Sometimes January and February feel a little bit like starter months, especially if the weather is dark, cold and gloomy — and the rainy season means most Angelenos don’t really want to leave home. Once March hits, things tend to clear up and the year is really in swing. We’ve got the scoop on the Los Angeles Wine & Food Festival, along with a whole lot of other things to do in LA, thanks to Frieze Week, and even more ideas from shopping to avant garde dance for you to take in during your weekend.
Friday, March 1
Attend the First Annual Los Angeles Wine & Food Festival
Los Angeles has slowly but surely established itself as one of the most accessible, inventive and surprisingly influential food cities in the world — something locals have known for years but the rest of the world is just beginning to find out. What better way to synthesize and condense all the various scenes, flavors, cuisines and amazing chefs in the greater LA area than a brand new food and wine festival? The event will take place on the Santa Monica Pier, highlighting so many amazing names in the California food scene like Adam Perry Lang, Claudette Zepeda and Alvin Cailan (Amboy Quality Meats). Tickets here.
Frieze Los Angeles at Santa Monica Airport
Five years ago, this East Coast art fair landed in California, initially taking place — in very LA fashion — at a backlot in the Paramount Studios compound. After moving to a space within The Beverly Hilton, the fair has finally settled for good into a tented encampment in the sprawling Santa Monica Airport and hosts exhibitions from artists and galleries all over the world. If you’re an LA-based art lover, this is one of the biggest events of the year, so make sure to stop by throughout the weekend or get tickets for specific events (like the one we’ve tipped below, for Saturday). Tickets here.
No First-Round Draft Pick? No Problem for the Rams.
Los Angeles hasn’t picked in the first round since drafting Jared Goff in 2016Peruse the Felix Art Fair at The Hollywood Roosevelt
March marks the beginning of the art fair season in Los Angeles, and none of them are more fashion and celebrity saturated than the Felix Art Fair. Taking place at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel, an icon on Hollywood Blvd, this year Dover Street Market will be doing a pop-up that features shopping within the heart of the fair. Tickets here.
See Cherry Blossoms Blooming at The Huntington Botanical Gardens
Yes, the cherry blossoms in Japan are stunning, and a trip across the world to see them would be a wonderful way to spend the first weekend of March. Bbut that’s not always in the budget, is it? Instead, appreciate the beauty in your own backyard. Drive out to Huntington and stroll through their 16 botanical gardens, featuring more than 80,000+ plants. With all the rain we got in the first two months of the year, the blooms are all but guaranteed to be stunning. While you’re there, check out the newly renovated tea house or stroll through the museum. Members get in free; for everyone else, tickets are here.
Drop by KITH in West Hollywood to Shop LeBron’s New Collab With Nike and Fruity Pebbles
While a limited-edition sneaker collaboration between LeBron James and Nike is always going to be news, this latest has a third entity involved — Fruity Pebbles. For ‘90s kids who grew up inundated with commercials for cool kid breakfast cereals, there’s almost no higher grail than a Fruity Pebbles-coded piece of footwear (and LeBron’s undying love for the cereal has been well documented as well). For the first few days, the shoes are only available at Kith stores in West Hollywood and Soho in NYC, so even if you regularly miss out on limited sneaker drops, you can head to the store and pick up a pair (while supplies last, at least) until March 6 when they hit the internet.
Saturday, March 2
Attend the Opening of Lies and Fairy Tales
Part of the Frieze programming, this immersive exhibit from LA-based, first-generation artist Eric Anwar, debuts on Saturday, March 2. Lies and Fairytales is a reimagining of fairytale tropes with clever modern twists and sly commentary on how myths existed in our collective unconscious before the onslaught of digital communications. RSVP here.
Continue Celebrating Frieze Week With an Immersive Dance Performance From the Volta Collective
The best part about Frieze week is that it’s not just visual art but other forms of expression, too. The Volta Collective is a group of multi-hyphenate artists from the LA scene that seek to bring dance performances to non-traditional venues. This performance includes sculptor and DJ Gbenga Komolafe, writers Sammy Loren and Zoey Greenwald, and composer Patrick Shiroishi, all working together in an immersive experience created by director Mamie Green. For their “Glass House” performance, helmed by Green, the collective is focused on unpacking the “psychological construction of home” through a Jungian lens. Expect the unexpected in a venue filled with sculptures, dirt, fabric walls and dance like you’ve never seen it before. If there was ever a time to engage with the avant garde, it’s Frieze Week. Tickets here.
