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Arts and Entertainment

Best Things To Do This Weekend In Los Angeles and Southern California: Mar. 22 - 24

An image of people gathered outside celebrating Holi while being covered in colorful colors. In the lower half of the picture, everyone's back is turned towards the camera. The top half of the picture is the smokey air filled with the multiple colors that some people have thrown up in celebration.
(
John Thomas
/
Unsplash
)
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Whether your preferred cultural festival is Holi, Purim, or even ukulele, there’s an event for you in SoCal this weekend. If museums and theaters are more your thing, check out Chicago at the Pantages before it closes or one of the 30 museums opening their doors on Annual Free-For-All Day.

We’ve also got a great event here at LAist with Fresh Air host Tonya Mosley. She joins J. Keith van Straaten and Andy Richter for Go Fact Yourself on Saturday at the Crawford. Get tickets here.

Visit LAist.com for more things to explore, including the latest local restaurants to nab Michelin honors.

Events

  • Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 9:00 AM

    A promo graphic for SoCal Museums annual free-for-all. It has an orange bottom background with two pictures split in the middle of the image. The left image is two people smiling taking a selfie behind some artwork. The picture on the right features several children playing with provided historical items.
    (
    SoCal Museums
    )

    More than 30 L.A. museums open their doors for free this weekend, so hop online, make your reservations, and check out some of the amazing museums at your doorstep! From LACMA and the Academy Museum in mid-Wilshire to the Japanese American National Museum downtown to smaller museums like the Wende in Culver City, the art world is your oyster this Saturday.

  • Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 7:30 PM

    A woman performing stand up in a dimly lit bar, facing a rather packed crowd. Some people in the crowd are smiling and laughing. The woman has the spot light on her while everyone else in the crowd is in the dim lighting and paying attention to her.
    (
    About Last Night Storytelling
    )

    If you live for your best friend’s bad date stories (or just live vicariously through them), About Last Night is the place to be on Saturday. The event series, which has its roots as a monthly night in San Francisco, features a series of bad date stories (all true and likely worse than yours!) told by some very brave participants, accompanied by live music from Jimmy Berry. Go and just be glad it wasn’t you!

  • Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 5:00 PM

    The image is one of Richard Neutra's travel framed drawings. Details of the drawing are provided as - 

Wat Po, Bangkok, Thailand, 1952 
charcoal and pastel on paper
10 7/8 x 13 1/2 inches; 27.6 x 34.3 centimeters.

The image is a drawing of the Wat Po. It features a drawing of the huge building with some of its background included like a statue on the right. A tree, and pole covering a house in the distance on the left side. While the bottom front of the image is another low to the ground statue.
    (
    Courtesy of Louis Stern Fine Arts
    /
    )

    Richard Neutra’s designs are iconic to L.A.’s architectural landscape (the Neutra House is a great example and another fantastic weekend activity). On view at the Louis Stern gallery, we’re treated to a collection of Neutra’s travel drawings, where you can see what inspired Neutra on his trips across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The opening is this weekend; the exhibit is on until May 4.

  • March 23, 2024 through March 24, 2024 from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM

    An image of people gathered outside celebrating Holi while being covered in colorful colors. In the lower half of the picture, everyone's back is turned towards the camera. The top half of the picture is the smokey air filled with the multiple colors that some people have thrown up in celebration.
    (
    John Thomas
    /
    Unsplash
    )

    The Hindu festival of Holi celebrates the arrival of spring with colors galore each year. There are several local annual celebrations, with Redondo Beach hosting a big one all weekend long. The lagoon-side shindig will feature DJs spinning Bollywood, American pop, and Afrobeat music, pop-up food stalls, and even a chance to win a Royal Enfield motorcycle.

