The best things to do in Los Angeles this week

Nate Brenner and Merrill Garbus—an Afrobeat-inspired pop experimentalist whose vocal gymnastics, paired with layered rhythms and looping beats, never fail to impress—will bring their inventive tunes to the Bellwether. The Oakland-based duo, who are also known for their film and TV scores, are touring behind their sixth LP, Better Dreaming.

Each June, the Huntington hosts a swanky soiree in its rose garden to toast the local LGBTQ+ community. Expect a glamorous garden party with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, music and dancing under the stars, plus a performance by My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Vincent Rodriguez III. VIP ticketholders can enjoy an early cocktail reception on the Huntington Art Gallery terrace, where the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles will provide the soundtrack.

Explore the Autry into the evening at the Griffith Park museum’s Thursday-night series that spotlights the city’s emerging and established artists, musicians, poets, writers. Programming ranges from a sound bath to alfresco music to hands-on silkscreen printing. The museum galleries stay open late, too, plus drinks and food trucks are also on offer.

Celebrate Pride at the Grove with live music, photo ops, food and drink from the shopping center’s restaurants, and lots of bingo and luxury prizes. Bingo tickets are $40 per person, and proceeds will be donated to L.A. Pride.

French-Moroccan wine bar Zizou—which boasts immaculate interior design and an excellent sound system—is celebrating a year since it made a splash in Lincoln Heights, attracting the cool crowd with its drinks and ambience. To mark the occasion, they’re throwing a party with music by Mathieu Schreyer, El Marchante, Cassandra Dali and a special guest, which you can enjoy while dining on fare like steak frites and almond-apricot tagine and sipping natural wine.

Dodger blue joins the colors of the rainbow at the stadium’s annual Pride Night, a partnership with LA Pride. Expect a pregame party in the right field pavilion, an exclusive jersey (included with ticket purchase), a celebrity opening pitch and, following the game against the San Francisco Giants, fireworks. Cue the kiss cam.

Before the dog days of summer start to scorch the Southland, celebrate this dog day: a pup-friendly party and “yappy hour” at the Los Angeles Central Library’s Maguire Gardens with dog-friendly vendors selling everything from gourmet dog food to CBD pet products to handcrafted bandannas. You and your four-legged friend will also find pet portraits, treats, activities, community dog walks, photo ops and live music. Drinks from on-site Italian restaurant Settecento will be available for purchase, with a portion of sales benefiting the Vanderpump Dog Foundation.

Take a seat in the Skirball Cultural Center’s courtyard for this series of outdoor screenings. The Sepulveda Pass museum is showing Black Panther and Captain America: The First Avenger to tie in to its Jack Kirby exhibition.

Every Father’s Day weekend, more than 500 artists create temporary masterpieces in chalk on the sidewalks of Pasadena, prompting thousands of onlookers to watch where they walk. Also on offer are a live DJ, food, beer garden and silent auction. Eventually awards are presented in a number of different categories, and then it’s all washed away for good. This year, the event is back at its Paseo Colorado home after a brief move to the Pasadena Convention Center’s plaza.

This epic (and free) outdoor concert series features live performances by artists from around the world at the totally overhauled California Plaza stage in DTLA. Don’t miss a diverse and highly intriguing mix of bands, DJ sets and dance parties. Saturday nights from June 14 through August 23 you’ll find free concerts (though you should RSVP ahead of time to reserve a spot). And on Friday nights, you’ll find a mix of poetry, film and classical music during Fridays in the Amphitheater. Things kick off this Saturday with Grand Performances mainstay Ozomatli, who are celebrating 30 years as a band.

Rodeo Drive fills with rare cars and motorcycles both new and old during this free Father’s Day tradition. For its 30th edition, the “Luxury in Motion”-themed event will feature supercars and hypercars from McLaren, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, Pagani and Bentley, as well as the North American public debut of Lamborghini’s latest models and a skills demonstration from the Beverly Hills Police Department Motor Unit, all set amid the luxury shopping of its 90210 setting.

