The City Prolific: Weekend Events September 21 - 22

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

Made in LA  Ride III: LA River Edition

Pickles, surfboards and all things bikes! Enjoy a ride along the LA River and learn about places that manufacture and create goodies in LA.  This expedition, open to all cyclists, will pedal through and around Cypress Park and expose riders to businesses that make products right here in Los Angeles. You'll visit Grain Surfboards, Kruegermann Pickle Factory and swrve (stylish urban bicycling apparel designers).

Free

Meet at 10:30a.m., the ride will leave promptly at 11:00 a.m.

LA River Center and Gardens
570 W. Avenue 26
Los Angeles, CA 90065

Venice Beach Music Fest

The Venice Beach Music Fest offers a lineup of free music, art, and dance at LA's quintessential freak show beach. Dance and drink and revel beachside, shop along Abbot Kinney, and wander the canals at sunset.

11:00am - 7:00pm

Windward Plaza Park
1 Windward Avenue
Venice, CA 90291

DUBLAB 14th Anniversary Celebration

DUBLAB celebrates 14 years of sonic adventures, or 14 years of being the guys who throw great parties.

Featuring musical performances, DJ sets, film projections, live screen-printing, food trucks, beer & wine bar, and art activations, this event also serves as the public unveiling of Maker City LA, a new creative hub housed within the downtown design hub, LA Mart.

FREE Before 10pm
$10 donation at the door after / 21+ to attend

8:00pm - 2:00am

Maker City LA
1933 S. Broadway
11th Floor of LA Mart
Los Angeles, CA

75th Annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

The annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (also known as the Zhongqiu Festival or Mooncake Festival) is a tradition that dates back more than 3,000 years. Farmers marking the end of the harvest season in China would gather to gaze at the moon and eat mooncakes, yummy round pastries filled with sweet red bean or lotus seed paste. Tonight, the moon cakes are offered up by local bakeries. Bamboo Lane's Night Market will provide traditional and contemporary edibles, the outdoor baccarat lounge will test your knowledge of the old-timey game, and the craft beer garden will wet your whistle. Telescopes provided by the Griffith Observatory will give everyone a chance to view the harvest moon. Art gallery openings, live cooking demonstrations, craft workshops and a band lineup, curated by Kevin Bronson of Buzzbands.la are the other highlights of the evening.

Free

5pm - 11am

Central and West Plaza
943-951 N. Broadway, Chinatown

ALL WEEKEND

LA County Fair

There's still a few weekends left to go pet a pig and eat a deep fried chocolate covered pickle!

$12 - $19

Saturdays 10 a.m.-midnight
Sundays 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Through September 29

The Fairplex
1101 W. McKinley Ave.

Pomona, CA 91768

The City Prolific: Weekend Events September 14 - 15

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Grand Park Presents: E.T. Extra Terrestrial

I'm sure I don't need to tell you how well this movie holds up. It's funny, touching, weird, and heartbreaking. And it cemented, early on, my love of Reese's Pieces. Go downtown and watch those bicycles soar over the skyline of Los Angeles. Bring a picnic, but leave the booze at home.

Free

Doors open 5:30pm
Movie begins 8:30pm

Grand Park
210 N Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Beat Swap Meet

Head to Chinatown to dig through the crates of vinyl curated by over 50 record collectors and dealers. DJ's will spin rare selections, and there will be live music performances, as well as local clothing, art and jewelry vendors.

Free w/ a Canned Good

12:00pm - 6:00pm

Chinatown Central Plaza
N Broadway and W College St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

La Brea Music Festival: Summer Garage Jam

A free summer concert on the upper deck of La Brea's Parking Garage, with DJ's, live indie band sets, food trucks, art, and shopping.  (I love when LA parking lots are put to good use. When we have a transit-oriented city, we'll have all these empty parking lots that will need to be repurposed.)

Free with RSVP

1:00pm - 6:00pm

181 South La Brea Avenue
(top deck of the Shepard Fairey parking garage)

2nd Street & La Brea

ALL WEEKEND

L.A. County Fair

Growing up in Salt Lake City, the county fair was one of the most fun thing to do all year. Then, when I spent my summers in Montana as a teenager, the county fair was the biggest, most exciting thing to do all summer. Oh, the memories. I've heard incredible things about the food at the LA County Fair - deep fried chocolate covered pickles? Yum.

$12 - $19

Saturdays 10 a.m.-midnight
Sundays 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Through September 29

The Fairplex
1101 W. McKinley Ave.
Pomona, CA 91768

Follow @LAhappenings for daily event updates.

A Piece of Information

The heat wave has broken, and we've all gotten back to work. Fewer beach trips, vacations over, barbecues past.

Just last week I was on a mad hunt for an air conditioner, and when I learned that there were none left to buy in the city of Los Angeles, I began searching for a window fan. The outcome was the same. Luckily, temperatures dipped, and a cool breeze made its way into my home office. The softer light and gentler air reminds me of Autumn (that's all Autumn is in Los Angeles - a memory), and I find myself missing New York.

But then, out of curiosity, I look at the weather, and it's 91 degrees in Manhattan today. I remember that on September 11th, 2001, it was also hot. Not in the 90's, but in the 80's, I'd guess. I remember because I was wearing black rayon slacks and black leather oxfords, and, at 10:00 in the morning, I was hot.

I've written about that morning before. But there is something I left out of the story: as I ran down Broadway, trying to hail a cab to get back home, I heard a ripping sound. My rayon pants had split along the rear seam. I navigated the rest of the way home, through dust and debris and panic, with my underwear exposed to the world. A piece of absurdity on a tragic day, that I've never told anyone before.