Free things to do in Los Angeles this month

Idyllic Montana Avenue shuts out cars from 7th to 17th Streets and turns into an artistic hub during this annual neighborhood event. Browse art and goods from over 150 vendors, hear live music from an expanded lineup of local musicians, and frequent the independent shops and eateries along the Santa Monica stretch. This year’s edition celebrates the centennial of Route 66 with themed artwork, immersive installations and a classic car showcase, plus a MINI automotive activation. And if you’re in need of a mindful moment, stop by the new Wellness Pavilion.

Swing by gallery shows, open studios, parties and pop-up shops during this illuminating design series that is honoring 130 designers, studios, galleries and brands that make up the local creative community. For the third annual L.A. Design Weekend, the event is expanding from three to five days and partnering with dublab. Expect programming in a different cluster of neighborhoods each day: Wednesday will bring programming to DTLA, the Fashion District and Boyle Heights; on Thursday the action takes place in Chinatown; Friday is all about the Arts District; Saturday is full of workshops and open studios in Northeast L.A., Lincoln Heights, Silver Lake, Highland Park and Frogtown; and Sunday sees more open studios and group shows in neighborhoods including Echo Park, Los Feliz, East Hollywood and Atwater Village. Most events are free, though some workshops and lunches have fees to cover the cost of materials. Whichever route you take through the event, you’re sure to come away filled with creative inspiration.

Santa Monica’s shopping and dining stretch is hosting its own free Oktoberfest festivities on October 3, with live polka music from Die Sauerkrauts, German food, beer, stein-hoisting and best-dressed contests and family-friendly fun—though adults will have fun strolling through the Santa Monica Entertainment Zone with a commemorative Oktoberfest stein, which you can get for free (while supplies last) when you buy a beer from 1212, Ugo, Cabo Cantina, Casa Martin, Holey Moley or Barney’s Beanery on the promenade.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles is behind this pet-centric Oktoberfest event at Los Angeles Ale Works’ outpost in Hawthorne, complete with steins of beer, food, games, prizes and, of course, adoptable pups. Your own four-legged friend (on a leash) is welcome, too. And 20% of the afternoon’s proceeds will be donated to spcaLA.

One of L.A.’s best free live-music offerings, Jazz at LACMA has featured legit legends over its 35-year run at the museum. Seating for the program is available in the museum’s plaza on a first-come, first-served basis, though you’re welcome to picnic on the grass, too (you won’t really be able to see the show, but you’ll still hear it). You’ll find the series on Friday evenings in LACMA’s welcome plaza (just behind Urban Light) throughout the summer and into the fall. We’re betting it’ll be even more popular than usual this year, with the new David Geffen Galleries in the background.

Pasadena’s underrated collection of museums and performance spaces open up their doors for free at this biannual arts and culture open house. Take advantage of the free shuttle buses to travel between local institutions such as the USC Pacific Asia Museum, ArtCenter, Pasadena Playhouse, Gamble House, Pasadena Museum of History and more, many of which will be offering special arts programming and live performances—including a puppet show by the Bob Baker Marionette Theater at Pasadena City Hall. And, of course, no arts fest would be complete without food trucks, which often include pop-ups from local bricks-and-mortar businesses.

Sure, it doesn’t look so glamorous now, but give it a few years, a billion or so dollars and some steady rain, and the L.A. River will be a point of civic pride for Angelenos. Do your part in the meantime at the Friends of the Los Angeles River’s 36th annual cleanup, which is again taking place over two weekends this year. Rather than focusing on one spot, the events will tackle multiple locations on October 3 and 10: the Willow Street Bridge in Long Beach, Steelhead Park in Elysian Valley, the Sepulveda Basin in the Valley, and Compton Creek just steps from the Metro A Line. Volunteering is free, but you need to register online ahead of time—a couple of sessions are already at capacity.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, Grand Ave Arts: All Access finds more than a dozen institutions celebrating their Bunker Hill home with free performances, exhibitions and tours. Highlights of this year’s event on October 24 include graffiti artmaking workshops and a pop-up market at the Broad; a chance to try instruments at the Colburn School; a sugar skull workshop and the world’s biggest pop-up book at the Los Angeles Central Library; a monster-making puppetry workshop at MOCA; and the annual Day of the Dead celebration at Gloria Molina Grand Park. Officially joining the roster this time around is the world’s first museum of AI arts, DATALAND. Other participating institutions include REDCAT, the Music Center, Center Theatre Group, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, LA Opera, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grand Performances and Metro.

