Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Weekly What To Do: I'll Take Some Godzilla With Some Stationery, Please

 
August 9–17
Little Tokyo
 
Perhaps it needs to be changed to Nisei weeks as it really lasts that long. This Little Tokyo festival is a great way to end the Summer. Very much as what you might have seen in anime and manga it's a celebration in the vein of Japanese culture. This first weekend you get the annual parade to enjoy and next weekend is the annual festival, the Plaza Festival. There's other events throughout the weeks that might catch your eye, but those two are the biggest and the most fun.
 
*It's gonna be a little weird without Kinokuniya which hopefully opens up back soon in a new location in Little Tokyo.
 
The family-friendly event features food, games, booths, and live entertainment at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) plaza!

Date/Time: August 16 & 17, 11 am-4 pm

    Saturday, August 16 – Live entertainment
    Sunday, August 17 – The Nisei Week Taiko Gathering

Location: JACCC plaza
 
Saturday, Aug 16, 2025
Japanese American National Museum
Democracy Center
100 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
FREE

Celebrate summer with us at JANM’s Democracy Center and the Norman Y. Mineta Democracy Plaza featuring free cultural performances, crafts, and activities for families and kids of all ages!
 
Ondo Public Street Dancing & Closing Ceremony
 
The public is invited to Nisei Week’s finale, the Japanese tradition of dancing in the street with live entertainment, to close out the festival on August 17, beginning at 4 p.m.

Street Closures: 1st Street between San Pedro St. and Central Ave., beginning at 11:30 AM.
 
 

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle x Dodgers Night
Friday, August 15 at 7:10 PM at Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
$ 
 
Looks like if you get there early enough you'll snag a Demon Slayer x Dodgers hat. A nice promotion of the upcoming film that'll be in theaters in the states this September.
 
Here's more info from the press release:
 
 LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers will create a stadium-wide giveaway of co-branded hats celebrating the highly popular Japanese anime film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, for the Friday, August 15 game at 7:10 p.m. between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The event will be supported by pregame and in-game promotion, an activation in the Centerfield Plaza and a ceremonial first pitch. Festivities for the night will be followed by a themed Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle drone show.
 
 

August 15-17, 2025
Long Beach Convention Center
$ 
 
"Shop from 350 spooky vendors; see previews of upcoming Halloween events and attractions; panels, presentations, and performances from leading horror performers and entertainment companies; and explore over a dozen haunted attractions in the massive Hall of Shadows."
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

PPP Pop-Up Event 8/16-17 at Albion Garden
1043 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
 
Your favorite stationery festival is back, this time as a pop-up event! Join us for a delightful day filled with all things stationery in a comfortable and less crowded environment.

Event Details
2 lineups of 10 vendors: 0 vendors each day, 2 unique lineups — double the creativity, double the fun!Timed Entry: Enjoy a more relaxed experience with timed entry tickets.
In-Out Privilege: Once you check in, you can come and go throughout the day.
 
 
Saturday, August 16th at Giant Robot 2 
12pm to 6pm at 2062 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025

This one day event will feature independent artists and illustrators offering original artwork, prints, zines, pins, and more.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Summer Concerts: Past + Future = Present, Pt. 1
Saturday, Aug 16, 2025
8 pm—11 pm
The Broad
Tickets $25 
 
Experience the special exhibition Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me after hours and groove to the beat between two performance stages on two levels of the museum. With musicians selected to compliment Gibson’s vibrant artworks and converse with his powerful themes, PAST + FUTURE = PRESENT, Pt. 1 features Snotty Nose Rez Kids, the raucous and upbeat Haisla hip hop duo, and Black Belt Eagle Scout, the introspective and cinematic Swinomish/Iñupiaq indie rocker, both on the lobby stage. 
 
On Sunday, August 17; between 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. CicLAvia will celebrate its 61st car-free open streets event catalyzing vibrant public spaces, active transportation and good health through car-free streets. CicLAvia—Culver City meets Venice connects Culver City, Mar Vista, and Venice, welcoming everyone of all ages and abilities to enjoy this day-long 6.75-mile pop-up park. Always free, you can enjoy the day by walking, jogging, biking, skating, or simply spectating at CicLAvia. Participants can show up anywhere along the route between 9am-4pm to enjoy the open streets, take the time to explore, and see where the day takes you.
 
Light Gauge Workshop: Cook with the Sun
Sunday, August 17 | 12 - 2:30 pm
M&A x Craft Contemporary Courtyard
5814 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Free 
 
Join us for a lunchtime workshop on solar cooking! Led by Jacqueline Falcone, curator and early childhood educator, this kids-friendly activity guides participants in producing DIY ovens that harness solar light and amplify energy. Under Light Gauge, which provides a clean-energy resource to the courtyard, this solar cooking activity explores another scale of solar power through accessible materials and means that may be replicated to heat all kinds of foods. During this workshop, s’mores will be on the menu! 
 
