[category]
[title]
Vinyl never really left Los Angeles—it just moved from living rooms to milk crates. But for one weekend in March, the city’s collectors, DJs and analog obsessives will all be digging in the same place.
VinylCon!, the fast-growing record fair that’s been popping up in cities across the country, returns to L.A. on March 21 and 22 with a two-day celebration of record collecting at the California Market Center in Downtown L.A.
The event debuted in Los Angeles last summer and quickly turned into something bigger than organizers expected. More than 2,500 people showed up to browse crates from more than 80 dealers, including sellers who flew in from Japan and the Netherlands. For many collectors, it felt like something the city had been missing.
That’s not surprising in a city where vinyl culture still runs deep, from DJs hunting for obscure breakbeats to producers digging for samples. Last year’s event saw plenty of that activity, along with DJ sets from turntable heavyweights like Cut Chemist and Large Professor, turning the market floor into something closer to a daylong block party for crate diggers.
“As a collector and enthusiast myself, I felt like the record fair I wanted to attend simply didn’t exist,” founder Kobi Waldenfogel said in an official statement. “VinylCon! is meant to be both accessible to newcomers and respected by veteran collectors. The LA edition will continue to raise the bar.”
This year’s edition is expected to be even bigger. Organizers say the March event will feature an expanded dealer lineup and a broader international presence, including vendors traveling from the United Kingdom alongside sellers from across the United States. The result should be thousands of records spanning genres, eras and levels of rarity, from dollar-bin soul and funk to collector-grade pressings.
Beyond the vendor booths, the weekend will again feature a full DJ lineup curated by noted DJ and collector Skeme Richards, providing a live soundtrack while shoppers flip through stacks. There will also be giveaways, sponsor activations and a full bar. Crate digging, like most great hobbies, pairs well with a drink.
In a city that seems to run on streaming and algorithms, VinylCon! offers something refreshingly analog: the thrill of finding music the old-fashioned way, one bin at a time.
VinylCon! will be held Saturday, March 21, and Sunday, March 22, at the California Market Center, 110 E. 9th St. For tickets and more info, click here.