September 2025 events calendar for Los Angeles

Film buffs, unite. This lesser-known cinephile festival is celebrating more than six decades of showing rare and unusual fare—you won’t find Casablanca on the program, but rather classic titles you most likely have never encountered before. Enjoy a four-day program of features and shorts shown at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, interspersed by Q&As with special guests. Collectors can shop for posters and other cinematic and TV memorabilia at the Dealer’s Room. 

Don’t look back in anger—at least not today—because you missed out on their U.K. reunion gigs: Brit-pop legends Oasis are performing a select number of stateside shows, including at the Rose Bowl, with special guests Cage the Elephant opening.

Note: Gloria Molina Grand Park’s Summer Block Party has been postponed from the Fourth of July to later this summer (date TBA). 

If you’re on the hunt for a cheap, lively way to celebrate Uncle Sam, shake it over to Grand Park, and watch Downtown L.A. light up for free—though for the third year running around, the park has swapped out fireworks for more eco-friendly drones. Renamed from the Fourth of July Block Party, Gloria Molina Grand Park’s Summer Block Party will offer scrumptious food truck fare, a 75-foot-tall Ferris wheel and 90-foot super slide, plus two stages of live music—one with DJs programmed by KCRW Summer Nights, the other headlined by Grammy-nominated L.A. rapper D Smoke. The tunes begins while the sun is still high in the sky, so settle in for an all-day picnic—note that no booze is allowed, though—and relax. Best of all, the event is Metro-accessible via the Civic Center/Grand Park station (though $10 parking is also available at the Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall). Be sure to stay for the drone show—a flurry of some 800 illuminated drones above the Music Center—at 9pm.

Now one of L.A.’s most treasured summer traditions, Barnsdall Park’s wine tastings regularly attract sell-out crowds, and for the first time this year, they’re stretching into September. 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.

Bowling Green, Kentucky, natives Cage the Elephant first found fame (strangely enough) in England, as well as with their showing at SXSW in 2007 and their eponymous debut album released the following year. Their take on classic garage punk is a chaotic listen that draws on psychedelia, ’70s southern rock, glam and contemporary indie—just the thing for a rollicking live show—and they’re the rare band whose sound continues to deepen and develop with every new album. The night before they open for Oasis at Rose Bowl Stadium, Cage will be playing an intimate show at the El Rey Theatre. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 22, at 10am and are sure to sell out quickly.

Shakespeare meets Max Martin in this teenage dream of a musical, which headlines the Ahmanson’s 2025/26 season. Offering a new spin on Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers, the play gives doomed heroine Juliet a second chance at a happy ending—and a soundtrack of pop hits including “Since U Been Gone” and “Baby One More Time.”

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.

Study the technical and cultural background of colorful clay vessels, textiles, bark-paper pages and sculptures in the Indigenous Americas—and how their significance has been downplayed among colonialist histories—during this LACMA exhibition.