The Top 5 Things to Do in LA This Weekend

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Read on for the best things to do in LA this weekend.

Closing out the PST ART Weekend series, Downtown LA will transform into a bustling cultural hub of music and dance performances, street vendors, workshops and more as The Broad, MOCA, SCI-Arc, ICA LA, and other museums, community centers, and science institutions come together to create an itinerary of events you won’t want to miss. For the full schedule, visit the PST ART website.

The Debbie Allen Dance Academy, in association with the Annenberg Foundation and the Rhimes Family Foundation, presents Debbie Allen's Hot Chocolate Nutcracker at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center. ​Debbie Allen has taken the ballet classic and given it fresh, new context with lively characters, new music by industry legends, diverse choreography, spectacular aerial arts and state-of-the-art projection to create an immersive, vibrant and memorable theatre experience for all ages.

The music industry has gotten way better at keeping its teen pop stars at the top well into adulthood, as evidenced by Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake. But in the 1980s, such prodigies might burn brightly yet briefly, leaving the likes of Tiffany and Martika on ‘80s nostalgia package tours and the similarly successful Debbie Gibson at Hollywood’s intimate Bourbon Room, albeit for three nights. Unusually among teen poppers, Gibson wrote and produced much of her material, including becoming the youngest female to write, produce, and perform a Billboard Hot 100 number one single (1987’s moody “Foolish Beat”) and sharing ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year title with Bruce Springsteen. While no longer a household name, Gibson is also no has-been, having starred in Broadway musicals and enjoyed her first top five single in decades with 2020’s “Girls Night Out.” Headlining the Bourbon Room will be a much more worthy platform for her prodigious talents than the short, rushed sets of multi-artist retro tours. Tickets at Ticketweb.

Annual radio station package concerts have long been part of the fabric of music fandom, with KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas and Weenie Roast in particular being memory-making era landmarks for generations of LA listeners. The format has prevailed into the Internet age, with freemium streaming platform iHeartRadio staging multiple themed festivals and tours. The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball comprises a rotating lineup of big names and buzz acts performing an evening show of shorts sets, and there are good reasons why it’s become one of mainstream music’s holiday highlights since debuting in New York City in 1996. While some will be disappointed that this year’s Los Angeles stop won’t feature Katy Perry, there’s still a lot to love from a single ticket, with a star-speckled, genre-straddling lineup featuring SZA, Tate McRae, Meghan Trainor, Kane Brown, Benson Bobe, Madison Beer, Shaboozey, T-Pain, Paris Hilton and NCT Dream. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

Drag star Jackie Beat brings her holiday show, “Big Dickens Energy” to Catalina Bar & Grill on Friday, December 6. With cutting wit and an arsenal of parody songs, her annual extravaganzas have become a long-running tradition in Los Angeles and beyond. Tickets at Ticketweb.

Calling inventors, creators, makers, crafters, tinkerers, artists and scientists of all ages! The day-long Inventors Day activates the entire historic Central Library and features:

• Hands-on activities - Indigenous Futurism & Technologies Tiles Project, Jewelry Tinkering and more
• Screenings and conversations on toy design and IP
• Gallery tours led by curator Todd Lerew
• Pop-up installations presented by KAOS Network

The Music Center is hosting two holiday events on Saturday, December 7: the Festival of Carols and Carols on the Plaza!

Celebrating its 60th anniversary season, the GRAMMY Award-winning Los Angeles Master Chorale rings in the holiday season with the annual Festival of Carols at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Saturday, December 7. The matinee program features traditional Christmas carols and festive folk songs from around the world, led by conductor Grant Gershon and performed by 62 singers, piano and organ. The family-friendly Festival of Carols welcomes children ages six and above.

Later that day, join Artistic Director Grant Gershon and 20 singers from the LA Master Chorale for Carols on the Plaza. Song booklets will be provided, you bring your holiday spirit for "Deck the Halls", "Frosty the Snowman", "Joy to the World" and more. This FREE event will take place at the Holiday Tree in Jerry Moss Plaza beginning at 6pm on Saturday, December 7. Speaking of spirits, the Mullin Wine Bar will open at 5pm, serving hot chocolate and other festive beverages.

Presented by Street Food Cinema and TIL Events in collaboration with Heritage Square Museum, the annual Yuletide Cinemaland series invites you to explore historic Victorian-era homes and enjoy outdoor screenings of holiday favorites like the Home Alone Double Feature on Saturday, December 7.

Each event features:

• Victorian Holiday Home Tours
• Twinkling Light Tunnel
• Tinsel Tavern
• Live Piano Sing-Alongs
• Yuletide Market
• Food Trucks
• Classic Concessions
• Letters to Santa

Doors at 5:30pm. Early screenings at 6:30pm, late screenings at 8:10pm. Guided Victorian home tours from 6pm to 8:30pm.

Yuletide Cinemaland features two screening areas with complimentary seating. Blankets will be available for purchase. Outside food is permitted, outside alcoholic beverages are not. Leashed dogs are welcome to outdoor activities!

