October 2018 events calendar for Los Angeles
Plan your month with our October 2018 events calendar of the best activities, including free things to do, Halloween festivals and our favorite fall concerts
While fall foliage is sparse in L.A., the there's no shortage of Halloween spirit. It's October, so there are precious few weeks left to hit up costume stores and stockpile some of the best Halloween candy. If Halloween isn't really your holiday, then celebrate the end of summertime crowds and enjoy one of the best hikes in L.A. Regardless, you'll find something to do among the street fairs, Halloween parties and other fun festivals in L.A. in our October events calendar.
RECOMMENDED: Full events calendar for 2018
Smorgasburg LA
Indulge your inner foodie and shopaholic at this weekly food-focused market. The Brooklyn export has landed in the Arts District and become a hotbed of fantastic food and retail vendors, with some that are testing out their dishes before launching a full-blown brick-and-mortar in the city. Bonus: there is plentiful (and free, for two hours!) parking in the nearby parking garage.
Artists & Fleas Venice
The newest flea market on the block, the Venice outpost of this artisan/craft-focused flea market mini-empire is bringing records, vintage and vintage-inspired clothing, cosmetics, jewelry and more to the Westminster Avenue Elementary School. A handful of small batch confectioners provide sweet treats to snack on or take home, while food trucks and nearby restaurants provide heartier bites. Though relatively small in size, owing perhaps to its prime location bookending the neighborhood’s famed Abbot Kinney stretch, vendors hawk a diverse range of hand-made and expertly curated wares that seems to simultaneously fit in and stand out in one of the nation’s most unusual neighborhoods.
Asssscat
Every Saturday and Sunday, the UCB franchise's longest-running, most beloved showcase starts when a base cast of the theater's current top-brass—including founding UCB members Matt Walsh, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts—takes the stage. Then they introduce the surprise celebrity alumnae and friends who will be joining them (think Horatio Sanz, Ben Schwartz, Adam Pally). And finally, another special guest takes the stage, a non-improviser (think Flea, Cat Power, Rebel Wilson, Lena Dunham) who opens the show with a personal story, that's deftly mined for laughs by the players. But you have to go to find out who's there—that's part of the fun. Looking for a cheap night out? Sunday shows are free, but seating is first-come, first-served, so be sure to arrive early.
Street Food Cinema
For dinner and a movie, all in one, just follow the food trucks. During the summer and fall, Street Food Cinema throws together a series of mostly 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., 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. New this year are two overnight camping events that extend the movie screening into a fun summer camp experience for grown-ups.
Monday night residencies at the Satellite
Silver Lake's legit little music venue offers up some of the best local music in the city every Monday night... for free. Check out LA bands that are about to make it big (acts like Fitz & the Tantrums, Superhumanoids and even Local Natives have graced the residency stage) without spending a dime—well, except on maybe a beer, or a round for the folks onstage. Check the Satellite calendar to see who's on the bill each month. Acts often have a rotating cast of openers, so you can see different bands each week while watching the main act work on material, become more comfortable onstage and find their rhythm as the month goes on. Then a few years from now, you can say "I saw them when...."
Monday night residencies at the Echo
It's free music every Monday when sponsored, up-and-coming local bands call the Echo stage home for a one-month stint, honing their stage presence and giving various opening acts a chance at the spotlight as well. If you're worried a Monday night will fill up to capacity, you can RSVP on the Echo website for VIP entry. When a band is on its third or fourth Monday and killing it, this is a pretty convenient way to make sure you're in on the action.
Rose Bowl Flea Market
Perhaps the Los Angeles area’s most iconic flea market, this event around the exterior of the Rose Bowl is staggeringly colossal—but what else would you expect from a 90,000-seat stadium? The sheer size and scale of this flea market means that it encompasses multitudes: new and old, hand-crafted and salvaged, the cheap and the costly. On the second Sunday of each month, an odd mix of vendors populates the loop around the stadium: for every eye-catching artwork, there's a ratty $5 T-shirt, and for each elegant craft there's a competing "as seen on TV" demo. But you may have more luck in the rows and rows of old furniture, albums and vintage clothes and accessories that fill the adjacent parking lot. There are plenty of duds, to be sure, but come out early enough and you may go home with that perfect purchase. This destination flea market attracts bargain hunters, collectors, and antique aficionados from all over the county, so the organizers have instituted an extensive tiered entry/admission system, allowing professional and dedicated shoppers early access at a premium.
