Festivals, we've got festivals | Metromix Los Angeles

Festivals, we've got festivals

Get to know your neighbor at these summer fairs

By George Ducker and Alie Ward, Metromix

May 21, 2008

1 comment | Add Your Own
 
Festivals, we've got festivals
(Credit: Francine Orr)

Summer in Los Angeles is not kind. With a dashboard hot enough to sear a flank steak and makeup that melts off as soon as it’s applied, the season can be a dreaded enemy. But let us not forget that summer also kindly encourages daytime drinking and wearing just enough clothing to keep from being arrested—two activities best enjoyed at an outdoor street festival. To celebrate the encroaching heat, here’s a list of our favorite places to persuse pop-up tents of dubious foods, board rickety carnival equipment and scope out potential bedfellows. 

L.A. Greek Fest

L.A. Greek Fest

1324 S. Normandie Ave., Los Angeles
323-737-2424

Sept. 5 - 7. Because there's a little Zorba in each of us. And perhaps just a little more in Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, both of whom are scheduled to be honorary chairs and guest hosts of the 10th Annual Los Angeles Greek Fest. You know what this means: souvlaki and baklava! You know what else it means? Rembetika!

Manhattan Beach Arts Fest

Manhattan Beach Arts Fest

320 Manhattan Beach Blvd. , Manhattan Beach
310-802-5440

Sept. 14. A late summer arts festival on Manhattan Beach Blvd. Replete with arts 'n crafts booths, art workshops and various tasty morsels of international food, the discerning boardwalk cruiser should also not miss the live bands and DJs that will be performing throughout the day. Grab some of that sunscreen and a suitable straw hat, but don't stress. After all, when is it not summer in Manhattan Beach?

13th Annual Redondo Beach Lobster Festival

13th Annual Redondo Beach Lobster Festival

200 Portofino Way, Redondo Beach

Sept. 26 - 28. When did September become such a big lobster month in this town? Straight on the heels of Long Beach grandest lobster fest in the land, Redondo Beach is throwing its own shindig to the arthropod. It may not be biggest and the baddest, but they want you to know that it's the "original" with a cute little handwritten assertion. Parking is free, there are tribute bands galore and a cryptic lobster hunt prior to the actual festival. 

Abbot Kinney Street Fair

Abbot Kinney Street Fair

Abbot Kinney Blvd. , Venice
310-396-3772

Sept. 28. Okay, so it's been 102 years of "community" in the lovely, winding streets of Venice, CA. To celebrate, they're closing off Abbot Kinney from Main St. to Venice Blvd. and filling the streets with vendors, multiple music stages (TBA!) and pounds and pounds of delectable food—all while keeping the proceedings perfectly "green." Why not let the inmates run the asylum for a day? Beware patchouli and facepaint. And rollerblades.

Tamale Festival

Tamale Festival

Oct. 31 - Nov. 2. It's a Day of the Dead that you can put in your mouth! MacArthur Park—the self-proclaimed tamale capital of the world, and home to world-famous Mama's Hot Tamales Cafe—is calling all of L.A. to spend a post-Halloween weekend stuffing our faces with masa goodness. Latin bands and performers will be onstage all day, every day—providing background entertainment for the main attraction: eating. Admission to the event is free, but you'll have to pay for your tamales. We think it's well worth it.

Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair

Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair

1 Space Park Dr., Redondo Beach

Oct 4 - 5. Celebrate another year in Manhattan Beach without jellyfish stings, shark bites or cruiser bicycles running over your sandaled toes. The Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair, ostensibly gathered around Saturday's 10K run, features a weekend full of food and beer booths, a Woodie car show (the first SUV, they proclaim) and a Battle of the Bands.

Grab some cash for a corndog and bookmark this page—you might be needing it for the next three or four months.

What other people are saying...
1 comment | Add Your Own

No-pic-chick

KiJi from Los Angeles-Koreatown - August 28, 2008 at 4:14 PM

I am pleased to have a list of your events in the area. My organization is ery new to Los Angeles and it is uplifting to see so many happy listings...

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