May is bringing warm weather and tons of summer fun things to do in Los Angeles County this May 2016. Speaking of summer, that means outdoor movies which is why our list of events begins with all the biggest movies playing outdoors this month.
Outdoor Movies
With summer, and particularly good weather, comes outdoor movies in LA. Here’s everything you need to put on your calendar for May.
Street Food Cinema
streetfoodcinema.comThese Saturday night movie events include a live music, movie and food trucks.
May 7th: Romeo amp; Juliete at Exposition Park, Downtown May 14th: Raiders of the Lost Ark at Victory Park, Pasadena May 14th: Almost Famous at Exposition Park, Downtown May 21st: Mean Girls at Syd Kronenthal Park, Culver City May 21st: Toy Story at Park Center, Griffith Park May 21st: Back to the Future at Westchester Park, Playa Vista May 28th: Space Jam at Victory Park, Pasadena May 28th: Hook at Will Rogers State Historic park, Pacific Palisades May 28th: Purple Rain at Exposition Park, Downtown
Eat | See | Hear
eatseehear.com More movies, bands and food trucks held on Saturday nights. The same company is also putting on TBT At the Laemmle Series a Thursday movie night series featuring cult classics that you can check out here on their site.
May 7th: Dirty Dancing at the Santa Monica High School Amphitheater May 14th: The Princess Bride at the Santa Monica High School Amphitheater Fri. May 20th: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at The Million Dollar Theater May 21st: Labyrinth at Centennial Square at Pasadena City Hall May 28th: The Big Lebowski at the Autry Museum in Griffith Park
Cinespa
cinespia.orgMovie, DJ before and after, free photo booth plus beer and wine is permitted. All held at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Sat. May 14th: Fast Times at Ridgemont High Sat. May 21st: The Silence of the Lambs Sat. May 28th: Singin’ in the Rain Sun. May 29th: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Great Horror Movie Night – Friday the 13th
Friday, May 13th Held at the Griffith Park Old Zoo greathorrorcampout.com Friday the 13th playing on Friday the 13th of May… how perfectly bone chilling.
Skirball Outdoor Screenings – Field of Dreams
Friday, May 20th skirball.org
May, June and September the Skirball Cultural Center will be celebrating America’s favorite pastime with a lineup of classic films about baseball. Before the screenings, explore the galleries and enjoy “opening night” activities in the courtyard. Hot dogs, Cracker Jacks, and other concessions will be available for purchase throughout the evening.
Rooftop Cinema Club
rooftopcinemaclub.comAll of the movies are sold out for May but check out the site for all the June films before those are snatched up too Films are shown throughout the month at The Montalban in Hollywood.
More Events…
LA Bacon Fest
Sunday, May 1st 12PM-3PM; 4PM-7PM labaconfest.com
The 4th annual Los Angeles Bacon Festival will take place May 1st at LA Center Studios. Featuring dozens of restaurants and bakeries, the event will play homage to all things bacon, presented in both sweet and savory dishes. Admission includes samples of participating businesses signature dishes and access, unlimited beer from over 20 breweries, access to custom photo booth, and much more. Admission is limited and will definitely sell out so get your ticket now. Like, right now.
VegFest Los Angeles
Sunday, May 1st 10:30AM-6PM vegfestla.org/home
If the LA Bacon fest doesn’t fit your diet, then head over to the all vegan VegFest held in Woodley Park in the San Fernando Valley. 100+ exhibitors and 40+ food vendors will be bringing all types of delicious foods and products to this event. Check out the Oasis Beer and Wine garden, sit in on cookie demos, listen to live bands and learn more about the Vegan lifestyle. The event will also host animal adoptions and feature a kid’s kingdom of fun.
2nd Annual WhitePartyLA
Sunday, May 1st 1PM-5PM eventbrite.com
Three Day Rule is hosting the biggest white party of summer 2016 Last years WhitePartyLA drew 500 guests, lots of dancing, a conga line around the pool, and plenty of rum. Held at the Viceroy in Santa Moncia and white attire is a must if you’re going to do it right
Taste of Eastside
Sunday, May 1st 4PM-8PM tasteoftheeastside.com
Taste of the Eastside is a food and drink festival that showcases the evolving and diverse food scene of the eastside neighborhoods of Silver Lake, Echo Park, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Los Feliz, Atwater and beyond. The event will feature two dozen restaurants from around the area with chefs showcasing signature and creative dishes for this special event. VIP early access begins at 3PM. Presale general admission is $40, $50 day of the event.
Radiotopia
Wednesday, May 4th 8PM at the Theatre at Ace Hotel 99percentinvisible.org
The first-ever live show from the podcast giants includes live editions of Song Exploder, Mortified, Radio Diaries, and a ton of other great shows you know and love. VIP tickets are $200 and include a premium level seat and an invite to our after-show cocktail party in the mezzanine of the Ace.
May Mix Off
Every Wednesday in May 7PM-9PM lalive.com
This annual bartender tournament takes the best drinks-men and -women in the city and runs them in competition against each other, with judges including local food and drink publications. And of course attendees get to taste test the drinks as well. The event is free and open to the public with an a la cart menu available for purchase.
El Chavo Cinco De Mayo
Thursday, May 5th 4PM-11:30PM discoverlosangeles.com
El Chavo is throwing the biggest Cinco de Mayo fiesta in Los Angeles On top of street corn, tacos, live music and more, El Chavo is partnering with Mezcal El Silencio, Jarritos and Tecate for the ultimate Cinco de Mayo drinks. Expect cocktails like Canelo y Pina and Fresa Refresca, both made with Mezcal El Silencio and Jarritos Soda.