  • March 22, 2024 through March 24, 2024

    In this picture, performers on stage for the musical Chicago are all taking the same stance. In the front is one woman, then two people on her side, then four people behind the two, then six behind the four, etc., all taking the same stance. The stance is all their body's pointed in the left direction, with their right knee slightly bent and their left knee more bent, kinda dragging. Slight archs in there backs on the right side while all having their right hand above their faces performing a gesture. The only person looking at the crowd is the first-front woman; everyone else is looking slightly up and forward.
    (
    Jeremy Daniel
    /
    Jeff Brooks and Company
    )

    Paint the town for one last weekend as the Broadway touring company of Chicago plays its final few shows at the Pantages. The 1975 Kander and Ebb musical has never aged – even after 10,000 performances. Shimmy down to Hollywood and catch this latest run.

  • March 22, 2024 through March 24, 2024

    Close up picture of a woman who is performing by herself on stage sitting down playing the ukulele. It's dark behind her but Christmas lights are tied around the mic stand to help and also some dim lighting behind her on the bottom.
    (
    Andrey Grodz
    /
    Unsplash
    )

    If learning to play the ukulele made your New Year’s resolution list, then, wow, have we got a festival for you. Take a workshop to learn Cat Stevens’ "Wild World," hear ukulele aficionados like Maui’s Neal Chin perform, or check out a jam session.

  • Sunday, March 24, 2024 at 1:00 PM

    A flyer for 2024 Purim Carnival in Silver Lake.
    (
    Courtesy of Jewish Silver Lake
    /
    )

    Celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim with a farm-themed party in Silver Lake, featuring traditional treats like Hamentaschen and not-so-traditional ones like Hamentaschen pizza – as well as a petting zoo, costume contest, and pony rides.

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Outdoor Pick

  • Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 9:00 AM

    A group of women in workout clothes pose on a rooftop in Los Angeles after yoga class. They're all joyful, with their hands up in celebration.
    (
    Courtesy of R&B Yoga
    /
    )

    Hear me out: it’s yoga, set to a reggaeton soundtrack — on a helipad. The edibles are optional. I’d be careful up on that rooftop.

Viewing Pick

  • March 22, 2024 through March 24, 2024

    A black and white still from the film Never Open That Door. A woman is lying one her front, all dressed up, face turned toward the camera. A man in a suit is leaning over her.
    (
    Estudios San Miguel
    /
    )

    Hollywood noir is the star at the American Cinematheque Noir City festival this weekend. Kicking off with Argentinian director Carlos Hugo Christensen’s Never Open That Door alongside an opening cocktail reception, the event features several rarely-screened classics throughout the weekend.

Dine & Drink Deals

Enjoy a few fun dining and drink deals this week.

  • March 22, 2024 through March 24, 2024

    Small paper boats of nachos with plant-based protein and other toppings from Cena Vegan, served alongside cups of beer.
    (
    Courtesy of Vegan Street Fair
    /
    )

    Food vendors from across the area will be sharing their delicious plant-based bites at the Vegan Street Fair, which runs all weekend long. Visitors can try small (under $4) samples of many plates or choose bigger portions from a variety of restaurants and pop-ups.

  • Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 11:00 AM

    Three tables of people seated and dining at Botanica restaurant during the daytime. The interior is mostly white and off-white. Toward the left of the photo, a waiter wearing a red shirt is walking away from the camera.
    (
    Courtesy of Botanica Restaurant
    /
    )

    Chocolate for breakfast? Yes, please. Chocolatier Spring & Mulberry is popping up at the rising star of farmers market cooking, Botanica in Silver Lake, with a chocolate-centric daytime menu including date-sweetened truffles and cookies, plus free tastings outside the restaurant from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

  • Friday, March 22, 2024 at 4:00 PM

    The Birrieria Juarez food truck is all lit up at the outdoor Crave Night Market during dusk. Some people are ordering food while others are milling around, taking in other parts of the event.
    (
    Courtesy of Crave Night Market
    )

    Taste a wide variety of international dishes from pop-up vendors and local restaurants while shopping for artisan goods and meeting new people at this Moorpark night market. There’s also live music!

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