This is not a drill: The World Cup is indeed coming to Los Angeles next summer—we’re one of 16 cities that will host games. In the meantime, though, the Club World Cup is taking place this summer, where 32 of the world’s top club teams compete, rather than national teams. The Rose Bowl is hosting six of these matches, where teams hailing from Paris, Milan, Madrid, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Japan will go head-to-head.

Celebrate Black history during this free festival in Long Beach. Now in its fifth year, the massive daylong event is filled with family-friendly activities, local vendors, food and drink from Black-owned restaurants, live music from Grammy-winning performers and dancing.

Keen to see jazz greats past and present? Get ready for mellow harmonies and earthy grooves at the annual Blue Note Jazz Festival this summer—formerly the Playboy and then the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival. The two-day concert includes performances from the Isley Brothers, De La Soul, Derrick Hodge, Grace Jones, Willow and more. Remember, it’s at the Hollywood Bowl, so why not share a bottle of wine with some friends and groove along with the jazz’s pride and glory?

The Los Angeles LGBT Center hosts this annual celebration of the TGNBI+ community—the longest-running of its kind. First up is a free festival where you’ll find live entertainment, family-friendly activities, workshops, local queer vendors, resource tables and even some free food. Afterward, keep the party going with Trans Pride After Dark, complete with trans go-go-dancers, music, tattoo artists and tacos.

Expand your mind on breezy summer nights by listening to the words of the Bard for free. The program, founded in 1998, will put on two plays—As You Like It and Julius Caesar—with the help of talented local actors. “By the Sea” is a bit misleading; though some of the locations are ocean-adjacent, and largely in the South Bay and Long Beach, the troupe takes the plays on tour all across Los Angeles, performing for audiences from Downtown to Beverly Hills to Altadena’s Loma Alta Park, which was recently restored post–Eaton Fire.

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), Mabe Fratti (June 14), 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.

Halloween is still months away, but for the first time, the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor is opening its gates during the offseason for this Friday the 13th (and Saturday the 14th) experience. Only one maze will be open—Feast, which finds you navigating the ship’s twisted kitchens and galley halls with only a glow stick to guide you as you try to escape the butcher—and some other rooms will be open for exploring. Combo ticket holders can watch a seance that draws on the ocean liner’s haunted history. Clearly many already have a hankering for Halloween, because tickets quickly sold out, but you can add your name to the waitlist here in case more go on sale.

Want to peer through the eyepiece of Mt. Wilson’s historic telescopes? Your best and most economical bet just might be one of the Talks & Telescopes events. These monthly Saturday-night astronomy lectures are followed up with a few hours of stargazing on portable telescopes on the grounds as well as the 60 and 100-inch telescopes for only $50 (a fraction of the price of the observatory’s late-night stargazing sessions).

If you really want to immerse yourself in local theater, you can’t miss the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Since 2010, this fest has specialized in productions from emerging writers and performers, and it now boasts hundreds of different shows—most are around $15 a ticket or less, and some cost absolutely nothing. Expect one-person shows, new musicals, comedies and edgy dramas to descend on Hollywood once again from June 12 through 29. See the full list of shows here.

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.

Pick up some items at an open-air market and grab a bite to eat before the outdoor movie screenings commence at this monthly summertime series in front of the Queen Mary.

For more than 50 years, this venue has drawn theatre aficionados to its storied, open-air stage for engaging productions in a magical setting. The 299-seat amphitheater in Topanga Canyon hosts audiences of all ages for plays from a wide range of genres, from Shakespearean classics to folk tales. This season, whose theme is “A Season of Resilience,” catch highlights such as William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as a Malibu-themed retelling of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull and Strife by Nobel Prize-winning writer and activist John Galsworthy.

Treat your ears to a vibrant concert on a spring or summer night this year by attending MUSE/IQUE’s annual program. This monthly series of performances, held at cultural venues across L.A., features a mix of performances inspired by music movements and public figures, including tributes to Ray Charles, immigrant film composers, the Memphis sound, Etta James and more. The best way to attend is to become a MUSE/IQUE member; you could make a $75 donation to the performing arts nonprofit for a single event (with the exception of September’s free open house), but if you’re interested in more than just one, it’s cheaper per event to become a full-fledged member.

