For those of you who are royal wedding followers, the bad news is that you’ll be up awfully early on Saturday (coverage starts at around 4 a.m. local time)…but the good news is that you’ll have ample time to move onto other things later in the day…and we’ve got some fun ones this weekend.
First, for those who are up early and looking for great bargains, the 6th Annual N. Irving Blvd Yard Sale (North Irving between Beverly Blvd. and First Street) starts at 8 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m. 10% of all proceeds will be donated to charity.
Also, from 8 to 1 on Saturday, the annual Lafayette Square Used Stuff Sale will take place in the historic Lafayette Square neighborhood, just west of Crenshaw between Venice and Washington. Enter the gated community from St. Charles Place, off Crenshaw, and drive or stroll the four streets of stately old homes, where dozens of residents will have yard sales going. You never know what you’ll find!
For those in a community service frame of mind, this third weekend of Big Sunday’s Month of Big Sundays features several great local events including:
- Paint and Clean at Bancroft Middle School
- The Garden School Foundation’s Garden Work Day at 24th Street Elementary School
- Big Sunday’s own Good Riddance event, which takes donations of all kinds of items you may no longer want, but others could find useful
- Casserolerama
- And the 11th annual gardening and painting event at Wilshire Crest Elementary School
See the individual event links for start times and registration…or the bigger Big Sunday calendar for other great events a bit further away. All are great ways got get involved with your community…and all offer official community service hours to middle and high school students who need them for school credit.
Meanwhile, the Natural History Museum will hold its big annual Bug Fair this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Come see what all the buzz is about, at this two-day celebration of our winged, multi-legged, squirmy, and sometimes bug-eyed friends. There will be also be a variety of buggy exhibitors – from exotic insect collections to pet tarantulas, bug-related products, to bug-inspired artwork and jewelry. It’s a weekend filled with bug hunts, performances, access to Museum research and collections staff, up-close encounters with crawly creatures, Bug Chefs, and more!
A bit later, if you’re getting hungry, you can head over to the Original Farmers Market for a Gourmet Grocer Open House with special cooking demonstrations and workshops, along with sampling stations throughout the Market, merchant specials and fun activities for all the family. There will also be a $500 shopping spree sweepstakes, dog cookie decorating at The Dog Bakery, strolling barbershop quartet music by the Accidentals, and a summer picnic placemat craft for kids at the Sticker Planet store. See the link above for full details.
On Saturday evening, just a hop, skip and jump from the Farmer’s Market, you could take the whole family to an outdoor movie screening of “The Sandlot,” starting at 6:30 pm at Pan Pacific Park Field #2 (next to the Fairfax branch Library). The show is a fundraiser For Wilshire Warriors Youth Baseball, and will also feature food for sale, raffles and more fun for all ages.
Also on Saturday evening, especially for middle schoolers, LACMA will be holding its annual Teen Night: Middle School – a special night of art and dancing under the stars, specifically for students in grades 6-8, starting at 7:30 p.m. Attendees will also be able to explore the museum exhibition Creatures of the Earth, Sea, and Sky: Painting the Panamanian Cosmos, participate in art workshops, dance to DJs from ArTES High School and teen bands, and make new friends in the taco line. Admission is free, but note that space is limited, so reservations are required…and students in grades 6-8 must bring a valid middle school ID. For more information, contact [email protected]. Also, please note that this event is for teens only, without parents (adults are welcome to drop kids off, and/or to make dinner reservations at LACMA’s Ray’s restaurant, while the teen event takes place.)
On Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., music fans may find some gems at the 10th Anniversary Beat Swap Meet, being held in conjunction with the monthly Smorgasburg at 777 S. Alameda in Downtown L.A. The event will feature 70 popup vendors from record collectors, shops, indie labels & private dealers from all over Southern California buying, selling and trading records of all genres like Blues, Electronic, Funk, Hip Hop, Jazz, Latin, Metal, New Wave, Psych, Punk, Rap, Reggae, Rock, Soul, Ska and World. And, of course, there will be all the usual great Smorgasburg food to choose from, too.
Back closer to home, from 10:30 to noon on Sunday, Knowles Karate Academy is hosting a Women’s Self Defense Intro workshop to raise funds for Alexandria House. This workshop will be taught by previous students who have taken the studio’s Beginner- level 1 and Advanced-level 2 workshops. Cost is $25, and all proceeds will go to Alexandria House, a transitional residence and hospitality house for women and children experiencing homelessness. Space is limited, so please register at the event link above.
And finally on Sunday, the Petersen Museum will present an artist talk, Ranflas y Inspiración: Re-Imaginging the Lowrider, on Sunday at 12 p.m., in connection with the current exhibition The High Art of Riding Low: Ranflas, Corazón e Inspiración. The panel will bring together four diverse and dynamic artists featured in the exhibition, which demonstrates how the lowrider car has become an artistic medium and an art object. These artists have re-worked and re-imagined the lowrider car’s form and aesthetics. They also reflect the lowrider through a multitude of lenses, and their work reveals the medium as “liminal space,” a “be-twixt and between” wherein values and meanings are constantly in flux. The panel will be moderated by Selene Preciado, Independent Curator/Program Assistant, and the artist/speakers will include Justin Favela, Estevan Oriol, Marina Perez-Wong, and Leanne “El Rod” Rodriguez.
Have a great weekend!
