Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Weekend Buzz – Events for May 21-22, 2016

etcomeshomeheader
California Science Center image of E.T. 94…which is coming home this weekend

expo2Although we usually stay in the mid-town area for our weekend event listings, there are occasionally happenings further afield that can’t be ignored.  This weekend, we have two of those.  The first is the opening today of Metro’s Expo Line extension, which completes the full length of that light rail branch, and can carry you and your surfboard from downtown L.A. to downtown Santa Monica in just 46 minutes (with free rides all day Saturday!).

etcomeshomesmallThe second mega-event is another in L.A.’s odd but also oddly compelling occasional series of slow-motion massive object transports (think LACMA’s Levitated Mass rock, historic buildings, and the Space Shuttle Endeavor)…as the last remaining space shuttle external fuel tank (“E.T. 94”) crawls from Marina del Rey to its new permanent home at the California Science Center.  On what’s billed as “Mission 26: E.T. Comes Home,” The huge, orange, bullet-shaped tank will travel a path through south L.A. similar to the one taken by the Space Shuttle Endeavor a few years ago.  The full journey, at about 5 m.p.h., will take somewhere between 13 and 18 hours, starting in the wee hours before dawn on Saturday…with onlookers and well-wishers cheering it along.

capitolAlso possibly once-in-a-lifetime, but on a slightly smaller scale, is the 60th Anniversary of Capitol Records in Hollywood. On both Saturday and Sunday, guests can take guided tour of Capitol’s famed Studios A, B and C in its iconic Vine Street building, as well as access a Capitol photo booth and visit the WAX Record Fair…which will include food trucks, bars, merchandise and more. Full event details and ticket information at the links above.

Since once-a-lifetime events often come with crowds to match, we do have some smaller alternatives for those who’d rather not brave the hordes…all with with a nature, garden or science theme this weekend.

gsfFirst, on Saturday at 11 a.m., the Garden School Foundation, which provides elementary school garden education programs to several schools in our area, will host its annual Fiesta de la Huerta at its home garden at 24th Street Elementary School.  The event, perfect for the whole family, includes fun garden activities, DIY, art and cooking workshops from the pros, GSF’s ever-popular bike-blender smoothies, and a delicious lunch from GSF’s restaurant partners (including Salt’s Cure, sweetgreen, Cava Grill, Yalla, Peddlar’s Creamery, Beanfield snacks, Califia Farms, Roots Hummus, Paragon Jams, and Jenny Cooks).  All proceeds go towards GSF’s Seed-to-Table program that provides garden-based education to children in under-served communities across LA.

carthaysciencefairCloser to home, Carthay Environmental Studies Magnet School gets into the weekend nature groove with its annual Science Fair extravaganza, from 12-6 p.m. on Saturday.  The event features the usual student project showcase…and much, much more, including garden tours, student performances, workshops, games, an e-waste collection (bring your batteries, ink/toner cartridges, cellphones and laptops), tree adoptions (more than 100 trees available for planting on private property),  and exhibits from a long list of environmentally-conscious organizations, including California Fuel Cell, Project Windsong, the Ballona Land Trust, Friends of the Los Angeles River, My Green Lab, Theodore Payne Foundation, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA, National Oceanic and Atomspheric Administration, the L.A. Zoo, L.A. County Vector Control and Vector-Borne Disease Control, LADWP Energy Efficiency, UCLA Brain Research Institute, City of L.A. Stormwater, USC Environmental Health Centers, USC Wrigley Institute, National Parks Association, Los Angeles Sanitation…and more!  There will also be food from Border Grill, CVT Soft Serve, Canter’s Deli and more.

bugfairOn both Saturday and Sunday, the Natural History Museum celebrates the 30th anniversary of its annual Bug Fair (which has one of the cutest promotional videos ever).  The two-day festival features a variety of exhibitors – showing everything from exotic insect collections to pet tarantulas, millipedes to centipedes, bug-related products (like honey and silk) to bug-inspired artwork and jewelry. You can also enjoy a special cook-off with your favorite bug chefs as they whip up protein-filled snacks. And there will be bug hunts, performances, up-close encounters with crawly creatures, and more.

foodforwardAnd, finally, on Sunday, we know many of you faithfully visit the Larchmont Farmers’ Market every week.  But if you’d like to extend your visit after the regular market hours, and experience it in a whole new way, sign up for Food Forward’s Larchmont Farmers’ Market Gleaning, to help collect boxes of fresh produce from the farmers after the market closes, and deliver them to an array of community service and food distribution agencies. (Note that volunteers must be at least 13 years old, and those under 18 need to be accompanied by a guardian who must register for the event as well.)

Have a lovely weekend!

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Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN but has lived in LA since 1991 - with deep roots in both the Sycamore Square and West Adams Heights-Sugar Hill neighborhoods. She spent 10 years with the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, volunteers at Wilshire Crest Elementary School, and has been writing for the Buzz since 2015.

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