July 2022 events calendar for Los Angeles

In this captivating original musical, high school student Evan Hansen is thrust into social relevance after a classmate's suicide. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s score combines well-crafted lyrics with an exciting pop sound, and Steven Levenson’s book gives all the characters shaded motives. Read our review of its run on Broadway.

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is headed back to Dodger Stadium for the first time in over four decades—but this time around there’ll be plenty of activity outside of Chavez Ravine, too (including events by the Santa Monica Pier and the L.A. Convention Center).

German EDM superstar Zedd (given name: Anton Zaslavski) has graduated from the festival circuit to his very own mini fest. Once again, Zedd in the Park will find the wunderkind headlining an evening at L.A. State Historic Park that also includes sets from Loud Luxury, Wolfgang Gartner, Regard, So Tuff So Cute and GOJ!RA b2b Fernet (Brownies & Lemonade).

Kind of over trekking into the desert for music festivals? Thankfully the genre-focused fests keep getting better and better closer to home. The latest: An alt-country event from the team behind Stagecoach. Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson & Family, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and Orville Peck will headline Palomino Festival, scheduled to take over Brookside at the Rose Bowl on July 9.

Everyone’s favorite NPR member station has a hand in a slew of summer concert slates at public plazas and beloved museums, and this summer’s schedule is particularly packed.

Familiar KCRW DJs and local buzz bands will be providing free, open-air tunes on select nights from July through September at the Hammer Museum, One Colorado, CAAM, Descanso Gardens, Bowers Museum, the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, JANM and—our favorite—the party-till-midnight bashes at Chinatown Central Plaza. This year’s lineup features Ambar Lucid, Hana Vu and Mark de Clive-Lowe, among others, and KCRW DJs including Anthony Valadez, Jason Bentley, Novena Carmel and more.

The details slightly differ at each spot, but you can typically expect a bunch of food trucks, beer gardens and after-hours museum admission. Regardless of the location, you really can’t go wrong with any evening spent at Summer Nights.

Seeing a solo show from any one of these three singer-songwriters would easily earn our endorsement, but all three of them teaming up is simply a must see. Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen and Julien Baker play the Greek this summer on their “Wild Hearts Tour.”

Celebrate the bloom of Echo Park Lake’s beloved floating flowers with the annual Lotus Festival. Expect plenty of food, music, dragon boat races, lantern launches and—fingers crossed—the lotus flower beds in full bloom. The historic event celebrates the contributions of Asian-Americans to L.A., and this year, the 41st, will honor the Indian community.

Turn on any L.A. radio station and you’ll inevitably hear Anthony Kiedis’s voice drawing out every syllable of “California.” Nearly four decades in, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are no less obsessed with the City of Angels or their funk rock roots; the tube socks may have remained behind in a bygone era, but the Flea-driven attitude is here to stay. The band is playing a homecoming show at SoFi Stadium with support from two other locals, Beck and Thundercat.

Tonight, tonight the LA Phil will perform a live score to accompany a screening of the Steven Spielberg version of the classic musical. Dudamel and co. will perform the beloved Leonard Bernstein score at the Hollywood Bowl (and while the event doesn’t tease any special guests, we wouldn’t be surprised if Spielberg or some of the film’s cast make an appearance).

Though locally born EDM juggernaut HARD Summer has hopped around Southern California in recent years, its dedication to bringing the biggest names in the hip-hop and electronic scene has stayed the course. Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert and Porter Robinson top this year’s lineup, with additional performances from Joji, Zeds Dead back-to-back with Subtronics, Alison Wonderland, Madeon, Chris Lake, Gunna and a whole lot more.

Each summer, Bard fanatics watch their favorite works come to life at the historic Old Zoo in Griffith Park. Independent Shakespeare Co. puts on a series of lively productions each week, inviting audiences to take a seat on the grass (read: bring a picnic blanket) and enjoy performances like this season’s headliners: Knight of the Burning Pestle (July 2–31) and Macbeth (Aug 6–Sept 4).

Takashi Murakami will be the center of the Broad’s specially ticketed spring exhibition, alongside a second exhibition that explores the symbolism of the American flag. Both will be on display in the museum’s first-floor galleries from May 21 to September 25.

The krautrock and electronic pioneers sent museumgoers into a frenzy over their intimate shows in New York and London institutions. While the Shrine can hold a few more people than an art gallery, tickets to this (delayed) 50th anniversary career-spanning show should still go quickly. The quartet appears here under its “Kraftwerk 3-D” moniker—a projection and animation-filled spectacle that brings the proto-techno group into the 21st century.

Iggy Azalea and Natalia Jiménez headline this two-day ticketed Pride event in Long Beach, which features a roller rink, a drag makeup station, a silent disco and an S&M playground. The weekend fest kicks off with a free Teen Pride event on Friday and starts to wind down with a parade on Sunday morning.

For nearly two weeks each summer, Outfest, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ film festival, brings a slew of parties, screenings and galas to L.A. For the 2022 edition, expect dozens of screenings in a trio of formats: outdoors, indoors and online.

It isn’t summer in L.A. until the first cemetery screening brings hoards of movie-lovers to Hollywood Forever, toting folding chairs, picnic blankets, snack spreads and lots of booze. Each year, Cinespia brings classic cult favorites to the hallowed resting place of Old Hollywood greats—and a couple of off-site screenings, too.

“Life is abysmal but music can help make it better.” That’s the inspiration behind this fest from—and headlined by—Jonny Pierce of the Drums, who’s curated a reverb-drenched lineup of bands set for the grounds of the Shrine, including DIIV, Teezo Touchdown, EKKSTACY, CoCo & Clair Clair, SALES, Lil Mariko and a few others.

One of L.A.’s best free live music offerings, Jazz at LACMA has featured legit legends over its three-decade run at the museum. The beloved program is back again for the season, and so too is its open seating and picnicking format (whereas last year you needed a reservation). You’ll find the series on Friday evenings in LACMA’s welcome plaza (just behind Urban Light) starting in April.

There’s something so joyful about King Princess (otherwise known as Mikaela Straus), even when she’s writing sad songs. You can feel creative excitement shining through everything she does, whether that’s the incredibly romantic but tongue-in-cheek “Pussy is God” or the elegant heartbreak of “Talia.”

The beloved Getty Center turns 25 years young in 2022, and to celebrate the hilltop museum is hosting a series of free festivals across L.A. On most weekends this summer, the Getty will collaborate with a different local community partner on a two-day arts fair filled with music, workshops and food.

The lineup includes events in Reseda (July 9, 10), El Monte (July 16, 17), Wilmington (July 30, 31), Crenshaw (Aug 13, 14) and Watts (Aug 27, 28).