December 2024 events calendar for Los Angeles

Like an Angelyne billboard on Sunset Boulevard, the Hollywood Christmas Parade is an essential part of L.A. kitsch. The nine-decade-old parade will feature floats, balloons, bands, equestrians and celebrities as they ride in a U-shaped route that begins at Hollywood and Orange and ends up at Sunset and Orange. Reserved grandstand seats can be purchased, with proceeds going to Toys for Tots, but free curbside seating is also available.

Sip on a free cup of hot chocolate as L.A. County decks the halls and lights up its official Christmas tree at the Music Center’s Jerry Moss Plaza. While you’re there, listen to festive favorites and peruse a small craft market.

Each year, the botanical garden’s nighttime experience masterfully mixes hands-on art installations with atmospheric, luminescent forests, all against a background of uplit trees and shimmery sound effects. This year’s event, which runs through January 5, adds in garden’s new model railroad, which will be all lit up for the season.

Be one of the first people to see the L.A. Times’ annual 101 Best Restaurants guide at this reveal party held at the Hollywood Palladium. Enjoy unlimited bites and drinks from dozens of the city’s top restaurants and bars inside the Palladium’s newly renovated ballroom. Highlights from this year’s participants (which also means they are in the guide in some fashion) include Azizam, Bavel, Bistro Na’s, Bridgetown Roti, Jitlada, Holbox, Dulan’s, Dunsmoor, Morihiro, Osteria Mozza, Pizzeria Sei, Petit Trois and Providence. VIP entry begains at 7:15pm, while GA ticketholders can enter at 8pm.

Organized by New York’s Museum of Modern Art and presented by the Hammer Museum, “The Contenders” series presents 10 influential, innovative films made in the past year that MoMA’s Department of Film believes are bound for big things (whether that means awards season glory or cult classic status). In addition to screenings of all 10 films, most are accompanied by a discussion with some of the creatives involved in the project. This year’s picks include The Piano Lesson, Emilia Pérez, Blitz, Good One and Late Night with the Devil, plus The Brutalist, Memoir of a Snail, Maria, The Substance and Anora.

Even the grumpiest of list-makers at yuletide has to include a production of Dickens’s most beloved tale of becoming a better person. Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott direct this merry and music-filled production, starring Elliott and his fellow resident artists of A Noise Within theater company—all ranking among L.A.’s best classical actors—staged in ANW’s spacious house with perfect sight lines from every seat, even for the kids.

One of the best small-business shopping events in the country, the biannual Unique World—which recently rebranded from Unique Markets and is celebrating 15 years of pop-ups—features clothes, accessories, wellness products, art pieces and artisanal foods from a number of quality local brands. Rub elbows with the different designers and artists showcasing their work. And head to the Studio for custom embroidery, piercing, permanent jewelry and tarot readings. Unique World is the perfect place to find, well, unique gifts for those on your list.

Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Los Tigres del Norte, Banda MS, Juanes and Carlos Vives top this Latin music fest at Dodger Stadium.

The annual L.A. Kings ice skating rink once again returns to L.A. Live. Skate around the dazzling Christmas tree that stands in the middle of the outdoor rink, and take in an LED holiday light show on the huge screens around the plaza. Choose from four nightly skating sessions. Note: Tickets, which include skate rental, are only sold on-site, and can’t be purchased online.

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American Ballet Theatre is returning to Southern California with its production of The Nutcracker. The show will feature larger-than-life scenery, a Christmas tree, and sets and costumes designed by Tony Award winner Richard Hudson (the visionary behind the sets of the stage version of The Lion King). The Pacific Symphony will perform Tchaikovsky’s score live.

Pedal along five miles of Sherman Way through Canoga Park, Winnetka and Reseda during CicLAvia’s final car-free, bike-friendly event of the year.

Don something festive and head over to Royce Hall to hear the angels sing—the Angel City Chorale, that is. The America’s Got Talent semifinalists will sing both Christmas and Hanukkah classics at their annual holiday concert. The 180-member group, known for its mishmash of classical, pop, world, contemporary and gospel genres, will perform sparkling arrangements at the “Bling”-themed show. Also promised are photo ops, carol sing-alongs and some surprises. If you can’t make it, the Sunday concert will also be livestreamed.