Echo Park Craft Fair
Saturday, May 7th – Sunday, May 8th 12PM-4PM echoparkcraftfair.com
Originally held in founder Valenzuela’s backyard, the Echo Park Craft Fair has grown into a popular bi-annual arts and design event, now held at the historic 5,000 square foot Mark Sennett studios in Silverlake, CA. The most recent Echo Park Craft Fair hosted over 3000 guests and featured 70 artists selling everything from jewelry to clothing, ceramics to weavings, fresh flowers to cold-pressed organic juices.
Lucha VaVoom
Thursday, May 5th – Friday, May 6th Doors open 7PM, Show begins 8PM luchavavoom.com
The Cinco de Mayo edition of this ultra-crazy Mexican-wrestling-meets-comedy-meets-burlesque extravaganza promises to be as over-the-top as ever. What more could you ask for on such an occasion? Tickets are $50, all held at the Mayan Theatre.
One Night Only: Chef Eric Johnson
Monday, May 9th 7PM-9PM eventbrite.com
The latest edition of the Ace Hotel’s occasional guest-chef series brings in the chef from Seattle’s award-winning restaurant Stateside, who’ll be doing a family-style Vietnamese-influenced menu including crispy duck fresh rolls and black cod marinated in turmeric and galangal. Ready for a delicious night out?
Camp No Counselors
Thursday, May 12th – Sunday, May 15th campnocounselors.com
At each Camp No Counselors weekend getaway, adults take over an entire camp, including all grounds, fields, buildings, sports facilities, bunks, dining hall and the entire waterfront – the full experience. The camp weekend is filled with land and water sports, arts ‘n crafts activities, epic nightly theme parties, an open bar, gourmet meals and, of course, all of your favorite classic camp activities from Color War to Talent Show.
La Nuit en Rosé
Friday, May 13th – Sunday, May 15th nuitrose.com
Rosé is center stage at this three-day wine festival including a four-course pairing dinner, a Saturday night party, and a Sunday day pool party, all of which have DJs, VIP areas, and over 50 varieties of rosé. It’s all going down at the poolside Skybar at Mondrian Los Angeles. General admission tickets start at $75.
West Coast BBQ Classic
Saturday, May 14th 11AM-6PM queenmary.com
Let your taste buds rage over which barbecue style is king. Prefer Memphis to Texas or savory to sweet? You be the judge at the 5th Annual West Coast BBQ Classic. Held at the Queen Mary, this is an official California-State-Certified BBQ Championship showdown with fun for the whole family. Along with amazing BBQ tastings will be live music, backyard games, kid’s country play area, a merchant market and an award ceremony for all the days big winners. Is your mouth watering? Because ours is.
The Bubble Run
Saturday, May 14th 8AM bubblerun.com
A good clean run is coming to the Pomona Fairplex this month with the Bubble Run. Clad in white t-shirts, adults, kids and strollers run, walk, dance and play across 3 miles of absolute fun. Waves start every 3-5 minutes. Then, at each kilometer, participants will run through the Foam Bogs where there is enough colored foam to cover you from head to toe Plus there’s an after party with a DJ and of course, more bubbles.
Grand Central Market Pickle Party
Sunday, May 15th 10AM-5PM grandcentralmarket.com
You read it right, this is a food festival about all things pickled, brined and fermented. Pickle Party’s centerpiece will be 1,000 POUNDS OF KRAUT, a crowd-sourced communal sauerkraut-making session led by fermentation guru Sandor Ellix Katz, the New York Times best-selling author of The Art of Fermentation. Yep, it’s a thing.
Museums of the Arroyo Day
Sunday, May 15th 12PM-5PM mota.dreamhosters.com
Six museums in Los Angeles and Pasadena open their doors -- free of charge – for Arroyo day. The public can visit one or all of these museums during the day at no charge with the last entrance at 4PM: Gamble House, The Autry’s Historic Southwest Museum Mt. Washington Campus, Heritage Square Museum, Los Angeles Police Museum, Lummis Home and Garden and the Pasadena Museum of History.
HUSHfest: Santa Monica Pier
Saturday, May 21st 7PM ticketfly.com
Basically, it’s a silent concert. The first edition of this monthly event -- a totally-silent dance party on the pier, with the live-DJ’d sound pumping through headphones -- has six disc-spinners breaking it down; later editions are themed, including a West Coast-vs-East Coast hip-hop night in July and Radiohead vs Daft Punk in September.
Spring Fling in Venice
Saturday, May 21st 11AM-7:30PM venicespringfling.com
The Sixth Annual Venice Spring Fill will kick off springtime at the beach in Venice with a free, full day of art and music in Windward Plaza Park. The festival features musical entertainment, an art show, belly dance, food, Dr. Bronners Magic Foam Experience, and more. The festival is free and open to the public held between the boardwalk and the bike trail at the west end of Windward Avenue in Venice.
California Strawberry Fest
Saturday, May 21st – Sunday, May 22nd 10AM-6PM strawberry-fest.org
The California Strawberry Festival is among the top festivals in the nation with over 50 food booths, contests, rides and attractions, over 200 Arts amp; Crafts vendors, concerts, celebrity chef demonstrations, and family fun The 2016 California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard is the perfect summer kickoff with proceeds benefiting the community in a BIG way. From the classic pie eating contest to the Berry Best Hat contest, there’s tons of fun lined up each day.