Things to do / Travel Guide
January
The world-famous Tournament of Roses Parade is broadcast live from Pasadena all across the United States and the rest of the world on New Year's Day. Every year, this parade features dozens of floats built completely of floral materials, and it also usually sports quite a few local and national celebrities. The Rose Parade, as it is sometimes called, is very popular with locals and visitors alike (the kids love it!). In the weeks leading up to the event, those who wish to lend a helping hand can head down to the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena to help parade organizers decorate the assemblage of parade floats.
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February
Chinese New Year brings Chinatown and the surrounding Asian-immigrant neighborhoods in Los Angeles out to the streets in February. Chinese New Year is also characterized by parades known for decorative floats and dancing “dragons,” as well as great street entertainment and Chinese food.
March
There is a two-week-long annual International Film Festival in San Diego in mid-March. The event features films that have not yet been issued for worldwide release, as well as lectures and workshops with prominent actors, directors, comedians, and writers.
May
Every year, on the fifth of May, southern California comes to life for Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo, which literally means May 5th in Spanish, is a day that was originally celebrated in Mexico in honor of the expulsion of French forces in 1862. Nowadays this date has become more of an excuse for locals to drink margaritas and party all night long in places like Olvera Street in Los Angeles or Old Town in San Diego. Pretty much every city in southern California with a significant Latin American community, as well as every municipality, bar, nightclub, and restaurant, does something on Cinco de Mayo to commemorate the event.
July
In Laguna Beach the Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters is held each July. In this event, many of the locals come together to, literally, climb into a “re-created” work of art, thus creating a “living masterpiece.” Also in July, the Annual US Open Sandcastle Competition is held at Imperial Beach in San Diego.
August
In Santa Barbara, the Old Spanish Days Fiesta is celebrated each August with parades, rodeos, arts and crafts exhibits, and shows praising the early days of “rancho” culture. There is also a food, art, and entertainment celebration in Los Angeles called the African Marketplace and Cultural Faire, which is spread out over three weekends during late August-early September.
October
The annual Santa Barbara Festival of Art and Jazz takes place each year in October, over the Columbus Day weekend. This event brings jazz musicians, delicious food, a fantastic selection of locally-harvested wines from nearby wineries and vineyards, and vintage cars out into the streets.
November and December
Every year in November, on a Sunday near Thanksgiving, Pasadena hosts the Doo Dah Parade, a “campy spoof” of the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade. Roughly 1,500 people participate in the Doo Dah Parade, which, organizers promise, will be stranger and weirder than the previous year. Some past participants have included “Doctors from Outerspace,” “The Spawn of Captain James T. Kirk,” “the Synchronized Beef Case Marching Drill Team,” “the Grand Old Hags,” and “the Dead Rose Queens.”
A host of Thanksgiving and Christmas parades take place along the “main drags” in Long Beach, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles. Within some of the larger cities there may even be some Christmas parades especially geared toward a particular neighborhood.
Every year in Long Beach there is the Long Beach Jazz Festival, “the only Southern California Jazz Festival staged on a gorgeous grassy knoll in a beautiful lagoon setting.” This jazz festival really brings them in, jazz musicians come from all over the world and tickets can run on the expensive side of things; it can also run on the “exclusive” side with those willing to shell out extra cash for seats in the VIP section. An outdoor setting, there is always also a great selection of food and art as well.
For a more accurate and up to date listing of events, turn to the following local magazines: LA Weekly, OC Weekly, and the San Diego Reader.
Event Sites in San Diego, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Southern California
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