For more info and to purchase tickets, visit the Street Food Cinema website.

Now in its third year, Winterfest is taking place at Hollywood Park from 10am to 6pm. The festivities include:

• Farm Habit's Farmers Market
• Photos with Black Santa & Mrs. C
• Vendor Village
• Live Performances by Musicians at Play & Inglewood High School
• Art Delectables Cookie Decorating & Hot Chocolate Pavilion
• Special offerings from HP tenants: Cinépolis, Cosm, Iconix Fitness, JD Sports and introducing The Meeting Spot
• Lovejoy Foundation Pet Rescue (11am - 4pm)
• The inaugural Black Santa Celebrity Pickleball Tournament, hosted by Baron Davis & friends

FREE admission and complimentary parking at the PS2 structure (entrance at Prairie Avenue & 97th Street).

Giant Robot presents the 20th Annual Post-It Show and Toy Drive, taking place at the GR2 Gallery on Saturday, December 7 at 12:30pm. The group exhibition features hundreds of artists and their 10x10 Post-it note pieces. All Post-it art is available for purchase!

Taking place on Saturday, December 7, the 63rd annual Los Angeles Harbor Holiday Boat Parade marks the beginning of the holiday season for harbor boaters, the surrounding communities of Wilmington, San Pedro, and the beach cities of the South Bay.

Sponsored by the Port of Los Angeles and the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, the Holiday Boat Parade features vessels of all shapes and sizes, from powerboats to sailboats, tall ships and harbor working craft.

The Holiday Boat Parade starts at 6pm in the East Basin Channel of the Port of LA. Thousands of spectators watch the mile-long procession from public viewing stations along the LA Waterfront, including the Los Angeles Maritime Museum and the SS Lane Victory.

Craft Contemporary’s annual Holiday Marketplace focuses on LA-based artists and makers whose goods encompass everything from ceramics to sweets. The $9 museum admission fee will get you into the event on Saturday, December 7, while on Sunday it's pay-what-you-can. There’s an additional fee if you want to take part in the handmade holiday wrapping and cards workshop, which is offered on both days. Hours are 11am to 5pm on both days. Craft Contemporary members can attend an event preview on Saturday at 10am.

A favorite amongst vintage clothing shoppers, A Current Affair Vintage Marketplace returns to Los Angeles on December 7 and 8. This year, the two-day event will pop up on Melrose Avenue, where more than 70 vendors, including retailers and private dealers, will take shoppers through decades of fashion between noon and 6pm.

Tickets are on sale at Eventbrite. Options include a preview pass, which grants entry at 10am on Saturday, as well as a weekend pass that also includes entry during preview shopping hours.

Shop art and crafts from LA’s Latinx creative community at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Downtown LA on Sunday, December 8. The cultural hub’s Holiday Artist Mercado opens at 10am and admission is free, but you can register to attend on LA Plaza’s website.

There’s not much that iconic Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli hasn’t achieved on stage, from rapturous receptions at New York’s storied Madison Square Garden and a hugely moving memorial concert at that city’s World Trade Center site; to performing on a floating stage for a PBS special and at London’s 2007 “Concert For Diana.” Effortlessly traversing classical and pop genres, his voice brings an aura of sincerity, purity and light to everything it touches, endearing him to fans worldwide. Bocelli is one of those rare performers who has achieved “legend” status within their lifetime and, with little left to prove at age 66, won’t be touring forever. So, shows like this first-ever appearance at Kia Forum should be savored. To mark 30 years since coming to international attention by winning the 44th Sanremo Music Festival, Bocelli just released Duets, an album of collabs with Ed Sheeran, Shania Twain, Celine Dion and more. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

For their millions of fans, seeing superstar Mexican grupera band Los Temerarios on their farewell tour is a must. With roots reaching back to late 1970s Zacatecas, they learned their craft in a traditional, organic fashion - plying their rancheras, organ-based ballads, and lighthearted cumbias around parties and weddings for years before really making an impact across Mexico and beyond. Their much-imitated bubblegum ranchera became a soundtrack for millions of young Mexican and Mexican Americans with 1991’s Mi Vida Eres Tú, an album of romantic loss and longing so consistent that radio programmers often played tracks other than its four singles. Led by brothers Adolfo and Gustavo Ángel, Los Temerarios have spent much of their career on the road (pandemic years aside), with sets distinguished by Gustavo’s soaring, emotive tenor, eccentric dance moves, and between-tunes humor. Their long goodbye has included 2019’s Sinfonico re-recording of hits with an orchestra and last year’s La Colección compilation album, including ten previously unreleased tracks. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

For fans of analog synth sounds, this weekend’s hot ticket is Xeno & Oaklander at The Paramount on Sunday, December 8. The long-running duo recently released their eighth album, Via Negativa (in the doorway light), a stunning collection of dark, minimalist, club-friendly synthpop. If you haven’t seen Xeno & Oaklander live yet, now is the time. Locals Image of Life open. Tickets at See Tickets.

For the best guide to what's happening in Los Angeles, visit the Discover LA Events Calendar and book your stay today!