Sign Up for a Free Slot at Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room
In what is perhaps one of the most commonly-seen selfies on the accounts of Los Angeles Instagram users, the Infinity Mirrored Room at The Broad is another great art-related stop to incorporate into your weekend. Especially if you’re already planning to be out and about for Frieze or Felix events, grab tickets to The Broad and see if reserving a slot at Kusama’s one-minute immersive light and mirror exhibit is available. Even if there are no slots online, the museum takes a handful of walk-ins each day, so if you’re viewing other exhibits make sure to ask if anything is available. Tickets here.
See the Dirty Projectors Perform With a Full Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall
It’s been quite some time since the Dirty Projectors performed live, so what better way for the brainchild of Dave Longstreth to come back than with a show that involves a full-on orchestra? This bill is completely stacked, too, because Phil Everum (aka Mount Eerie) is opening for the band, backed by the LA Philharmonic. There are few better ways to spend a Saturday night anywhere in the country, let alone in the City of Angels. Tickets here.
Head to The Wiltern for a Show From Mercury Prize Winner Arlo Parks
After the release of her debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams in 2021, British artist Arlo Parks was almost instantly beloved by the indie music community — and that first release picking up the prestigious Mercury Prize in the UK didn’t hurt anything, either. Now, Parks has followed up with a second jazzy, blues-flecked record called My Soft Machine and is touring the United States behind the album. This is the chance to see a still-rising star while she’s playing small stages or catch up on what is making waves with a Gen Z audience. Tickets here.
Take a Walking Tour of Northeast LA With Local Artist Rosten Woo
If you’re around Saturday afternoon, this event is a great chance to get to know the Los Angeles waterways system. In conjunction with Clockwork, local designer, educator and writer Rosten Woo is hosting a free/donation-based guided walk through bike paths near the LA River to showcase the ecological interactions between the river and its surrounding communities. This “What Water Wants” tour will feature educational information during the walk along with the chance to interact with models in the Los Angeles River Integrated Design Lab. RSVP here.
Sunday, March 3
Learn About the Art of Parisian Perfume at Pafums de Marly
Last year the French house Parfums de Marly by Julien Sprecher opened up a fifth brick-and-mortar store in Beverly Hills, marking only the second location in the states and the first on the West Coast. One thing the brand is known for is carrying and creating scents for both men and women. Because this fragrance brand is a bit smaller and more hands-on than some other giants in the area, if you pop in to shop for yourself or a loved one and ask nicely, they will give you a full rundown of all the bespoke scents available, teach you about the history of the house, and even explain the difference between base notes, middle notes and top notes. It’s a mini perfume class as much as a shopping trip and the kind of thing that totally makes a weekend afternoon feel like a dream. They launched their newest scent, Perseus, earlier this week, so make sure to get a whiff of that while you’re there.
Searching for Celebrities With Tucci at UCB
Yes, it’s a late show, and yes, you should bite the bullet and go anyway. UCB shows remain incredibly popular and frequently sell out for a reason, and that’s because they’re really funny! The wealth of comedic talent we have here in LA is pretty ridiculous (just don’t try dating a comedian, and you’ll be fine) and this improv crew does its best to skewer our celeb culture and get you laughing at the ridiculousness of fame. Tickets here.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Reunion Show at The Novo
Want to relive your wildest ‘90s rap and R&B moments? There’s no better place to do that than a Bone Thugs-N-Harmony reunion tour. After a successful Verzus battle against Three Six Mafia in 2021, this influential crew has been back on the map. Since their debut album, Faces Of Death, was released in 1993, this show marks the 30th anniversary of their tenure as a group. Tickets here.
Watch Reggie Watts Tape a New Comedy Special
Comedian, actor, musician and all around improvisational talent Reggie Watts — best known, of late, for leading the house band on The Late Late Show With James Corden — will be taping two special performances of a comedy special at LA’s very own Regent Theater. With both 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. showings, this is definitely going to be a show for the ages, so get tickets now or you’ll have to wait several months to see the taped version when it goes live on an as of yet undisclosed streaming platform. Tickets for the 7 p.m. set here and 9:30 p.m. set here.
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