We curate an L.A. weekend itinerary of the city’s best concerts, culture and cuisine, every week, just for you.
Friday
Start off the weekend with one of this season’s final editions of Jazz at LACMA. Take a seat in the museum’s beloved entrance plaza for a free performance from vocalist Sharon Marie Cline.
Head over to NerdMelt for a night of stand-up at Fresh Out. Emily Heller and Adam Conover host this long-running, bicoastal showcase of both established and up-and-coming comedians.
Continue your evening at the opening night of L.A. Zoo Lights. For the fourth year, the Griffith Park tradition bathes the Los Angeles Zoo grounds in twinkly string lights and animal-themed displays; most of the real animals will be sleeping, though you can visit a herd of reindeer.
Saturday
Debunk all of those cliches about nobody walking in L.A. during Saturday’s Great Los Angeles Walk. Hundreds of walkers will start the free urban hike at the Japanese American National Museum and, nine hours and 17 miles along Beverly Boulevard later, end up at the beach in Santa Monica.
Kick off the LA Phil’s Green Umbrella series with an entire day of performances throughout the Walt Disney Concert Hall at Noon to Midnight. You’ll find pop-up performances from local ensembles in the performance center’s entrance hall, garden and main auditorium, including two stagings of War of the Worlds. The afternoon takes place in a decidedly festival-like atmosphere that includes food trucks and beer.
Listen to good tunes and feast on tasty snacks at the Regent Theater all in the name of promoting vegan living. Circle V includes performances from Moby, Waka Flacka Flame, Dreamcar, Reggie Watts and more.
Head to the Theatre at Ace Hotel for the late show of Seven Things I’ve Learned: An Evening with Ira Glass. See a multimedia chronicle of the This American Life host’s storytelling career, followed by an audience Q&A.
Sunday
Check out a trio of exhibitions today, two that are just opening and one on its way out. Scope out the final day of Cartoon Network: 25 Years of Drawing on Creativity at the Paley Center. The free installation includes stop-motion sets from Adventure Time, sculptures of The Powerpuff Girls and more.
View more than 100 works of 18th-century Mexican painting, many of them that scale an entire gallery wall, at the opening of Painted in Mexico, 1700–1790: Pinxit Mexici at LACMA.
Explore 5,000 years of the history and motivations behind the art of marking skin with indelible ink at the Natural History Museum’s Tattoo exhibition. Make sure to stop by and gaze into the in-museum tattoo parlor.
Head to Descanso Gardens for the opening weekend of Enchanted: Forest of Light. The botanical garden’s interactive light-up experience returns for another whimsical, wondrous, curiosity-driven display that’s among L.A.’s most stunning and, more importantly, most fun.
Find more things to do this weekend by clicking each day or by heading over to our weekend calendar.
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