Free things to do in Los Angeles this month

Any crafter worth their weight in cashmere yarn knows that Renegade Craft Fair is the fair all others aspire to. Held in urban epicenters around the country, Renegade is a locally focused marketplace showcasing work from hundreds of the best contemporary indie craft artists. Aside from the wares, Renegade offers all sorts of homemade DIY fun and festivities: Think classes and demos, free photo booths and tons of tasty food trucks. Renegade hosts an epic spring fair, along with a supplemental holiday fair in wintertime that will help you check everyone off your gift list—including yourself. Find it in the Santa Monica Airport’s Interim Open Space (3233 Donald Douglas Loop S). Plus, entry is free. 

Beverly Hills and the Rodeo Drive Committee host this free community event to kick off the city’s holiday season. This year’s Enchanted Holiday Dreams theme takes inspiration from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Watch as the famed palm-tree-dotted shopping street comes alive with twinkling lights, then stroll amid the glow and enjoy live music and entertainment, street performers, festive decor, wine gardens, food trucks and an appearance by Santa Claus. A fireworks show will complete the festivities.

Nope, that’s not some sort of catastrophic explosion in the center of the city—that sound’s just the arrival of Christmas at the Grove. Brace yourself: L.A.’s shopping mall metropolis lights up its Christmas tree with a dazzling drone show, snowfall and a slew of special guests, including Santa himself (may we humbly suggest that you ask Santa this year for a prime spot in that mammoth parking garage). Lance Bass hosts this year’s show, with performances by Nick Carter, Dasha, Natalie Jane, Loud Luxury, Kevin Woo, Straight No Chaser. Stick around for the fireworks finale (and we’ll reiterate that, yep, anxious Angelenos, those are indeed fireworks that you’re hearing on November 17).

Commuting through Union Station around the holidays? Make sure to take a detour into the station’s newly restored South Patio for the train station’s 10th annual tree lighting on November 20, with a musical performance by the Beverly Belles. You can also enjoy caroling, snowfall and arts and crafts—with a side of milk and cookies. Little ones can pose for photos with Santa. The holiday décor will stay up through Christmas.

Every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the Great Los Angeles Walk debunks all of those cliches about nobody walking in L.A. Hundreds of walkers start the free urban hike on one side of the city and, about half a day later, end up at the other. You can hop on or off the walk whenever you’d like, and though no reservations are required, RSVPs are appreciated. This year marks the 20th anniversary edition of the walk, which will return to its very first route, along Wilshire Boulevard. Exact route details are TBA, so stay tuned.

The multicity Jackalope art fair is back in Old Pasadena this month, featuring over 200 local artisans selling their high-quality, handcrafted goods at Central Park. You’ll find everything from luxe candles and cactus-inspired lamps to plant-based skin care and homemade treats—all perfect for gifting—as well as family-friendly activities. And unlike some artisan markets, Jackalope offers free admission.

Riverside’s stunningly beautiful Mission Inn is bathed in over 10 million twinkly lights during the annual Festival of Lights, which has lit up the city for 33 years now. The free, six-week-long holiday tradition runs from late November to early January and typically features more than 400 festive, animated figures. Having been voted the “Best Public Lights Display” by USA Today, the festival attracts over 500,000 visitors each year. The spectacle will kick off with a Switch On Ceremony on November 22, followed by live music from Matt Mauser and the Tijuana Dogs, and there’ll be holiday-themed kiddie rides outside the hotel all season long.

Japan House Los Angeles is bringing an exhibition of shokuhin sampuru—hyper-realistic food replicas that have crossed over from marketing tool to art form (think Is It Cake? but cultural)—to Los Angeles for the first time. See mouthwatering faux food representing each of Japan’s 47 prefectures, from coffee house parfaits to izakaya skewers, as well as Chinese and Western cuisine, and try your own hand at food presentation by filling a bentō box yourself.

Like an Angelyne billboard on Sunset Boulevard, the Hollywood Christmas Parade is an essential part of L.A. kitsch. The nine-decade-old parade will feature floats, balloons, marching bands, equestrians and celebrities (of a sort) as they ride in a U-shaped route that begins at Hollywood and Orange and ends up at Sunset and Orange. Reserved grandstand seats can be purchased, with proceeds going to Toys for Tots, but free curbside seating is also available.

LA Compost’s annual autumnal event gives “smashing pumpkins” a whole new—and very literal—meaning. Now that Halloween is over, you likely have at least one pumpkin rotting on your doorstep. Did you know that trashing it and sending it to the landfill releases methane, which contributes to global warming? Instead of adding your jack-o’-lantern to the 1.3 billion pounds of yearly pumpkin waste, bring it (as long as its free of paint, glitter or anything else nonorganic) to one of these composting parties to help nourish the earth. Check here for the different locations and to sign up.

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 7 and November 9, 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, Thursday and Sunday nights, as well as Saturday afternoons, just book ahead online.)

The Getty Villa reopens to the public five and a half months after its Palisades Fire closure with this international loan exhibition dedicated to the Greek Mycenaean civilization and the kingdom of Pylos, which Homer immortalized in the Iliad and Odyssey. It’s the first major museum show in North America devoted to the Late Bronze Age Mycenaeans. See treasures excavators unearthed from Messenia, the Palace of Nestor and burial sites including the tomb of the Griffin Warrior (1450 BCE)—think clay tablets, gold cups, ornate weapons and tiny signets and sealstones adorned with awe-inspiring amounts of detail. 

The Skirball’s latest pop culture exhibition takes a deep dive into the six-decade career of legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby. You might know him as the co-creator of Captain America, Black Panther, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and some of the Marvel universe’s most cosmic characters. But did you know he was also a first-generation Jewish American born to immigrant parents, World War II veteran and family man who split his time between New York and Los Angeles? Learn about his life and see Kirby’s original comic illustrations, as well as other works—many on view for the first time. Tickets to the Skirball will cost you $18—except on Thursdays, when entry is free with a reservation.