Friday
Start your weekend with free music and outdoor eats during the kickoff of Figat7th Downtown Festival. Alt country singer Rayland Baxter is providing the tunes and Lotería Grill the drinks—plus parking is only $5.
If you're looking for some fancier fare, head up the hill to California Plaza for East LA Meets Napa. Savor rich wines and bites of Mexican cuisine at this showcase of some of the city’s best Mexican restaurants, along with Latino-owned wineries in Napa.
Cap off the night at the Orpheum for a Welcome to Night Vale live show. Listen to tales of two-headed quarterbacks and haunted dog parks at this faux public-radio show, complete with the show's velvet-voiced announcer, Cecil Baldwin, and its resident band, Disparition.
Saturday
Start your day just outside Pasadena with an afternoon at the Huntington Library. The botanical gardens are always worth a visit, but today the museum kicks off its Van Gogh & Friends exhibition, a display of Post-Impressionist masterpieces—many of them on loan from the Hammer Museum.
On the other side of town, celebrate the legacy of a century-old arch bridge at the Colorado Street Bridge Party, a kid-friendly street fest at the stately span.
Take the Gold Line to Union Station for one of the first opportunities to see Union Station 360°. The landmark train station's south patio is hosting "Floating Sky Screen," a translucent screen atop the area that'll cover the garden in a canopy of airy LA imagery.
Stay put Downtown and spend an evening at Summer on Seventh. The stunning Inner-City Arts campus hosts the school benefit with music from the Gaslamp Killer and J Rocc on the rooftop, as well as drinks from Silverlake Wine and Everson Royce Bar and snacks from Salt & Straw and Stumptown Coffee Roasters, among others.
Sunday
Indulge your inner foodie and shopaholic at Smorgasburg LA. The Brooklyn export has landed in the Arts District and it's already a hotbed of fantastic food and retail vendors—as well as the home of today's ice cream bonanza.
Get a fresh perspective on the LA River during the opening weekend of CURRENT:LA. This inaugural art biennial features installations from local artists at 16 sites along the river, from the Hansen Dam in the Valley down to Point Fermin in San Pedro. Plus, you'll find plenty of pop-up activities along the way, including a nature walk at the Frog Spot today and a tea ceremony in the Sepulveda Basin.
Wrap up your weekend with the closing night screening of Outfest Los Angeles. The gay and lesbian film fest concludes with a gala screening of the Molly Shannon-starring Other People at the Theatre at Ace Hotel.
Find more things to do this weekend by clicking each day or by heading over to our weekend calendar.