Located just blocks from the ocean, Ice in downtown Santa Monica brings a bit of winter to the comfortable coastal city. The 8,000-square-foot outdoor rink runs daily from November to mid-January on the corner of Fifth Street and Arizona Avenue (less than a 10-minute walk from the E Line). Tickets for an hour-long slot ($22) include skate rentals, and you can book private parties and cabanas if you’re looking for something a bit more premium. Look out for treats for sale, plus special themed nights.

KIIS FM’s annual holiday behemoth’s lineup reads like a roll call of the station’s playlist: SZA, Kane Brown, Shaboozey, Tate McRae, Benson Boone, T-Pain, NCT Dream, Meghan Trainor, Paris Hilton and Madison Beer will all take over the new Intuit Dome this holiday season. The best seats will cost you a boatload, so look out for news of a potential free pre-show with some of the artists on the lineup.

This popular Santa Monica dinner series, originally inspired by Hanukkah, again boasts an impressive lineup this year. Birdie G’s guest chefs will include Mozza’s Nancy Silverton (in conjunction with Shaina Loew-Banayan of Cafe Mutton in upstate New York) and Yangban Society’s Katianna and John Hong (with Matt Shaler, the former executive chef of Birdie G’s). In addition to specials, an abbreviated regular menu will also be served. Note the event runs on December 2 to 5, then again December 9 to 12—meaning you’ll need to go on a weekday to enjoy these special-edition dinners.

Forget Dorothy and her ruby slippers—head to Oz for the story of Elphaba and Glinda. Follow the Wicked cast down a different yellow brick road for a beautiful tale of friendship, love and courage. The ever “Popular” show returns to the Pantages—just weeks after the feature film’s release—to expose the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. You don’t even have to paint your skin green, just belt out “Defying Gravity” and “Something Bad” to fit in here. Wicked and its “Wonderful” set will inevitably win over your heart, and change your perspective on Emerald City “For Good.”

Out-of-context samples from The Office, horror-movie-inspired music videos and the slurping sounds of an Invisalign being removed may not seem like the makings of a pop juggernaut, but L.A. local—not to mention Grammy and Oscar winner—Billie Eilish has become a free-spirited icon of her generation. She’ll spend five nights at the Kia Forum during her “Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour.”

L.A. doesn’t typically seem like much of a winter wonderland, until, that is, you create an ice skating rink right in the midst of Downtown skyscrapers. Come glide around and pretend there’s snow on the ground at Pershing Square’s outdoor holiday skating rink. Skate rentals are included in admission, though lockers and skating aids costs a few dollars extra.

Street Food Cinema has put together a series of outdoor holiday screenings in the closest thing to a Dickensian town square in L.A.: Heritage Square. In between Victorian home tours, piano sing-alongs, strolls through a light tunnel and sips on hot chocolate and mulled wine, you can catch screenings—many of them double features—of flicks like Elf, Home Alone, A Christmas Story, The Muppet Christmas Carol and more. Just make sure to bundle up in your best Christmas sweater.

Strike the harp and join the chorus with the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Holiday Sing-Along at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The family-friendly seasonal program offers two performances hosted by Melissa Peterman with performances from a choir, a jazz combo and on the massive pipe organ. Lyric sheets for the holiday classics will be provided, just in case you forget how many fa-la-la-la-las are in “Deck the Halls.”

Looking for unique handmade gifts this holiday season? Artists, designers, creatives and makers will set up shop for this holiday fair outside Hugo’s Tacos in Atwater Village (3300 Glendale Blvd). If it’s anything like past markets, you’ll get to shop everything from artisan jewelry and apothecary goods to ceramics, prints, candles and even handcrafted aprons for the cook in your life. Interact with the makers themselves (third-party sellers are not allowed), while crossing family and friends off your holiday gift-giving list. 

Brooklyn heroes TV on the Radio—for years indie rock’s brainiest “it” band—celebrate the 20th anniversary of the excellent Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes with three intimate shows at the El Rey (some of their first live shows since 2019).

Relive your childhood theatergoing experiences this Christmas with Uncle Drosselmeyer, Clara and her beloved Nutcracker at the L.A. Ballet. The timeless show—which gets a SoCal twist here—will travel all over L.A. for the holiday season, bringing classic pirouettes and Mouse King battles to Pasadena and Westwood, as well as 10 performances in Hollywood, where the show will be backed by an orchestra (a rarity among Nutcracker performances).

