Things to do in L.A. this weekend

Stroll through a mile-long trail filled with all things pumpkins, including an illuminated forest of jack-o’-lanterns, during Descanso Gardens’ annual Carved.

We’re not saying the Hollywood Roosevelt is haunted—oh, wait, actually yes we are. Well, that makes the classic 1920s hotel the perfect setting for this series of Halloween screenings. Book a table at the Roosevelt’s dinner theater for screenings of Night of the Living Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Each ticket comes with free popcorn, and they’ll throw in a cocktail or candy if you dress up according to the film’s theme.

For four weekends this year, a block and a half of Santa Monica’s most charming restaurant district will be shut down to car traffic. “Sharing an Open Main Street” wraps up with its final pedestrian-only weekend on October 16 and 17. You’ll find the pedestrian plaza along Main Street, between Hill and Kinney Streets, near spots like Pasjoli, Ashland Hill and Library Alehouse.

Every year, Haunted Little Tokyo turns the area into a ghoulish maze of Halloween-themed pop-ups, walking tours and performances spotlighting. Little Tokyo Historical Society and Go Little Tokyo team up for some seriously spooky events that pay tribute to the area and Japanese culture, including a pumpkin patch (Oct 16, 17) and scavenger hunt (Oct 30) at Japanese Village Plaza, as well as a block party nearby (Oct 30).

Yep. You read that right—this all-cat art show is back after a three-year pause. And the talent is actually pretty impressive, with 70 artists (like Gia Coppola, Karen Finley, Frohawk Two Feathers, Haroshi, Jim McKenzie, Soey Milk and so many more) displaying feline-focused works. You know how much you love looking at cats on the interwebs? This is just a classier affair. You should probably make plans to go right meow.

This celebration of Filipino culture docks itself at the Port of L.A. for two days of music, food, art and fashion. On October 16 and 17, expect a Ferris wheel and carnival games; music from Adelaine Morin, Tenelle and Jeremy Passion, Melissa Polinar & Gabe Bondoc; and food districts broken down into Filipinotown, Koreatown and Chinatown. You’ll find it at Outer Harbor Berth 46 (3011 Miner St), just across the water from Cabrillo Beach.

See what’s cutting-edge in the world of horror with a bloody-good selection of indie flicks invading the Chinese Theatre this October.

The world’s grayest…er, greatest rock & roll band is back to get its rocks off in Inglewood with a show at SoFi Stadium. The reason to hit the road is, well, because they still can. When we last saw them, they ripped, though it took a handful of songs for them to loosen their ligaments.

After last year’s self-guided tour of houses fit for a witch, Friends of Residential Treasures: Los Angeles is back with another map of storybook-style homes. Amber Benson, the Witches of Echo Park novelist and a mid-series regular on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has once again curated a guide to five castles and cottages, spread out between Los Feliz and West Hollywood.

Space: the final frontier. This is the voyage of a traveling pop culture exhibition. Its latest mission: to stop by L.A.’s Skirball Cultural center. After missing its 2020 debut because of, you know, everything happening here on Earth, “Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds” has finally landed at the Skirball.

See what’s cutting edge in the city’s vibrant performing arts scene at REDCAT’s yearly summer festival, where it turns its theater into a creative artistic laboratory for Los Angeles artists, à la CalArts. Each of the three weekends boasts unique, daring and distinctive performances of new original works for the stage— from dance, theater and music to multimedia performance art.

These California legends of classic rock may not live life in the fast lane any more, but the surviving members are still traveling the world to bring their slick, plastic country-rock and perfect harmonies to their whopping international fanbase. For its latest tour, the band is tackling Hotel California in full, backed by a 46-piece orchestra and a 22-person choir.

Celebrate Palm Springs’ mid-century modern architecture, design and culture through parties, open houses and tours. You’ll find a fall preview in October as well as the full-blown event in February.

You’ll have to hop between Westwood and the Arts District to catch both parts of this survey of mid-career women artists. The Hammer Museum and ICA LA are teaming up for “Witch Hunt,” a showcase of 16 artists who use feminist, queer and decolonial viewpoints to unpack the sociopolitical world.

“Hayao Miyazaki,” which opens with the Academy Museum’s debut, features over 300 storyboards, concept images and backgrounds, many of them on display outside of Studio Ghibli’s Tokyo headquarters for the first time. It pulls from the director’s 11 feature films, with a particularly strong tilt toward My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away as well as his lush, enchanted forest settings. Find out more in our full preview of the exhibit.

See installations and sculptures from a group of seven arts who take aim at Western ideas of humanism. This Hammer Museum exhibitions includes works from Eddie Aparicio, Tau Lewis, Las Nietas de Nonó, Sondra Perry, SANGREE, WangShui and Wilmer Wilson IV.

Just weeks before his portrait of Barack Obama goes on display at LACMA, the Huntington has debuted artist Kehinde Wiley’s Portrait of a Young Gentleman, his own take on Thomas Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy. That recently-restored 1770 portrait, easily the centerpiece of the museum’s collection, played in key role in Wiley’s stylistic development, and the two works are now on display across the gallery from each other.

Throughout October, NeueHouse Bradbury, the exclusive co-working space inside of the 1893 building, will debut a collection of contact sheets and portraits from Blade Runner by the late set photographer Stephen Vaughan.

Go pumpkin picking in the pines as this Halloween-themed month of activities hits a perennially-Christmas theme park Lake Arrowhead amusement park. On weekends through October 31, SkyPark at Santa’s Village hosts its Pumpkins in the Pines activities, which—you guessed it—sees pumpkins and hay bales covering the grounds of the park.

Each year, Cinespia brings classic cult favorites to the hallowed resting place of Old Hollywood greats, and this October it has an entire slate of Halloween movies.