This week in Southern California offers a varied menu of local happenings, demonstrating that there’s rarely an excuse for boredom, even on a weeknight. Residents can choose from city-wide celebrations, unique arts experiences, and plenty of seasonal scares as October settles in.
The biannual ArtNight Pasadena makes its return on Friday, providing free access to several cultural institutions in the Crown City. Elsewhere, CicLAvia is back with its annual “Heart of L.A.” route, a beloved event saved after a notable outpouring of public support. This edition will transform 6.5 miles of streets in Downtown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, Boyle Heights, and Echo Park into car-free zones. The event invites bikes, tricycles, skateboards, and strollers, promising music, street performances, food trucks, and specials from local shop owners and restaurants. Organizers recommend taking Metro or biking to reach the route.
Festivities continue at the Santa Monica Pier, which hosts the annual Santa Monica Seafood Festival. This year, the event celebrates the centennial of Route 66 at its iconic terminus. Attendees can expect unlimited seafood, beer, and wine tastings, alongside live yacht rock music, oyster shucking, eating competitions, and carnival games. The culinary lineup includes local favorites like Michael’s Santa Monica, Rustic Canyon, Calabra at Santa Monica Proper, Pier Burger, and desserts from Levain Bakery and Sweet Rose Creamery. The festival is committed to avoiding single-use plastics and raising funds for Heal the Bay. For those inclined towards Bavarian traditions, Santa Anita Park combines its famous horse races with an Oktoberfest celebration held over two weekends. This event features stein-holding and costume contests, a corn hole competition, keg rolling, pretzels, and, naturally, beer. General admission tickets include a mini tasting stein, eight three-ounce beer tastings, a $5 betting voucher, a tip sheet, and open grandstand seating.
Live performances are also a major draw. Issa Rae is set to appear in Inglewood, sharing behind-the-scenes stories with her co-stars from *Insecure*. Hayley Williams has scheduled two solo shows at the Hollywood Bowl, while Bruno Mars concludes a run at SoFi Stadium. American Contemporary Ballet opens its 15th season at the Bank of America Plaza in Downtown L.A. with a program of four works exploring relationships through intimate ballet. The show, featuring live music, includes George Balanchine’s Sonatine, Rubies, and Episodes, plus a new ballet by ACB founder Lincoln Jones. A reception with the dancers and musicians will follow the hour-and-a-half performance. For a more serene musical experience, The Huntington’s rose garden offers live music from the Pasadena Conservatory of Music on a Monday afternoon. Solo and duo performers will play violin, cello, and guitar amidst the blooming flowers; admission is included with a Huntington ticket.
For those with more niche interests, CatCon returns to the Pasadena Convention Center for two days. Described as a “Comic-Con for cat people,” the event features workshops, panels, immersive experiences, and meet and greets with “celebri-cats.” A vendor market will sell cat-themed merchandise, and the CatCon Adoption Village offers a chance to take home a new furry friend. The event coincides with the Cat Art Show, displaying works by artists like Rob Reger and Shepard Fairey, with a portion of art sales benefiting cats in need. In Frogtown, Zebulon will host its annual free Murder Ballads show, featuring local singer-songwriters such as Alice Bag, Bart Davenport, and Taleen Kali. Performers will share tunes about wicked deeds, crimes of passion, ghosts, and nightmares, spanning centuries-old ballads, contemporary songs, and originals.
Halloween-themed entertainment is abundant. The traveling horror-themed cocktail pop-up, Black Lagoon, is back at Melrose Umbrella Co. in Beverly Grove. The women-owned concept by Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ramage transforms the bar with metal music and spooky decor, including a 12-foot-tall skeleton. Signature drinks include the Bone Temple, made with Teremana Blanco Tequila, and Abyssa’s Obsession, featuring pumpkin-infused Kraken Black and Gold Spiced Rums, with spirit-free options also available. Another Black Lagoon outpost can be found at Midnight Oil in Long Beach. The TCL Chinese 6 Theatres will host a horror film festival, presenting its 26th edition with premieres, short films, and animation. The New York Times has recognized it as a top national film festival. For an immersive fright, Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group in North Hollywood revives its chilling series of vignettes, Urban Death. Named one of Yelp’s top 10 scariest haunts in the country, the experience involves guests navigating a labyrinth with a flashlight before and after watching shocking scenes over approximately 40 minutes. The troupe has been scaring audiences for over 20 years.
While tickets for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Open House in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills quickly sold out, the event's return after a multi-year hiatus is noteworthy. NASA and Caltech once a year open the doors to the robotic research lab, which oversees unmanned missions like Voyager and the Mars rovers. Highlights for those with tickets include a view of the clean room where probes are assembled, a tour of mission control, a walk through the machine shop, and an open-air display of rover prototypes.