A performing-arts staple of Los Angeles for over 40 years now, the 200-strong GMCLA brings festive cheer in its annual holiday musical extravaganza while raising awareness for important LGBTQ+ issues. This year, the chorus performs a Willy Wonka-themed show at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, paying tribute to the original film as well as the more recent Wonka, in addition to performing candy-coated holiday hits.

Right down the hill from Universal Studios Hollywood, at the Hilton hotel, you’ll find this ice skating rink with views of the Hollywood Hills. For the kids, there’s Santa’s Workshop and face painting. Grown-ups can opt for the “date & skate” package, which includes two tickets and two themed cocktails from Jingle Bell Tavern, a holiday pop-up bar. Theme nights include “Wicked Wednesdays,” when the rink is lit up in green and tracks from the musical provide the soundtrack starting December 4 (timed perfectly not only for the film version of Wicked but also the musical’s return to the Pantages). On opening night, November 30, skating will be free from 6–8pm after performances by a Wicked cast member and the Los Angeles Ice Theater.

Ah, the joys of Christmas in a Mediterranean climate, where boat owners can deck out their ships in holiday lights and set sail without the impediment of icy weather. For the 116th year, the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade is doing just that as over 100 decorated yachts and ships parade around a 14-mile circuit in the Newport Harbor. You can see the parade for free during each of the five nights from any bay-facing point along the harbor (Marina Park, which also hosts a holiday market, is the go-to spot), but there are also reserved seats, dining packages and cruises available for purchase. 

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The beloved Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s year-end production, Holiday on Strings, is back onstage at the puppet troupe’s new-ish Highland Park location. The hour-long show, which follows the Wizard of Fantasy and his sidekick, Demetrius Nova Twinklestar III, on a tour of the holiday galaxies, covers every festive angle: It’ll transport audiences to Santa’s workshop, the world of Charles Dickens and a Hanukkah celebration. For a sensory-friendly version, book tickets to the 10:30am show on Saturday, December 14.

Before Shrinking wraps up its second second, the cast and creators of the Apple TV+ comedy will come together in Beverly Hills for a screening and panel presented by the Paley Center for Media. Guests include writers and creators Bill Lawrence (of Scrubs and Ted Lasso fame), Jason Segel (who stars in the show as Jimmy) and Brett Goldstein (who guests this season as Louis), as well as cast members Jessica Williams (Gaby), Luke Tennie (Sean), Christa Miller (Liz), Lukita Maxwell (Alice) and Ted McGinley (Derek). (Notably absent: Harrison Ford.)

Join the Los Angeles Master Chorale for all of your favorite holiday carols in concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Sixty-two singers, led by conductor Grant Gershon, will belt out classics from around the globe (and traditional fixtures like “Silent Night,” “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “White Christmas”) to get you in the festive spirit. The Disney Hall’s famed pipe organ will also make an appearance—and you never know when Santa might show up.

If you’ll follow wherever Gilmore Girls leads, then you’re going to need to embark on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour this holiday season. For the final couple weeks of the year, the Burbank backlot is supplementing its regular tour with the Holidays Made Here addition, which decks out the Stars Hollow section in festive decor, including the gazebo and Luke’s Diner, where you can sip on coffee from “Luke” actor Scott Patterson own brand. Holidays Made Here runs as part of all studio tours (the cheapest one is a three-hour tour) from December 18, 2024, to January 5, 2025.

Jennifer Hudson, the youngest-ever female EGOT winner, brings her powerful voice to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. See the diva take on Christmas carols as she performs both covers and originals from her new holiday album, The Gift of Love.

Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show) and Rainn Wilson (The Office) star as Estragon and Vladimir, who are, as you may have guessed, waiting for the elusive Godot in Samuel Beckett’s timeless, tragicomic classic. The Geffen’s production is produced by Gare St Lazare Ireland, an Irish theater company dedicated exclusively to Beckett’s works.

Have a crafty start to the Christmas shopping season at Craft Contemporary’s annual holiday marketplace. If you’re making a list and checking it twice, consider this shopping event for unique handmade gifts and an opportunity to buy directly from the emerging and established L.A. makers behind them. And when it comes to wrapping those gifts, drop by the handmade holiday wrapping and cards workshop, where you can make one-of-a-kind, upcycled paper creations to wrap your new treasures ($15, includes materials).

