August 2024 events calendar for Los Angeles

Everyone’s favorite NPR member station has a hand in a slew of summer concert slates at public plazas and beloved museums, and this summer’s schedule is particularly packed. Familiar KCRW DJs and local buzz bands will be providing free, open-air tunes on select nights from June through September at Union Station, CAAM, Descanso Gardens, Bowers Museum, Century Park, the Autry, KCRW’s Santa Monica headquarters and—our favorite—the party-till-midnight bashes at Chinatown Central Plaza. The details slightly differ at each spot, but you can typically expect a bunch of food trucks, beer gardens and after-hours museum admission. Regardless of the location, you really can’t go wrong with any evening spent at Summer Nights.

Every Sunday you can find dozens of food vendors at this market at ROW DTLA, with a mix of much-loved pop-ups and future foodie stars. Look out for this year’s new vendors, including Basket Taco Co, Battambong Barbecue and Taste of the Pacific.

This epic (and free) outdoor concert series features live performances by artists from around the world at the totally overhauled California Plaza stage in DTLA, where the shallow water separating the stage from the audience has been replaced by a proper event lawn. Don’t miss a diverse and highly intriguing mix of bands, DJ sets and dance parties.

Now one of L.A.’s most treasured summer traditions, Barnsdall Park’s wine tastings regularly attract sell-out crowds. Perched atop Olive Hill on the west lawn of the historic Hollyhock House (which you can tour during the evening for an additional $25), the Barnsdall Friday fund raisers include fine selections of boutique wines provided by Silverlake Wine with a spectacular sunset and 360-degree views of the city. Bring along a blanket and a picnic basket, or just nosh on the variety of food trucks parked up there. Though there used to be lots of kids running around, the event lawn is now 21-and-up—perfect for a date night. Proceeds support the park’s art programs and historic renovations.

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 exhibit spotlights influential artists in the Chicano lowrider art scene. Even if you have no interest in cars, this colorful showcase of 20-plus lowered cars and bikes is excellent: The candy-colored paint jobs are dazzling, and the craftsmanship of the customizations—many vehicles are on display with their engines and undercarriages visible—is remarkable. You’ll learn a little bit of history here, how the “low and slow” movement is rooted in the postwar Mexican American zoot suit counterculture, but largely this is an excuse to ogle some L.A. automotive icons.

Let the wild rumpus start at this celebration of beloved children’s author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. The Skirball Cultural Center is displaying more than 150 sketches, storyboards and paintings from the Where the Wild Things Are creator. “Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak” debuted at the Columbus Museum of Art in 2022 and has since sailed off (metaphorically speaking) to visit L.A. from April 18 through September 1. As you might expect, Where the Wild Things Are receives the biggest spotlight in the exhibition, with beautiful crosshatched artwork, translations of books, monster-themed merch and even costumes from the Spike Jonze film. In addition to his own books, In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There among them, the exhibition also features art that Sendak created for a handful of other authors, most notably Else Holmelund Minarik’s Little Bear, as well designs for Mozart operas. The show also focuses on his personal and family life, with insight on his Jewish upbringing, some very early drawings (including one of Mickey Mouse he created when he was just six years old) and lots about how his beloved dogs inspired and integrated into his books. Admission costs $18 for adults, with discounts for students, seniors and children; it’s completely free to visit on Thursdays. Look out for the adorable living room setup near the entrance, too—it hosts story time Thursday through Sunday at 3pm.

Hollywood’s Japan House has tapped artist Sebastian Masuda to dive into the roots of all things cute and colorful with this exhibition on Japanese kawaii culture. The free show includes multiple pieces and installations from Masuda.

For dinner and a movie, all in one, just follow the food trucks. During the spring, summer and fall, Street Food Cinema throws together a series of outdoor parties that include screenings of some of our favorite movies, paired with an assortment of gourmet food trucks and even a live music performance from a cool local band. The screenings are held in venues across L.A. and alternate from week to week, so make sure to check the schedule. Some of the outdoor venues are dog-friendly, allowing you to bring your four-legged cinema lover along. See more of this season’s outdoor movie screenings in L.A.

Summer’s just heating up, but thanks to a returning summer event series it’s set to be scorching: Beginning June 6, Santa Monica mainstay the Bungalow will host its night market every Thursday just a block from the beach. Over the summer, expect food from the likes of Tacos 1986, the Boiling Crab and the Lonely Oyster, plus celebrity guests. The kickoff evening will include Jason Momoa, who will be guest bartending with his vodka brand, Meili, plus an appearance from Aaron Paul (and his mezcal brand, Dos Hombres). What’s more, this event is family-friendly and free to enter for all ages. The fun runs every Thursday into fall, from 5 to 11pm. 

Best known for her rhinestone-studded paintings of Black women, collages of old Jet Magazine spreads and revisions of historic paintings, Thomas’s large-scale works (80 of them from the past two decades) are on display at the Broad. The Downtown museum’s transportive exhibition includes recreations of the elaborate tableaus that Thomas often poses her models in—including a pair of scenes of her mother’s New Jersey home that start the exhibition. Those intimate details run throughout, including in a living room-like lounge in the show’s largest gallery, as well as stacks of books from Black feminist and queer writers that’ve been placed throughout. Swing by on Thursday evenings for free entry, but on any other day, the exhibition is absolutely worth the $22 cost of entry.