Various locations in L.A.

Support women-owned restaurants and dine at some of L.A.’s best spots during the return of this annual food fest in honor of Women’s History Month. Regarding Her's festival will offer themed menu specials, cooking classes, convos and collabs from women restaurateurs all month long. Highlights from this year’s lineup include La Festa Della Donna, a special International Women's Day celebration at Smorgasburg (Mar 8); the Echo Park Bop, a walking food and drink tour of 10 women-owned restaurants including Quarter Sheets, Bakers Bench, Bar Flores, Tsubaki, Little Fish and Valerie Confections (Mar 22); Maydan Market Monday (Mar 23); the return of All Day Baby via a biscuit pop-up (Mar 28); and a women-powered Lincoln Avenue Parking Lot Party Benefit for Altadena (Mar 29). You’ll also find other fun one-offs on the calendar, including a cacao tasting at the Chocolate Dispensary (Mar 12) and a “Sweetcute” ice cream social at the Very Best Cookie in the Whole Wide World (Mar 21). Check the website for the full lineup.

Veg out at this weekend-long plant-based food fest in Westwood Village (formerly North Hollywood), which features dozens of food vendors from across the country serving everything from pizza to ice cream to burgers. Sample a cornucopia of small $5-and-under bites, or opt for a larger portion of your favorite dishes. You’ll find the action anchored at 1036 Broxton Avenue, home to the largest pedestrian plaza in L.A.—the event is both family-friendly and pet-friendly. Admission is free, though you can spring for an $84 swag bag full of vegan goodies valued at over $200.

Netflix’s stand-up specials keep us cackling at home, but the streaming service’s ambitious comedy festival is nothing to laugh at. For its second iteration, Netflix is a Joke Fest is headed back here May 4 to 10, 2026, and upping the ante: We’ve counted over 350 shows slated for venues across the city, boasting sets from Ali Wong, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, John Mulaney, Taylor Tomlinson and a reunited Flight of the Conchords, plus literally hundreds of others. This year, the lineup also includes the surprise addition of music (Jelly Roll, Lizzo) and a ton of podcast tapings (The Pete Davidson Show, Giggly Squad, The Viall Files and more). The event is a bit more of a marathon than a traditional festival: There’s not an all-encompassing festival pass, but you can buy individual tickets to shows throughout its run. You’ll find shows staged at venues as big as the Hollywood Bowl and Greek Theatre (absolutely don’t drive and instead take the shuttle to both of those) and as intimate as Dynasty Typewriter and UCB, plus seemingly every major arena, theater and comedy club in between. Keep in mind that for shows at spots that are normally general admission, that means sitting in stiff, tightly packed folding chairs with limited views (the Palladium and ground floor of the Wiltern have particularly poor sightlines)—but the vast majority of venues thankfully have permanent seats. It’s TBD if outdoor event Outside Joke—which in the past was set up in a parking lot behind the...

Say goodbye to dusty thoroughfares and violent porta-potties: Splash House takes the music festival concept off of sweltering desert land and places it poolside. Movers and shakers at this multi-location getdown are shuttled between the Saguaro, the Renaissance and the Hilton Palm Springs (with after-hours programming at the Palm Springs Air Museum) to lap up big-name dance acts and DJ sets. With the added comforts of air-conditioned rooms and critically acclaimed restaurant fare just steps away from the party scenes, the experience will make you question whether to bother with more punishing locales come next year’s festival season.

Get ready: In 2028, Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympic Games. After initially vying for a bid in 2024, L.A. was awarded the ’28 Games back in 2017.