If you’re shopping in Orange County and dreaming of a white Christmas, the open-air Irvine Spectrum Center is your answer. Located in Giant Wheel Court by Nordstrom, this rink offers an opportune time out from a busy shopping day. Following each 90-minute skating session, the rink is closed for resurfacing, so you’ll never have to skate on slush. Head to the adjacent Ferris wheel during the half-hour the rink is closed for nonstop fun. Tickets—$25 with skate rental, $22 if you bring your own—are available at the rink, but if you want “jump the line” tickets, you can buy them online ahead of time for $45.

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Calling all vintage lovers! Shop dozens of the top vintage retailers (local and national) and private dealers at this market. A Current Affair is a major source for stylists, designers and anyone in search of one-of-a-kind vintage ranging from perfectly worn-in jeans to rare and collectible designer pieces. Shop an array of vintage clothing, accessories and jewelry dating all the way back to the Victorian era at the market’s new West Hollywood Design District location.

Not to be confused with A Noise Within’s A Christmas Carol—though the talents involved are equally stellar—here we have the chance to see the story up close. Now in its 20th year, the show finds David Melville displays his classically trained, beautifully polished craft to bring the famous writer to life as he tells his classic tale of Christmastime redemption; Melville also performs the tale’s many iconic characters, all in the intimacy of Independent Shakespeare Co.’s indoor theater space.

The multicity Jackalope Arts fair is back again this year, featuring over 150 local artisans and high-quality, handcrafted goods perfect for gifting. Both the Pasadena market (held in Old Pasadena’s Central Park November 9 and 10) and Burbank market (held on San Fernando Boulevard as the Downtown Burbank Winter Arts Festival on December 7 and 8) offer free admission.

If you loved Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (or even, gasp, have read Louisa May Alcott’s original), step into the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in this ballet developed by Emma Andres, the resident choreographer for Pasadena Civic Ballet. After last month’s site-specific wintry performances at the Heritage Square Museum, you can catch the full-length ballet—all three parts of a seasonal trilogy—December 7 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.

The American Contemporary Ballet returns to the holiday stage with its fantastical take on the tale from author E.T.A. Hoffmann. Experience the seasonal classic on a snow-shrouded stage set within an immersive space in DTLA’s Bank of America Plaza. The 75-minute production includes an ensemble of 11 live musicians performing Tchaikovsky’s iconic score, as well as an artist reception following the show.

Rancho Palos Verdes used to offer outdoor ice skating—albeit on a synthetic rink—but now it’s changed things up to host wintertime roller skating, which is still pretty fun. After a tree lighting ceremony and holiday pop-up shop on Friday evening, you can skate around atop a bluff overlooking the ocean, sled on real snow and enjoy live entertainment all weekend.

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If the words “Disney” and “sing-along” normally make you think of mini-vans and Frozen, rethink your word associations and head to the Walt Disney Concert Hall for the annual Messiah Sing-Along. The event allows the 2,200-member audience to sing their hearts out and try to hit the high notes alongside the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by artistic director Grant Gershon. Songs will be performed by the professional orchestra and a quartet of professional soloists.

For a darker take on holiday cheer, look no further than this underworld-inspired drinking den from the team behind Halloween pop-up bar the Black Lagoon. The creepy Alpine legend himself will lead you to your table in the back of Cole’s French Dip (RIP the Varnish). After a complimentary welcome drink, you can sip on chilling remixes of classic holiday cocktails amid black Christmas trees and evil snowmen. The ticketed experience lasts approximately 90 minutes, but seats at the bar will be open for walk-ins.

Mexican folk dance company Ballet Folklórico de Los Ángeles is taking the Soraya stage in Northridge once again for a mariachi-infused holiday performance that celebrates the different regions of Mexico. The two music- and dance-filled shows will also feature the talents of guest vocalist Camila Fernández, granddaughter of famed Mexican singer Vicente Fernández.

Feel as though you’ve escaped to a small-town fishing village during the Marina Del Rey Boat Parade. Bring a blanket and gather around Fisherman’s Village or Burton Chace Park to watch as 70 boats glide through the marina with holiday lights and decorations in competition. Categories include best theme, best animation, best band, best lights and more. The festivities begin at 5:55pm with fireworks, and the boat parade starts at 6pm, rain or shine.

