The best things to do in Los Angeles this week

Beyond Meat, the ultra-popular purveyor of plant-based meat alternatives, is kicking off Earth Month with a backyard barbecue at a Venice Beach bungalow. Expect classic Beyond burgers prepared on the grill, along with exclusive first tastes of upcoming Beyond products. There’ll also be limited-edition merch; goodies from plant-based partners including Vacation, Cymbiotika and Poppi; custom chain-stitching; and live music by Theo Kandel, Alice Kristiansen, Sabrina Lentini and Summer Collins. All proceeds from the cookout will be donated to the Center for Biological Diversity, whose mission is to protect biodiversity. 

L.A.’s own feminist punk rockers, the Linda Lindas, have had quite the trajectory: After being discovered by Amy Poehler and going viral after performing their single “Racist, Sexist, Boy” in not one but two L.A. libraries—when the members were between 11 and 17 years old—they’ve gone on to play Coachella and Lollapalooza, open for Paramore and the Rolling Stones, and tour with Green Day. You can catch the girls at two SoCal shows this month—at the Glass House April 1 and at the Novo April 5—screaming about injustice and growing up.

Easy like Saturday morning—that’s the saying, isnt’t it? It will be this month, when Grand Park hosts two community-centric days of free programming to rejuvenate Angelenos’ minds, bodies and souls in the wake of the wildfires. Enjoy yoga, arts and crafts, outdoor games, music, dancing, nature-inspired activities, a dog adoption fair and more. Local favorite Bob Baker Marionette Theater will be on hand for puppet shows, and Smorgasburg is curating an eclectic marketplace of local artists and shops and selling picnic-perfect bites and treats.

This U.S.-via-France arts-and-culture marathon of performances, discussions and screenings explores the important theme of common ground. Highlights include a walking meditation in the Wende Museum’s garden; stargazing on the rooftop of the Kaufman Cultural Center; panels on literature’s power to transcend borders, L.A.’s upcoming Olympics-hosting plans, and AI and ethics; a line dance party; and a Haitian storytelling session—all for free. 

Revisit your Power of Now phase and boost your mindfulness as spritual teacher and Oprah-favorite author Eckhart Tolle comes to town. The gentle guru will give a talk on overcoming stress, embracing stillness and navigating life’s challenges at the Peacock Theater.

Grab a cold one and gather ’round for a daylong celebration of America’s favorite beverage. The LA Beer Fest is returning with 200 pours from over 80 breweries, along with food trucks and live music. Tickets include unlimited beer samplings (food is sold separately); choose from either a GA ticket or a connoisseur ticket, which will get you access to a VIP lounge and event deck, tacos, exclusive beers and more.

If you’ve ever adopted a feline or canine friend, you know how important animal shelters are—and in particular, the Pasadena Humane Society’s importance to Los Angeles after it stepped up to take care of displaced pets during the Eaton Fire. So here’s your opportunity to help them out, at Pasadena Humane’s annual walk, which helps cover the costs of its inhabitants. All you need are your walking shoes—dogs optional—and maybe some friends or family, and you’re ready to embark on a route around the Rose Bowl. The event is technically free to attend/watch, but the PHS encourages you to start a team (registration starts at $50) or find sponsors to help raise funds. Afterward, you can look forward to photo ops, pet-friendly vendor booths, food trucks, a training park and a doggy costume contest. If you can’t make it, you can still donate here.

It may be a disappointing year for wildflowers, but this weekend you can see some—including poppies, morning glory, desert marigolds and many more—in your own backyard (or, to be more specific, other Angelenos’ backyards) during this annual weekend of self-guided garden tours. Each of the participating gardens across Greater Los Angeles contains at least 50 percent native plants, and a ticket gets you access to all 34—18 are open on Saturday, the other 17 on Sunday. 

Downtown Santa Monica hosts a free early Easter celebration along Third Street Promenade, where kids can take photos with the Easter bunny and get their faces painted. Also on offer at the family-friendly egg-stravaganza: live music, games, Easter-ornament decorating, balloon artists and thousands of treat-filled eggs.

The serene Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden celebrates the many forms of tea at this sixth-annual festival. Local vendors of Japanese, Chinese and Indian tea will be on hand to serve samples and share their knowledge on the ancient beverage; sip matcha, Taiwanese oolong, Chinese pu-erh and more in a custom-made tea tasting cup you can take home. (Unfortunately, tickets for the supplemental tea-ceremony demos in the garden’s Japanese Niko-an teahouse are already sold out.)

Learn how to decorate a traditional Ukrainian Easter egg (a pysanka, which features colorful wax applied to the egg) during this free community festival on Melrose. The Ukrainian Art Center hosts an afternoon with Ukrainian food, entertainment and an Easter market. Though the event is free to attend, donations are accepted at the door; those, as well as food and vendor proceeds, benefit humanitarian war relief for the people of Ukraine.

Is it the stumpy legs? The size-too-big ears? The woolly rump? Whatever the cause, we love corgis, and so do the devoted dog owners at So Cal Corgi Nation. This free, semiannual meetup invades the Huntington Dog Beach, just north of the southern entrance by Tower 22, welcoming all dogs and their humans for a day of corgi contests, shopping at a pet-centric marketplace, food trucks, photo ops, goodie bags and even a corgi kissing booth.

Get to the Greek for this one-day-only behind-the-scenes tour of the Griffith Park concert venue. The L.A. Conservancy leads this guided look—including a stop in the dressing rooms that have welcomed the likes of Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen—which gives you a backstage pass to the 95-year-old venue.