Head to Gloria Molina Grand Park for a two-week display of over a dozen altars created by professional artists and community organizations. The displays officially kick off on October 24, during Grand Ave Arts: All Access, complemented by an afternoon of face painting, paper weaving and sugar-skull decorating, plus live mariachi music (11am–4pm). On November 1, the event closes with Noche de los Muertos, which will feature cultural performances, local artisans selling goods at a mercado, and more family-friendly activities. All of the festivities are free.

This Highland Park biergarten is hosting its second annual Oktoberfest shindig, transforming the space into a Bavarian beer hall. The sister to Wirtshaus and Rasselbock already serves standout sausages and schnitzel year-round (including veggie options), but every Friday and Saturday through Halloween, you can also enjoy food and drink specials, live music, stein-holding contests and more.

An evolution of the long-running Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, the newly dubbed DTLA Artnight finds dozens of Downtown businesses opening their doors to art lovers on the first Thursday of every month, when over 25 galleries will debut new exhibitions. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure kind of experience, but if you start at Emerging Gallery (125 E 4th St), you can pick up a map of all the participating spots. MOCA is even joining the fun as the cultural event expands from the Historic Core to Grand Avenue. Head to the museum for a free exhibition tour at 5pm.

The Bungalow at the oceanfront Fairmont Miramar Hotel is pairing Bavarian fun and beachy vibes at a weekend-long Oktoberfest celebration. Raise a stein of Paulaner or Hefeweizen beer by the sea, and feast on bratwurst, pretzels, käsespätzle, apple strudel and more. Also on offer: tunes from Festmeister Hans und Die Sauerkrauts, plus German pop music, comedy, classic folk games, and men and women’s stein-holding contests. Last year, adult entry was $20, but this year it’s free to get in.

Halloween time can be a bit scary for kids—we’ve all been there—so for a less frightening affair, head to the Original Farmers Market for its children-friendly Fall Festival: Carnival games, a petting zoo, crafts and a pumpkin patch (for a small fee) are all mainstays at this annual harvest fest. Come in costume, catch a musical performance and explore the always-delicious treats at the market.

“Let’s hang out at the Pier” is something Santa Monica locals probably say next to never, but this monthly series is trying to change that. Every third Thursday from September to May, you’ll find everything from live music to storytelling to a classic car show on the Santa Monica Pier, all free to attend. 

This is one of the largest Halloween street parties in the world, and there’s really no better place to be on October 31. Sure, the crowd is huge (like, half a million people huge) and a bit belligerent, but the amazing display of costumes and general merry-making spirit deem it at least a worthy stop, if not your main destination for the evening. There will be dancing, drinking and many impromptu costume contests. Even if you don’t plan on entering one, it’s best to still come dressed to the nines—no one likes a party pooper in jeans and a T-shirt. Find it along Santa Monica Boulevard, between Doheny Drive and La Cienega Boulevard. A DJ will be spinning from a stage at the intersection of Santa Monica and San Vicente Boulevard, and food trucks will be on hand.

See our guide to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval.

Catch Curtis Cook, Brandie Posey, Rick Wood and John Michael Bond host this free comedy show on Wednesday nights at Hollywood’s Y2K-inspired Zero Lounge. The event coincides with the bar’s daily 7-to-10pm happy hour, so hang out for a bit and garnish your comedy with a cocktail or mocktail.

Billing itself as “Orange County’s biggest party since 1977,” the Old World Oktoberfest promises enough beers, brats and bands to make you feel like you’re in Munich—albeit with better ocean views. Every Wednesday through Sunday between September 12 and November 8, this re-created Bavarian village will offer a sausage-filled menu, oompah and German bands, a biergarten, dancing and more. While Old World’s Oktoberfest is 21-plus with a cover charge on Friday and Saturday evenings, it’s open to families and revelers of all ages on Saturday afternoons and other nights. (Entry is free on Wednesday and Thursday nights, as well as Saturday afternoons, just book ahead online.)

The beloved Bob Baker Marionette Theater is staging free, family-friendly performances at Barnsdall Art Park on the west lawn outside the Hollyhock House on select Sunday mornings. Spread out a blanket and enjoy a 30-minute “Fiesta” puppet show at 9:30am or 11am, followed by free art activities for all.