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You’ve walked, donated and volunteered, all in the name of charity. Now here’s your chance to drink for those in need. Gather your friends and join other do-gooders at the annual SANTA Monica (see what they did there?) Pub Crawl. An admittance fee benefiting the Westside Food Bank allows you to participate in one of three routes around Santa Monica—although the VIP route hopper ticket gives you the best bang for your buck. Don your ugliest Christmas sweater or a Santa hat—there’s a prize for the best holiday spirit costume—and enjoy single-digit-dollar food and drink deals at some of the city’s best spots, including the Victorian and Jameson’s Irish Pub (both stops on the Main Street Route). Sign up online and collect a wristband on the day of the event, then crawl from spot to spot on foot. End your night at the official after-party at 1212.

There’s nothing Christmassy nor even wintry about this hour-long Palos Verdes trail, yet its nine stellar installations are the most cosmically mesmerizing of the budding after-dark botanical garden shows that’ve come to blanket L.A. toward the end of the year.

Astra Lumina, which debuted in 2022, returns to South Coast Botanic Garden with the same array of celestial-inspired displays. Last year’s edition was basically identical to its debut. But if you loved your first trip to Astra Lumina or haven’t been at all, we still think this is a worthwhile (albeit expensive) event—perhaps better suited for a date night than a large-family affair.

While some other year-end light shows seem less focused on moment-to-moment encounters and more on the photogenic snaps you’ll walk away with, Astra Lumina feels truly experiential. You’ll venture through scenes that interpret the arrival and departure of stars in an earthly garden: archways pulsate with light and mist, perforated lanterns spell out a stargazing journey, shooting stars chase up and down a cylindrical frame, shimmery bulbs blanket a forest floor and tranquil lanterns float among the trees. There’s plenty of wonderfully atmospheric fog along much of the trail, including in a shower of lasers so thick that you’ll swear you can touch them. (It’s also worth mentioning how lovely it is to experience a celebration of the night sky from one of the few locations in L.A. where it’s actually dark enough to see plenty of stars.)

Astra Lumina comes from Canadian entertainment company Moment Factory and replaced GLOW, which ran at South Coast in 2020 and 2021. There are more than a dozen other “Lumina Enchanted Night Walk” events that Moment Factory has produced around the globe, and that pedigree brings a clear level of polish: the lighting and sound design are absolutely beautiful, the loose celestial story is uplifting and the installations are well paced (the duration markers at each are much appreciated, as are the QR codes that lend a little background story to what you’re looking at). It’s rarely flashy and often understated—maybe just slightly too inert in a few installations, if we’re splitting hairs—which makes it stand out among other light shows. If you want an overwhelming barrage of lights and kitsch holiday tunes, know that you won’t find those here; but you will be able to soak up a truly special experience.

The show runs most nights through mid-December 2024 (if it’s like previous years, expect that to get extended), and you’ll need a timed ticket to visit. You could zip through the whole thing in less than 45 minutes, but you’re welcome to—and absolutely should—spend as much time as you’d like once inside. Base ticket prices ($32 to $43 depending on the night and time) actually fall toward the somewhat more reasonable end of these quite-expensive sorts of shows, but the parking fees are pretty disappointing: It’s $22 to park on-site, with the alternative of a paid shuttle from an off-site lot about two miles away on peak evenings—otherwise there’s essentially zero street parking within a reasonable walk of the very dark area surrounding the garden. Also, just a heads up that it took us about 20 minutes just to park on opening night last year, but hopefully these traffic woes get sorted out this year.

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 a meet-and-greet with the world’s first Indigenous droid.

Long Beach Ballet’s The Nutcracker is one of the only area productions of the holiday classic that includes not only a live full orchestra, but a horse, a flying sleigh and pyrotechnics. Sure, the story may be the same, but this production pulls out all the stops to entertain audiences year after year.

Stroll across the grounds of King Gillette Ranch as the Santa Monica Mountains hideaway is illuminated during Holiday Road, which returns with a nearly mile-long walking trail. The event, which comes from the same team as Nights of the Jack, includes thousands of lights, festive decor like a small Christmas village, larger-than-life holiday displays and lit-up archways. Look out for Santa and Mrs. Claus, and fill up with food trucks and a holiday bar while you’re there. Prices start at $25 before fees and go up depending on the day and time you visit.

While Santa may still be working with his elves to load up his sleigh, you can relax and enjoy a Christmas Eve celebration at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Gather up your friends and family and go hear L.A.’s biggest holiday show, now in its 65th year, which includes more than 20 choirs, music ensembles and dance troupes from all over the city. The free three-hour show celebrates L.A.’s multicultural observation of the holidays and has hosted everything from an all-women soul ensemble to Hawaiian music to Indian dance.