Ansari shot quickly through the stand-up ranks following his start on MTV’s Human Giant and career-making turns in Judd Apatow’s Funny People and NBC’s Parks and Recreation; the stand-up soon found himself headling arenas with tales about 50 Cent and his cousin Harris and starring in his own lauded Netflix show, Master of None. After retreating from the spotlight and staging a thoughtful comeback, the comic is stopping at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach as part of his Hypothetical Tour.

Luxury food fest Masters of Taste—which usually fills the Rose Bowl Stadium with bites from some of L.A.’s finest bars and restaurants each spring—is hitting pause this year in the wake of the wildfires, but in its place it’s hosting this one-night-only dining experience. Tickets, while pricey, grant access to a cocktail hour with unlimited access to food trucks, bars and a cheese spread by Agnes; a seated five-course tasting menu; and, to end the night, dessert and coffee from bakeries including Lark Cake Shop. Tickets are still available for the Foothills Dining Room, with a menu from Wife and the Somm, Good Alley, Ayara Thai, Poppy & Seed, Bacari and Cervecería Del Pueblo. All proceeds support Union Station Homeless Services, which is providing housing and services to residents who were directly impacted by the Eaton Fire.

The hour stands before another springtime, and the Renaissance Pleasure Faire is nigh. Good mistresses and masters, prepareth thy schedules and costumes for the return of the oldest Ren Faire in the country, a spectacle that cov’reth 20 Irwindale acres with Elizabethan libations and amusement: fully armored joust tournaments and tea parties with the queen along with beguiling stage acts, rides, games, delicious edibles and ales abound. The festivities will transpire each weekend at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area; procureth day or season passes in advance by visiting ye olde online box office. And no, we can’t stop talking like this.

The South Bay shopping center is welcoming spring with a celebration of sustainability and renewal, hosting a series of free eco-friendly activities, workshops and exhibitions into April. On April 5, you’ll find a springtime market with pop-up vendors, a wellness bar and live music. And on Earth Day, April 22, guests will receive free wildflower seeds to plant, as well as free treats from gourmet cotton candy company the Jolly Sheep.

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.

Corey Helford Gallery regularly hosts fun shows highlighting the artistry of pop-culture subjects, and the lastest exhibit is no exception. Presented in partnership with Mattel Creations, “Toys as Art” celebrates eight decades of Mattel and the impact of its brands, from Barbie to Fisher-Price. See original toy-inspired artwork by over 80 artists from around the world—if you’ve got a cool million lying around, you can even take home a life-size Hot Wheels toy car. Free Saturday programming includes an inner-child workshop led by Case Kenny of Instagram fame (April 5, 2pm). 

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.

Disneyland’s already the happiest place on Earth, but throw in a massive parkwide food festival—and now it’s somehow even happier. Running nearly two full months, the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival takes over the state-themed park with eight different culinary marketplaces with themes such as garlic, local beer and wine, peppers and more. Just be sure you don’t forget the rides in all of the culinary whirlwind—fan-favorite Soarin’ has temporarily brought back its California-themed version just for the occasion. 

The iconic Hollywood Roosevelt hotel is honoring the spirit of L.A. with poolside screenings of some favorite films featuring the city. Tickets are super reasonable ($12), and all proceeds from sales will go toward wildfire relief efforts, specifically Baby2Baby, which provides essential resources to families in need. And don’t worry if it’s a chilly night: Towels, blankets and heaters are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Find the series running every Thursday night through the end of June.

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.

For the Record, a live production company known for transforming the soundtracks of favorite filmmakers into immersive musicals, is back with its most impressive display yet: CineVita, the world’s largest Spiegeltent, will be FTR’s new home in Hollywood Park, next to SoFi Stadium. And it’s kicking things off with Tarantino: Pulp Rock, which celebrates 30 years of Pulp Fiction and re-creates memorable musical moments from the director’s Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

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.

The beloved puppet theater’s new show is actually a throwback to its beginnings. Something to Crow About was first created in 1959 for the Laguna Beach Festival of Art and gave Bob Baker Marionette Theater its signature style before the theater officially opened in 1963. The satirical show, which has been revitalized, uses farm animal characters to tell a story about Broadway. 

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 “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.

Austrian-born Helmut Lang walked away from fashion 20 years ago to focus solely on art. Now, thanks to the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, his first solo institutional exhibition is opening in Los Angeles—in the historic Schindler House, no less. Curated by Desert X founding artistic director and Frieze Projects curator Neville Wakefield, the show consists of a series of fist-like freestanding sculptures made with found or discarded materials that “both imagine the future and materialize the past.”

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.

The Los Angeles–based conceptual artist and now-retired CalArts educator is back with his first L.A. solo exhibition since 2019, debuting new works from his Numbers and Trees series. The colorful and complex works combine Plexiglas, watercolors and his signature numeric grid systems to depict the baobab trees Gaines photographed on a recent trip to Tanzania. The show opens February 19 with a conversation between the artist and LACMA’s Naima J. Keith, followed by an opening reception (6–8pm). The event is free, but reservations are recommended.

After its fall debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of PST ART, artist Doug Aitken’s multimedia collab with the L.A. Phil and L.A. Master Chorale makes the jump to the Marciano Art Foundation. The free museum mounts the multi-channel video piece in its massive theater gallery, which you can see during routine opening hours (Tue–Sat 11am–6pm). But look out for separate reservations for weekly (typically on Saturdays) live performances organized by both musical ensembles.

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.

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 show spotlights influential artists in the Chicano lowrider art scene.

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.