Held in the so-called Alps of Southern California, Lake Arrowhead’s all-ages Oktoberfest runs every weekend from September 19 to October 25 this year, hosting live German American oompah bands, “choke the chicken” (“like stein-holding but more fun”), dance contests, children’s games and a daily sausage toss. Although there’s no entry fee, attendees are advised to book picnic tables ($150 on Saturdays for up to eight people) or pub tables (four-seaters $75 and two-seaters $35 on Saturdays) to secure seats closer to the stage. On Sunday, tables are first-come, first-served. This year, the event is again being held in the picturesque Waterfront Park.

“Somehow it’s a happier ending than I thought it would be—it felt so bleak,” Tacita Dean says of crafting this tribute to the then-fading format of analog film back in 2011. But now in the year of The Odyssey, Dean’s commission for the Tate Modern—restaged here at the Marciano Art Foundation’s cavernous theater gallery—feels like a triumphant touting of film’s resurgence: An 11-minute-long collage (all of the cutouts were achieved in camera) plays out on a vertically-oriented reel of 35mm film. Make sure to head up to the mezzanine viewpoint to peek into the projection booth. The show coincides with Pierre Leguillon’s selection of old advertisements that feature prominent artists promoting commercial brands, with presentations created for both the ground-floor library and the second-floor gallery.

Five photographers who pushed their medium in new directions in the second half of the 20th century present their unique takes on the city in this Getty Center show. Influenced by techniques including social documentary practices, staged scenes and fashion, the photographs of Laura Aguilar, Reynaldo Rivera, George Rodriguez, Patssi Valdez and Ricardo Valverde expanded Chicano and Chicana representation in Los Angeles.

Do you get a little thrill every time you go to the Beverly Hills Hotel? You have architect Paul R. Williams to thank, even if you might not know the name. This exhibition at the USC Fisher Museum of Art aims to fix that. “Paul R. Williams: An Architect Considered” specifically spotlights the visionary architect’s multifamily housing projects through original drawings, photographs and plans, juxtaposed with new commissions by contemporary artists and architects. The message is clear: Williams didn’t just shape Los Angeles; he imagined a more livable version of it, one gorgeous building at a time. Complementary Williams exhibitions at LACMA and the Getty Center will open later in the year.

This show aims to give Black queer culture in California—particularly in Los Angeles—the credit it’s due as a part of the decades-long fight for LGBTQ+ rights and recognition. Through historical materials, photographs, film and vintage newspapers, the exhibition recovers a history that’s been largely excluded from the record, introducing visitors to sites, protagonists and allies who played a role in the fight for democracy and free expression. 

The reopened Getty Villa will descend into the underworld with this exhibition, which looks at the ritual spells and religious writings ancient Egyptians employed to garner favor with Re and Osiris in the afterlife. See the Getty’s collection of rare Book of the Dead rare hieroglyphics-adorned and illustrated manuscripts, dating back to around 1000 BCE, which were last displayed in 2023. The show should dovetail nicely with the museum’s “Sculpted Portraits From Ancient Egypt,” which runs through January 2027.

The inimitable artist, musician and activist—and John Lennon’s other half—is the subject of the Broad’s highly anticipated new show, Ono’s first-ever solo museum exhibition in Southern California. Organized in collaboration with the Tate Modern in London, “Music of the Mind” allows visitors to directly interact with works from the artist’s seven-decade long career. In conjunction with the show, the museum has transformed the olive trees on the outdoor East West Bank Plaza into Wish Trees for Los Angeles, where visitors can tie their own wishes on the branches. Many of the works invite audience engagement, in fact, all working toward a common goal of peace and connection. Tickets for the special exhibition are usually $21, but you can visit on Thursdays from 5 to 8pm for free.

The Skirball’s Jack Kirby exhibition may be over, but the museum has followed it up with this expansive look at how comics came to dominate pop culture. Many of the creators of the medium were immigrants and outsiders—including Jewish Americans—who poured their experiences with struggle, aspiration and reinvention into their work. On display, you’ll find original artwork and artifacts relating to beloved comic book characters, from Superman and Black Panther to Little Lulu and Archie. While admission to the Skirball is typically $20, admission is free to all on Thursdays.