The performance runs from 3 to 6pm, and guests are encouraged to come and go as they please throughout the show. Reservations and tickets are not necessary; parking at the Dorothy Chandler is also free. Those who still have last-minute holiday responsibilities to attend to can listen to a livestream of the concert on pbssocal.org or watch it on PBS SoCal.

It’s always Christmas at this charmingly kitsch amusement park outside of Lake Arrowhead. But it’s extra Christmassy toward the end of the year at Santa’s Village—especially if we’re lucky enough to have had some fresh mountain snowfall. Swing by from November 14 to January 5 for lighting displays, a train ride, a magical nighttime walk through the forest, seasonal snacks, breakfast with Santa and tea with Mrs. Claus (those require a separate ticket) and ice skating.

Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Bang! Bang! has invaded all sorts of comedy mediums—podcast, live performances and, formerly, a TV show and a regular stand-up show—and for good reason. The uproarious, improv-based show’s “open door policy” leads to classic in-character interruptions from Paul F. Tompkins, Lauren Lapkus and Jason Mantzoukas, to name a few.

This Christmas-themed Costa Mesa event is celebrating 10 years of turning Orange County into a winter wonderland. Expect a North Pole walk-through, snow play, ice tubing and photo ops, plus an all-new holiday light show twinkling with more than 2 million lights. Upgrade your experience with an expanded carnival, ice skating, VIP arctic cabanas, “polar putt putt” golf and fireside igloos. Hot cocoa and seasonal treats will help keep things cozy. 

When is the Christmas-themed Costa Mesa event open?

Winter Fest OC runs from November 22, 2024, to January 5, 2025. It’s closed some weekdays early on in the run. The hours are 4–10pm both weekdays and weekends, with the exception of New Year’s Eve, when it stays open till 12:30am. The fest’s extensive hours make it one of the rare holiday events you can enjoy on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day themselves.

Be transported to a European Christmas market by way of ROW DTLA this holiday season at this alfresco addition to the city’s gift-shopping landscape. The ticketed shopping experience promises handmade goods by local artisans, festive food and drink (think soft pretzels, crispy schnitzel and hot cocoa), photo ops and wholesome holiday activities like listening to carolers and decorating cookies.

Add some handmade magic to your holidays at these beginner-friendly workshops, hosted by the female-owned Handmade in Venice Beach. On November 24 and December 8, head to Cafe Gratitude with some friends to make your own clay ornaments for trimming your tree. On December 4, you can try your hand at creating gifts (the sky is the limit, but you can never go wrong with a nice mug or tray). Materials and festive decorations are included in the price. You can take home the pieces as they are (though they'll be brittle) or pay a $10–$15 fee to have them bisque and glaze fired, then pick them up a week later.

Follow Kara as she drifts from New York to globetrotting lands with a hot-chocolate-filled Nutcracker in this Debbie Allen Dance Academy reimagining of the ballet, made famous in Netflix documentary Dance Dreams. Matinee performances of the jazz, modern dance, hip-hop, aerial arts and ballet show include the option to add on the Fairy Queen Tea ($60), a pre-performance tea party that includes photos with cast members, a hot cocoa bar, storytelling and a cast member meet-and-greet.

Take your Christmas movie binge-watching up a notch and reserve a seat to one of the upcoming special screenings of Home Alone at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Los Angeles Philharmonic is bringing the classic to life and performing John Williams’s score live to picture in an immersive experience, conducted by David Newman. 

Westlake Village re-creates a traditional European Christmas market with Holidays in the Village, where you’ll find 60 artisan vendors selling gift-worthy goods, as well as bakers, chocolatiers, carolers and live music. You can shop into the evening, when the stalls come alive with holiday lights. And kids can mingle with Kris Kringle and the Grinch, take a train or Ferris wheel ride, and hunt down teddy bears in a scavenger hunt. Refuel with a freshly baked croissant or Aebleskiver paired with a mug of Glühwein, hot cocoa or Kinderpunsch.

This first-floor exhibition at the Broad features hundreds of German artist Joseph Beuys’s “multiples,” editioned objects (with a focus here on environmentalism) that stretched the meaning of sculpture. But the most notable aspect of this show extends beyond the gallery walls: Inspired by Beuys’s 7000 Eichen (7000 Oaks), the concurrent Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar will plant 100 native trees (primarily coast live oaks) in Elysian Park and at Kuruvungna Village Springs.