Little Dom's Monday night supper
Dine out without digging too deep into your wallet at Little Dom's Monday night supper, where a three-course meal goes for an affordable $18. Each week the menu changes—some weeks it might feature pasta, others it could highlight roast chicken—but the lineup always includes an appetizer, entrée and dessert. Drinks are discounted, too: snag a bottle of red or white for $18, or a Pabst Blue Ribbon for $3. Check Little Dom's website for the most updated Monday night menu.
Wine Wednesday at Everson Royce Bar
Looking for a go-to Wine Wednesday option? Downtown's Everson Royce Bar offers a killer deal every Wednesday off the week: $25 for a flight of three wines and one of chef Matt Molina's culinary creations. Each week brings something new so you'll never get bored—though, let's face it, you'll probably get drunk. Cheers!
Melrose Trading Post
If Melrose Ave is LA’s sceney-est street, then the Melrose Trading Post is the epicenter of that scene. Every Sunday, hundreds of stylish Angelenos head over to Fairfax High School for the beloved Melrose Trading Post ($3 entry, free parking). Smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles, it's much more than a mere flea market: live music, a food court, and expansive grounds bring people out to wile away the day, chat with old friends, and yes, be seen. Fortunately, the Trading Post is also a world-class flea market. With the right balance of new and old, expensive and affordable , the many vendors hustling artwork, succulents, and vintage jackets fill a startlingly expansive space in an urban epicenter.
Joshua Tree Music Festival
Make your way to the desert for the Joshua Tree Music Festival, a gathering of like-minded indie musicians who will be rocking out to a dance-world-electro-funk’n groove. The biannual festival is a four-day party with over 30 bands in a unique lineup of artists who aren’t necessarily household names. There’s free water to all patrons, no service charges on tickets and yoga classes aplenty.
Moby
Moby’s quiet roles as an animal rights advocate, vegan and blogger belie his fervent musical output: over a dozen studio albums that’ve jumped from hardcore and dance to blues and glam rock.
Andrew Bird
Since moving to L.A., multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird has been known to pop up every few months for small, intimate shows. The shows aren’t too different from his “Gezelligheid” tours; the name translates to “extra, extra cozy” in Dutch, an atmosphere Bird encourages at the intimate performances where he uplifts listeners before entering the dark winter. Expect a reworking of his impressive back catalog with a heavy emphasis on violin pieces, an instrument he's been playing since he was four.
Cal Jam
Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age topped the lineup of Cal Jam 17, and the rock-focused fest is slated to return in 2018. You’ll find other familiar festival staples at Glen Helen Regional Park—carnival rides and games, a vendor village—alongside some more unique touches, like twin waterslides, a mobile recording studio and the Foo Fighters Rock ’n’ Roll Museum. The event borrows its name from California Jam, a 1974 fest that featured in Deep Purple and ELP in nearby Ontario.
Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne has been at it for years. He has announced his “final” tour once before due to a MS misdiagnosis, but this time around, the man who gave heavy metal its hardcore rep promises that No More Tours 2 is, in fact, his last hoorah.
Desert Daze
Desert Daze is your antidote to the typical desert gathering (think a noisier, more indie lineup than Coachella and less dirt than Burning Man). Though it’s close enough to L.A. to go just for the day, the fest caters to campers with easy access to hiking trails and a bazaar of mystics and wanderers. Tame Imala, Death Grips, Mercury Rev, Warpaint and Ty Segall top this year’s lineup.
King Tut: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh
In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter unearthed an ancient Egyptian discovery that we’re still talking about and learning from 100 years later. To celebrate the upcoming centennial of the discovery, this traveling exhibition of artifacts from King Tut’s tomb makes its debut in Los Angeles. The exhibit marks more than triple the number of items that have ever been displayed outside of Egypt. Though you won’t see the iconic death mask or gilded coffins, the 3,300-year-old statues and pieces of jewelry are astounding to behold. Though King Tut’s otherworldy possessions have come to L.A. three times previously in the last half-century, this will in all likelihood be their final visit. The Grand Egyptian Museum, which will permanently house all of the 5,000-plus objects discovered, is slated to open in 2019.