Everyone’s favorite NPR member station has a hand in a slew of summer concert slates at public plazas and beloved museums, and this year’s schedule is reliably packed. Familiar KCRW DJs and local buzz bands will be providing free, open-air tunes on select nights from June through September at cultural institutions across the city, where you’ll also find food trucks and beer gardens. This weekend, you’ll find events at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and a party-till-midnight bash at Chinatown Central Plaza. Regardless of the location, you really can’t go wrong with any evening spent at Summer Nights. 

Who says no to free outdoor concerts? We don’t, and neither should you. This 22nd annual all-ages celebration of live music and art will hit Pan Pacific Park (not the La Brea Tar Pits anymore) on June 14. Listen to live music and DJ sets from the likes of CHROMEQUEEN and Garth Trinidad, browse handcrafted goods at the curated artisan marketplace, and grab a bite at one of the many gourmet food trucks. The annual fest will also partner with the Korean Cultural Center, Academy Museum, La Brea Tar Pits Museum, Petersen Automotive Museum and Gloria Molina Grand Park to offer kid-friendly art-making and cultural activities, as well as dance workshops from hip-hop collective JUiCE. In addition to free entry, parking at Pan Pacific Park is also free. 

Summer’s just heating up, but thanks to a returning summer event series it’s set to be scorching: Beginning May 29, Santa Monica mainstay the Bungalow will host its night market every Thursday just a block from the beach. Over the summer, expect food from the likes of Tacos 1986, House of Empanadas, Lei’d Cookies and All About the Cinnamon. As in previous years, families can enjoy a kids’ play area with complimentary face painting. The event will  will also feature a variety of brand activations, celebrity guest appearances, and DJ and musical performances with more info to be announced as the summer kicks off. The fun runs every Thursday night through Labor Day, from 5 to 11pm. 

It isn’t summer in L.A. until the first cemetery screening brings hoards of movie-lovers to Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Pack a picnic (yes, booze is allowed), pose in the photo booth and enjoy DJ sets, dance parties and all sorts of other magical mischief that’d otherwise be strictly forbidden behind the cemetery gates. This weekend, catch a special Pride screening of Showgirls for the film’s 30th anniversary. 

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. Seating for the program is available in the museum’s plaza on a first-come, first-served basis, though you’re welcome to picnic on the grass, too (you won’t really be able to see the show, but you’ll still hear it). You’ll find the series on Friday evenings in LACMA’s welcome plaza (just behind Urban Light) throughout the summer.

Watch a slate of classics from the past couple of decades on one of the prettiest rooftops—now called Oasis—in Hollywood at this outdoor screenings series. All movies are piped in over sets of provided wireless headphones. Before showtime, make sure to hit up the bar or the on-site kitchen.

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.

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. 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. Enjoy a steady stream of modern classics (The Dark Knight, Pride & Prejudice) and local favorites (La La Land, Friday), as well as the occasional TV marathon. This May the 4th weekend, you’ll also find two screenings of Star Wars: A New Hope.

Culver City’s staircase-dominated plaza screens free, family-friendly flicks on Fridays in June. Complimentary popcorn will be provided while supplies last. Each screening starts at sunset.

The Boy Who Lived lives on in a wizardly spectacle. As though it had cast a Shrinking Charm on itself, the formerly two-part epic is now a single magical show, albeit a long one—and one that our New York critic awarded five stars. The Tony winner for best play is finally bringing its touring production to Los Angeles, casting a spell over the Pantages Theatre through June.

After popping up at D23 and Long Beach shopping center 2nd & PCH, themed mini-golf experience Pixar Putt has landed at its most logical home: the Pixar Place Hotel, close to California Adventure and its Pixar Pier. Putt your way through 18 themed holes and step into the stories of Pixar favorites including Toy Story, The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Coco, A Bug’s Life, Wall-E and Inside Out. Opening weekend is sold out, but don’t worry: The course will remain open through June 1.

L.A.’s star-studded lecture series returns—both virtually and in person—with a lineup of writers, artists, performers, scientists and business leaders who will graciously blow your mind. For both online and IRL events, you’ll often have the option of purchasing a signed copy of the speaker’s book, as well.