You can’t seem to get more a stone’s throw away from a huge festive light display in Los Angeles come holiday season. Well, except for this new entry to the scene, which is making its L.A. debut all the way at Raging Waters. If you feel like making the trek out to San Dimas, though, Lektrik looks like quite the impressive display, boasting over 1,000,000 LED lights and larger-than-life lanterns through miles of illuminated trails. Adding to the experience are acrobatic performers, artisan vendors, food trucks and even some stone-carving.

This exhibition of 21 soundstage-sized installations has floated its way into L.A. Don’t expect mere bundles of birthday balloons: Instead, these pieces range from room-filling ball pits to reflective LED tunnels to giant grabbable bubbles, all inspired by air in some way. The “museum” part of the name might be a little bit of a stretch (though each photogenic piece is actually credited to a named artist), but the “Let’s Fly” edition of this touring show is a more fun experience than your run-of-the-mill made-for-Instagram attraction: Whether you’re bonking the bouncy “Ginjos,” pushing a charcoal-tipped sphere or getting swept up in a staticky whirlwind of balloons, there are some undeniably entertaining—and yes, very photogenic—hands-on scenes here.

Say what you will about Metallica’s creative output for the past few decades, the pushing-60 thrash metal stalwarts still know how to fill stadiums with propulsive fits of rage. Even if you haven’t kept up with Hetfield and co. in recent years, expect their live sets to still draw heavily from their first four (or five, depending on where you stand on The Black Album) nearly perfect albums. For this one-off show at the YouTube Theater, they’ll be supporting their All Within My Hands foundation with the band’s fourth annual Helping Hands Concert & Auction.

Drift into the Convention Center for the 10-day L.A. Auto Show with cars that would even make Bond drool. If you’re a car nerd, get behind the wheel to test drive one of the cherry rides (including an outdoor EV track), while celebrities meet and greet at the manufacturer exhibits. With world and North American debuts from a slate of manufacturers, rev up for the machines of the future.

Ring in the New Year with confetti, pyro and 30,000 of your closest friends at Countdown. Marshmello, Zedd, Diplo, Alesso, Galantis, Chris Lake and about 40 other dance acts will invade San Bernardino’s NOS Events Center for this year-end fest.

Strike the electrified, amped-up harp and join the chorus: The KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas lineup is here. Don’t let its dainty Christmas name fool you—the annual concert is most definitely a plugged-in affair featuring some of the year’s top mainstream, alt-rock radio staples. The ’90s-heavy lineup includes the Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, 311, Sublime, Jimmy Eat World, Franz Ferdinand, Royel Otis, AWOLNATION, the Linda Lindas and bby.

Cirque du Soleil is leaving behind DTLA for the beach with this staging of KOOZA in Santa Monica. The high-flying troupe heads under the big top for its first show next to the Santa Monica Pier since 2014.

Because just one New Year’s Eve music fest apparently wasn’t enough, Insomniac is staging another year-end concert, Forever Midnight. On December 31, Chris Lake, Diplo, Duke Dumont, Lilly Palmer, Tiësto, Odd Mob and about two dozen others will all play the L.A. Convention Center.

Riverside’s stunningly beautiful Mission Inn is bathed in 4.5 million twinkly lights during the annual Festival of Lights. The free seven-week-long holiday tradition runs from mid-November to early January and typically features more than 400 animated figures.

We never thought we’d be in the same club as Michelle Obama and Rihanna until Club Quarantine came along. All right, technically it was a virtual club streamed on Instagram, but that’s no matter: DJ D-Nice’s hours-long sets from his Downtown L.A. home became life-affirming in a real tough year. Now, he’s bringing those positive vibes IRL for this New Year’s Eve show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Shop Etsy goods IRL at these local markets, which pop up at malls and shopping centers across Southern California throughout the holiday season. Shop both handmade and vintage treasures, plus artisanal food. You’ll also find DIY activities, live art and giveaways.

Broadway travels back in time to the 1950s, by way of the 1980s, in a noisy musical adaptation of the hit 1985 movie, onstage at the Pantages.

The legendary rock band plays the Forum during its “Peace Out” tour, which is being billed as a farewell from the “Walk this Way” rockers.