Smorgasburg LA
Indulge your inner foodie and shopaholic at this weekly food-focused market. The Brooklyn export has landed in the Arts District and become a hotbed of fantastic food and retail vendors, with some that are testing out their dishes before launching a full-blown brick-and-mortar in the city. Bonus: there is plentiful (and free, for two hours!) parking in the nearby parking garage.
Artists & Fleas Venice
The newest flea market on the block, the Venice outpost of this artisan/craft-focused flea market mini-empire is bringing records, vintage and vintage-inspired clothing, cosmetics, jewelry and more to the Westminster Avenue Elementary School. A handful of small batch confectioners provide sweet treats to snack on or take home, while food trucks and nearby restaurants provide heartier bites. Though relatively small in size, owing perhaps to its prime location bookending the neighborhood’s famed Abbot Kinney stretch, vendors hawk a diverse range of hand-made and expertly curated wares that seems to simultaneously fit in and stand out in one of the nation’s most unusual neighborhoods.
Monday night residencies at the Satellite
Silver Lake's legit little music venue offers up some of the best local music in the city every Monday night... for free. Check out LA bands that are about to make it big (acts like Fitz & the Tantrums, Superhumanoids and even Local Natives have graced the residency stage) without spending a dime—well, except on maybe a beer, or a round for the folks onstage. Check the Satellite calendar to see who's on the bill each month. Acts often have a rotating cast of openers, so you can see different bands each week while watching the main act work on material, become more comfortable onstage and find their rhythm as the month goes on. Then a few years from now, you can say "I saw them when...."
Monday night residencies at the Echo
It's free music every Monday when sponsored, up-and-coming local bands call the Echo stage home for a one-month stint, honing their stage presence and giving various opening acts a chance at the spotlight as well. If you're worried a Monday night will fill up to capacity, you can RSVP on the Echo website for VIP entry. When a band is on its third or fourth Monday and killing it, this is a pretty convenient way to make sure you're in on the action.
Asssscat
Every Saturday and Sunday, the UCB franchise's longest-running, most beloved showcase starts when a base cast of the theater's current top-brass—including founding UCB members Matt Walsh, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts—takes the stage. Then they introduce the surprise celebrity alumnae and friends who will be joining them (think Horatio Sanz, Ben Schwartz, Adam Pally). And finally, another special guest takes the stage, a non-improviser (think Flea, Cat Power, Rebel Wilson, Lena Dunham) who opens the show with a personal story, that's deftly mined for laughs by the players. But you have to go to find out who's there—that's part of the fun. Looking for a cheap night out? Sunday shows are free, but seating is first-come, first-served, so be sure to arrive early.
Monday night residencies at the Bootleg
Head to Echo Park on Mondays for free residencies at one of the best venues on the East side, the Bootleg. Theater shows happen in the Gallery, and music in the Theater (in back) and the Bar (in front). Residencies take place in the bar, with high tables and stools in the back, a bar with great craft brews and a high, open-beamed roof with great acoustics. Check the Bootleg's calendar to see who's on the bill month to month.
MuMo: Musical Mondays
Los Angeles gets a taste of Broadway once a week on Musical Mondays (MuMo) at the massive Eleven Nightclub. Unlike most nights, when the latest Top 40 dance hits can be heard in heavy rotation at the Santa Monica Boulevard hotspot, the genre of choice on Mondays at Eleven is musicals... purely musicals. For one night only, Gaga, Beyoncé, Madonna and Rihanna take a backseat while the songs of musical legends like Barbra Streisand, Patti LuPone, Kristen Chenowith and Linda Eder rule the stage. A mix of live performances and videos of classic moments from Broadway and film make this not only one of the most feel-good nights of the week, but also one heck of a reason to actually look forward to Mondays.
Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography, 1911–2011
The Getty examines how photographers have influenced the course of fashion and style through 200 photos as well as a selection of costumes, advertisements and magazine covers.
Hello!
It would be more helpful if you Time Out creates a calendar for each month!
@Ingrid O I agree, it's a bit annoying to have to scroll through articles. A calendar would be helpful.
Anything happening in los Angeles November