July 2025 events calendar for Los Angeles

Hilltop sunset views and rising bands combine to make this Getty tradition a worthy destination for Angelenos on both sides of the 405. This year’s lineup of free Saturday-night shows includes SML (May 31), Madi Diaz (July 12), Empress Of (July 26) and Emile Mosseri (Aug 23). Tip: Avoid the traffic and the crowds and arrive early, preferably after 3pm when the parking price drops to $15 (though it’s actually free if you wait until the show starts, after 6pm). You’ll get to visit the exhibits, which stay open until 8pm on Saturdays, and beat the dinner rush.

For dinner and a movie, all in one, just follow the food trucks. During the spring, summer and fall, Street Food Cinema throws together a series of outdoor parties that include screenings of some of our favorite movies, paired with an assortment of gourmet food trucks and even a live music performance from a cool local band. The screenings are held in venues across L.A. into October and alternate from week to week, so make sure to check the schedule. Some of the outdoor venues are dog-friendly, allowing you to bring your four-legged cinema lover along. See more of this season’s outdoor movie screenings in L.A.

The masters of alfresco rooftop movie viewing have returned for another season of screenings to LEVEL in Downtown L.A. Known for excellent film choices and a steady supply of snacks and booze, Rooftop Cinema Club is your snazzy, comfortable and less stressful alternative to other outdoor movie screenings. You don’t even need to bring your own camping chair—Rooftop Cinema Club provides you with your very own comfy lawn chair (with optional blankets for purchase to up the coziness). And instead of listening to the movie over loudspeakers, you’ll get a set of wireless headphones so you never have to miss a word. Find the full schedule on their site, or in our outdoor movie calendar.

Now one of L.A.’s most treasured summer traditions, Barnsdall Park’s wine tastings regularly attract sell-out crowds. Perched atop Olive Hill on the west lawn of the historic Hollyhock House (which you can tour during the evening for an additional $36), the Barnsdall Friday fund raisers include fine selections of boutique wines provided by Silverlake Wine with a spectacular sunset and 360-degree views of the city. Bring along a blanket and a picnic basket, or just nosh on the variety of food trucks parked up there. Though there used to be lots of kids running around, the event lawn is now 21-and-up—perfect for a date night. Proceeds support the park’s art programs and historic renovations.

Every Sunday, you can find dozens of food vendors at this market at ROW DTLA, a Brooklyn import that boasts a mix of much-loved pop-ups and future foodie stars. Over a dozen new vendors joined the lineup this year: Feast on Afro-Caribbean cuisine from withBee, Lebanese street food from Teta, ice cream tacos from Sad Girl Creamery and more. Wash it all down at the family-friendly beer garden. You’ll also find shopping stalls selling everything from framed vintage ads to jewelry made locally with ethically sourced gemstones. Entry and the first two hours of parking are free.

On select Saturday afternoons in the summer, the historic Mount Wilson Observatory screens a decades-spanning lineup of sci-fi and astronomy-inspired shorts and feature-length films. Unlike the San Gabriel Mountains site’s concert series and stargazing sessions, Matinees on the Mountain won’t take place inside the dome of the 100-inch telescope. Instead, screenings will take place inside the 256-seat auditorium inside the astronomical museum, the same venue used for the site’s Talks & Telescopes lectures.

This special exhibition at the Broad makes its way to Downtown L.A. from the 2024 Venice Biennale—and Angelenos should consider themselves lucky that such a remarkable display has set up stateside. Jeffrey Gibson became the first Indigenous artist to represent the United States with a solo exhibition at the Italian art event, and this adaptation of that show, “the space in which to place me,” assembles 30-plus pieces of geometrically-patterned paintings and glass bead–adorned sculptures into the first-floor galleries of the Broad. Born in Colorado with tribal roots in the Southeast U.S., Gibson explores Indigenous identity as well as queer history by fusing pop music lyrics and foundational American documents into psychedelic statements on belonging, history and oppression; the Declaration of Independence’s “we hold these truths to be self-evident…” line—but not “all men are created equal”—is spelled out across brilliantly saturated beads that’ve been affixed to a literal punching bag. But this is ultimately a joyous show, an inclusive celebration of survival, resilience and empowerment that pays tribute to histories of resistance and looks optimistically forward. Unlike the rest of the otherwise free museum, you’ll need to buy a $15 ticket to see Gibson’s exhibition. And while it’s absolutely worth the price, you can save by taking advantage of free admission on Thursday evenings after 5pm. Expect an accompanying slate of performances, talks and workshops, as well.

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? The exhibition only occupies a few small galleries, but it’s stuffed with information about Kirby’s life, as well as pristine prints of issues plus his original comic illustrations—many on view for the first time. It’s not just a Marvel showcase, either: You’ll find some of the work Kirby did for DC, plus personal collages, a drawing he gave to Paul and Linda McCartney, and a fantastic reproduction of a costume he designed for a UC Santa Cruz production of Julius Caesar. Though not explicitly framed this way, the exhibition also presents a clear-as-day retort to any contemporary fans who decry comic book stories today as too “political”: Marvel has been political from the very start. Kirby’s cover for the first issue of Captain America features Cap punching Hitler—a full year before America would break its isolationist policies and enter WWII. The fifth issue follows Captain America in a battle against the German American Bund, a domestic Nazi organization that staged an infamous...

This spectacular exhibition from the Icelandic–Danish artist brings a new series of optical installations to MOCA’s Little Tokyo location. Don’t let the reflective, colorful pieces fool you into thinking this is some run-of-the-mill “immersive” exhibit: Olafur Eliasson’s works invite you to admire the everyday miracles of physics that shape how we see the world. The towering, mirror-lined stacks that fill the entrance of “OPEN” bring the outside in, as the warehouse-style Geffen Contemporary’s skylights create infinite spaces and mini worlds out of the sun and sky. The surprisingly analog optics behind them can be truly sublime: Gently moving water has a pair of pieces appear as shimmery landscapes, mirrors turn tubing into floating rings that trail into a black void and a simple array of pendants produce colorful flares against a screen. These aren’t pieces you’re meant to disappear into; instead, they provide a lens for the enviornment around us. You’ll need a timed ticket ($18) to see “Olafur Eliasson: OPEN.” Look for reservations on the first Friday of the month, from 5 to 8pm, for free admission.

Listen to classical and jazz in a dome more than a mile above L.A. during this mountaintop concert series. The Mount Wilson Observatory is hosting monthly concerts this summer inside the dome of its 100-inch Hooker telescope, which was the largest telescope in the world for much of the first half of the 20th century. Tickets cost $60 (that also includes access to the exhibit at the observatory) and it’s highly recommended that you buy them in advance since seating is limited. You’ll need to be able to climb 53 steps to reach the dome, and children under 12 aren’t permitted.