Every Sunday you can find dozens of food vendors at this market at ROW DTLA, with a mix of much-loved pop-ups and future foodie stars. Look out for this year’s new vendors, including Basket Taco Co, Battambong Barbecue and Taste of the Pacific.

See works by dozens of artists that examine the state of censorship in art during this annual art fest that celebrates all things LGBTQ+, erotic, beautiful, taboo and fringe.

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.

Everyone’s favorite murder mystery parody of true crime podcasts makes the jump from TV to IRL with this Only Murders in the Building escape room. Part of the Westfield Century City will flip into a faux movie set, where you’ll be tasked with tracking down a missing film reel.

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.

“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 will look 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. The final gallery in the show is dubbed the Color Arcade, an interactive, neon-hued space that includes a corridor inspired by the trippy stargate from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

As you might expect, the Getty has a sizable slate of free PST Art exhibitions this fall, and this one is easily the largest and most notable. “Lumen” takes a multi-faith approach to how astronomy and optics impacted art and religion in the Middle Ages—in other words, you’ll find illuminated Hebrew Bibles and a Byzantine chandelier alongside an Islamic astrolabe from the 1200s and a 12th-century manuscript that documented how monks used constellations to tell time.

Hatched during the pandemic and 2020’s social justice demonstrations, this exhibition—guest curated by Glenn Kaino and Mika Yoshitake—examines how environmental art intersects with equity. In practice, that means you’ll find pieces that contemplate the power dynamics of our changing natural world, like Tiffany Chung’s floating model of a flooded Southeast Asian village or LaToya Ruby Frazier’s photos of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

It’s more than just the low clearance: This exhibition at the Petersen explores the custom paint, engraving, upholstery and, of course, the gravity-defying suspension of the lowrider scene. In addition to iconic cars, the exhibit spotlights influential artists in the Chicano lowrider art scene. Even if you have no interest in cars, this colorful showcase of 20-plus lowered cars and bikes is excellent.

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.

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. The bottom-floor exhibition opens with a semicircle of high fashion, including remarkable crow attire from Cannupa Hanska Luger, which is paired with video footage from his accompanying performance piece. Star Wars plays a surprisingly large role in the vibrant show, including Andy Everson’s Northwest Coast-inspired take on stormtrooper helmets.

A true multi-hyphenate, Carver was a painter in addition to a pioneering agricultural scientist. CAAM will display seldom seen paintings as well as his lab equipment alongside contemporary works that were inspired by his foundational work in modern conservation—ideas that started to spread with his “Jesup Wagon,” an early 1900s moveable school.

Move through a suite of sci-fi installations that depict a world overcome by rising seas and unchecked capitalism in this exhibition from Josh Kline. The MOCA Grand Avenue show includes a mix of sculpture, photography, moving images and ephemeral materials.

Inspired by Steve Martin’s satirical City of Angels comedy—and blessed by the legend himself—“L.A. Story” will bring a group show about L.A.’s enchantments to Hauser & Wirth’s West Hollywood gallery. Though not a one-to-one response to the surreal 1991 film, the exhibition will have plenty of after-the-fact homages to key locations and scenes, including swimming pools (David Hockney, Eric Fischl and Calida Rawles), the coastline (Florian Maier-Aichen), the cityscape (Mark Bradford), major streets (Ed Ruscha) and Hollywood shootouts (Vija Celmin).

A collaboration with the Carnegie Observatories and the Griffith Observatory, this LACMA exhibition brings together a global collection of pieces, from the Stone Age to today, that reflect humans’ ever-evolving attempts to explain the origins of the universe. Alongside pieces of sacred artwork and architecture, you can expect some heady, scientifically-minded contemporary works—like a teaser from Josiah McElheny that’s already on display in the center of the Resnick Pavilion. Island Universe features five reflective, rod-encircled spheres; each individual sculpture is supposed to represent a different parallel universe, and each branching rod the passage of time.

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.

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.

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.

Gawk at a collection of mid-20th-century illuminated pieces from Andy Warhol, Dan Flavin, Allen Rupperberg and eight others when the Norton Simon mounts this display of electric art.

Artists and JPL scientists come together for this collaborative exhibition in Glendale, where 11 artists across a mix of mediums present their take on how nature and the night sky can inspire wonder in us.

See large ceramic and bronze sculptures at LACMA plus a few more sculptural pieces and collaborative video works at CAAM during this crosstown exhibition of Black feminist artist Simone Leigh.