Various locations in L.A.

Nonprofit arts organization the Billboard Creative mounts this annual show around town, which turns the city into an open-air gallery. Billboards around L.A. will sport works by a diverse group of 20 artists working across different mediums, whose art will be seen by hundreds of thousands of commuters. This year’s “Sightlines: Art in Public View” iteration kicks off April 6 and runs through May 4. A mobile map shows you all of the entries’ locations and shares info about each artist. 

See wildflowers—including poppies, morning glory, desert marigolds and many more—in your own backyard (or, to be more specific, other Angelenos’ backyards) during this annual weekend of self-guided garden tours organized by the Theodore Payne Foundation. Each of the 42 participating gardens across Greater Los Angeles contains at least 50 percent native plants, and a ticket gets you access to all of them—20 are open on Saturday, the other 22 on Sunday. 

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.

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.