertime, but you’d never know it based on the weather. It’s arguably the optimal time to visit one of L.A.’s best beaches while the water’s still, relatively speaking, warm and not overrun by crowds. On the other hand, if you’re feeling like you already have a foot in the fall, it’s time to start making plans to go apple picking. And if you’d rather skip town, take advantage of the long Labor Day weekend to squeeze in a day trip. But don’t worry, there’s no shortage of other local fun in L.A. in our September events calendar.

RECOMMENDED: Full events calendar for 2024

This September’s best events

  • Things to do
  • Markets and fairs
  • price 0 of 4
  • Downtown Arts District

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.

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  • Things to do
  • price 0 of 4

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.

  • Music
  • price 3 of 4
  • Downtown

Treat your ears to a vibrant concert on a spring or summer night this year, by attending MUSE/IQUE’s annual program. This monthly series of performances, held venues (largely outdoors) across L.A., features a mix of performances inspired by landmark albums and public figures, including tributes to Ed Sullivan, Bob Dylan, Abraham Lincoln, Oklahoma! and more. In order to attend, you’ll need to become a MUSE/IQUE member; you could make a $75 donation for a single event, but if you’re interested in more than just one, it’s cheaper per event to become a full-fludged member.

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  • Things to do
  • Exhibitions
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  • Westside

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. Titled “Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak,” the exhibition debuted at the Columbus Museum of Art in 2022 and will sail off (metaphorically speaking) to visit L.A. from April 18 through September 1, 2024. Admission costs $18 for adults, with discounts for students, seniors and children; it’s completely free to visit on Thursdays. In addition to his own books, In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There among them, the exhibition will spotlight art that Sendak created for a handful of other authors, including Else Holmelund Minarik’s Little Bear, as well designs for Mozart operas and books. The show will also focus on his personal and family life, with portraits he shot, toys he designed and insight into his life as a child of Jewish immigrants and a lover of Romantic music and art.

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  • Museums
  • South Park

Whenever, wherever—we’re meant to be with Shakira! Explore the history behind the global and social superstar in her new immersive exhibit, Shakira, Shakira, currently open at the Grammy Museum. Step into this enchanting space celebrating 33 years of Shakira’s career with never-before-seen outfits, exclusive interviews and videos, TikTok activations, an exclusive Instagram Gold Room and more. Head to the link below to purchase tickets and explore the other exhibits within the museum. 

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  • Music
  • Music festivals
  • price 3 of 4
  • Orange County

Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival once again lands at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, and though we don’t yet know the lineup, there’s a pretty good chance the Pearl Jam frontman will once again be on it. Last year’s fest included the Killers, HAIM, the Chicks, Foo Fighters and Pretenders—we’ll have to wait and see who tops this year’s edition from September 27 to 29. The fest’s name comes from the Hawaiian concept of family, and as such the beachfront festival will give back to its own community by donating a portion of proceeds to the San Onofre Parks Foundation and the Doheny State Beach Foundation, among others.

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  • Music
  • Rock and indie
  • price 2 of 4
  • Inglewood

Somehow Dookie is three decades old, and even American Idiot—which to elder Green Day fans probably still feels like a recent release—is now 20. The Bay Area-bred rock trio must have seen that single nostalgic tear stream down your cheek, because they’re turned their latest tour, the Saviors Tour, into a full-blown throwback pop-punk fest with support from the Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and L.A.’s own, the Linda Lindas.

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