The Broad’s upcoming special exhibition makes its way to Downtown L.A. from the 2024 Venice Biennale, where Jeffrey Gibson became the first Indigenous artist to represent the United States with a solo exhibition. Known for his signature use of geometric patterns, patterned text, vibrant color, glass beads and found objects, the Colorado-born artist explores his Indigenous identity and pays tribute to histories of resistance in thought-provoking and optimistic ways. The first-floor galleries will be transformed into a kaleidoscopic environment with 10 paintings, seven sculptures, eight flags, three murals and one video installation by Gibson. The special exhibition will normally cost you $15, but you can visit for free on Thursday evenings.

Sure, you’ve seen the archival television clips of the Beatles’ famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, but what about firsthand, long-lost photographs from that same time shot by one of the band members? This spring, Beverly Hills gallery Gagosian displays 36 recently rediscovered photographs of the Beatles, all captured by Paul McCartney himself. A mix of black-and-white and color prints, the McCartney photos were shot during peak of Beatlemania, from December 1963 to February 1964. Expect to see a mix of self-portraits of Paul and candid shots of John, George and Ringo—as well as hysterical fans waiting outside the windows of the band’s car.

The California Science Center is inviting kids to get in the game with a new 17,000-square-foot exhibition about the power of play and the human body in motion. Besides teaching about the science behind sports, it also offers interactive challenges and video coaching from a team of Los Angeles-based mentor athletes including dancer Debbie Allen, the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, Olympic medalist softball player Rachel Garcia and more. For the first time ever, the center has commissioned public art—all by local artists—to complement the exhibition, including a Dodgers mural by Gustavo Zermeño Jr. The free exhibition kicks off May 15 and will remain at the Science Center at least through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Nature lovers, rejoice! Spend a day at the Natural History Museum’s Butterfly Pavilion, which will be open March 23 through August 24 and be home to up to 30 butterfly and moth species, as well as an assortment of California plants. The seasonal outdoor exhibit allows for adults and children alike to witness nature up close—we’re talking walking amid hundreds of butterflies and having them land on your arms or shoulders. Tip: The prime time for these unique butterfly flight experiences is typically between 10am and 11am each morning.

On the 50th anniversary of the Norton Simon Museum, look back to when Simon took over management of the Pasadena Art Museum in 1975, then ahead to the museum’s exciting future at this retrospective exhibition. See rare photos from the museum’s archives, and learn about the history of its major acquisitions, exhibitions, building and gardens—which are currently undergoing a transformation.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House—centerpiece of Barnsdall Art Park and Los Angeles’ only UNESCO World Heritage Site—just might be the most stunning backdrop for an art exhibition. And, in this case, the home is the subject itself, too. L.A.-based photographer Ireland captured the intricate details of the Hollyhock House in 21 photographs on display throughout the onetime residence.

See over 50 garments from Diane von Furstenberg, best known for her iconic wrap dress, during this career-spanning exhibition at the Skirball. Alongside artwork and fabric swatches, the show will also focus on her philanthropic work as well as how her life was shaped as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

Pasadena’s USC Pacific Asia Museum hosts this exhibition based on the Getty’s scientific research into Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder art. The show fills up nearly the entire museum with a vast selection of the artist’s work alongside scientific imagery exploring the nature of gunpowder and Cai’s process in using it.

The Natural History Museum’s taxidermy dioramas turn a century old this year, and to celebrate the museum is reviving an entire hall of displays that’ve been dark for decades. Expect some fresh approaches to these assembled snapshots of the wilderness, including alebrijes made of recycled materials, a crystalline depiction of pollution and a tech-driven display of the L.A. River.

“Color in Motion” features close to 150 objects—pieces of technology, costumes, props and film posters—from the 1890s to today. Broken up into six themes, the exhibition looks at the connection between color, music and movement, like in early dance and animated shorts; decades of color technologies, from Technicolor processes and Disney’s women-led Ink & Paint Department to contemporary digital tools; monochrome silent films; the narrative role of color; and experimental works.

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.

More than 50 works on display at the Autry showcase how Indigenous artists have crafted visions of alternative futures in the face of enduring colonial trauma, with surreal spacescapes from Wendy Red Star, pop culture commentaries by Andy Everson and a site-specific space odyssey created by Virgil Ortiz.

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.