 
 
The Soda-Powered Car Wash will take place from 9am – 6pm PST on 8/18 at 431 North La Cienega Blvd in West Hollywood, CA
 
Evolution Fresh is coming for Big Soda in a powerful way and shedding light on the eye-opening ingredients that the artificial, sugary beverages contain by teaming up with long-time brandnfan and fellow fruit lover Bretman Rock to bring LA residents free, soda-powered car washes.  
*if you bring a can of traditional soda to trade in you'll get a goodie

 
 
Summer concerts 2025 
Tuesday Aug 19, 2025 6:30 PM
Part of the series Hammer Summer Concerts 2025
Open Mike Eagle with Jordan Patterson and J.Rocc

See live concerts in the Hammer’s courtyard for free! Enjoy happy hour, late gallery hours, art-making, and more. 
 
 Special Screenings:
 
 
Tickets are on sale now, and a new trailer was released ahead of Academy Award®-winning producer and distributor GKIDS’ rerelease of SHIN GODZILLA. The film comes to theaters nationwide, as well as select 4DX and D-BOX screens August 14 in its original Japanese language with subtitles, including restored text cards and a 4K remaster that has never before been released in North America. The 2016 feature is directed by Hideaki Anno (NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Franchise, LOVE & POP) and co-directed by Shinji Higuchi (BULLET TRAIN EXPLOSION, SHIN ULTRAMAN) with screenplay by Anno and visual effects by Higuchi.
 
@ CGV Cinemas
 
Lee Jeong-hwan, a fierce animal trainer, lives a chaotic daily life with his rebellious teenage daughter, Lee Su-ah, who is full of passion for dancing. One day, Su-ah becomes infected by a zombie virus that has swept across the globe.
 

Boys Go to Jupiter director Julian Glander and actor Jack Corbett will participate in Q&A's at the Laemmle Glendale following the 7:30 P.M. screenings August 15-17. Actor Demi Adejuyigbe will join them on the 15th. Atsuko Okatsuka will moderate on 8/16 and Mitra Jouhari on 8/17.
 
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji (LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM) will appear in person at Landmark's Nuart Theatre on Friday and Saturday, August 15 and 16 for Q&As after the 7:30pm shows. Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait
 
611 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90036
$19.50

Ride or Cry and Brain Dead Studios present a special one night screening of Mandy, followed by a live Q&A with Daniel Noah (producer of Mandy, co-founder of SpectreVision) with special guest moderator Austin Feinstein (Slow Hollows).
 
 
"The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most prolific meteor showers of the year. The shower is active from mid-July until late August and will peak on the night of Aug. 12, before dawn on Aug. 13, 2025.

Viewers should start observing around 11 p.m. local time when the rates of shooting stars increase and can watch the sky until dawn. Unfortunately, the peak occurs just three days after a full moon, so moonlight may wash out fainter meteors."

Further Out: 
 
AREA 29: Galactic Gathering returns to Twentynine Palms from August 14–17, and it’s bigger, weirder, and more out-of-this-world than ever.
 

 
 Extra:
 
Free Hours at the Autry
Every Tuesday and Wednesday from 1-4 p.m.
Update: During this Wildfire season, The Autry closes off, please check day of event

Let the Autry cover your next visit with Free Hours at the Autry. Every Tuesday and Wednesday from 1-4 p.m. will be free to all Autry visitors. Enjoy access to all the Autry's exhibitions including Imagined Wests, Reclaiming El Camino and more by reserving your spot today!
 

Thanks to the generous support of the Autry Foundation, Free Hours at the Autry* are every Tuesday and Wednesday from 1-4 p.m.
 
UCB, a cheapo comedy show almost every night, see comedians before they make podcasts and have
stories about the UCB and before they hit the big time.
 

American Cinematheque-A celebrated independent theater group that brings both the talent and catalog of films to make for some of LA's best movie nights.
 

Street Food Cinema-Outdoor cult or recent hits you'll love.

Check out classics and cult movies just a few stories above street level. Rooftop Movies at The Montalbán.


 New Bev-Tarantino owned independent theater with old school style
 
Brain Dead Studios-manages to fill its schedule almost every night
611 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
 
Vidiots -A one-of-a-kind hub for film lovers, filmmakers, and everyone curious about cinema. A small theater is more than made-up for with the constant content and special screenings.
4884 Eagle Rock Blvd
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