The parade and festival had a really fun vibe overall, with some highs and a few confusing parts…read more We got super lucky right from the start--and found a parking spot in the neighborhood near Orange Street and Anaheim St., which is where the parade began before heading toward Long Beach City College PCC campus. It also wasn't overly crowded where we were, which made it a lot less stressful. The parade itself had some beautiful moments. The Cambodian pride was sooooo contagious--it was honestly the highlight. There were so many stunning traditional outfits, traditional music, and dancers that made the parade feel special and meaningful. That said, there were quite a few gaps between 'floats' - or parade participants, and at times it things just stopped altogether. At one point, the gap made us think the parade ended, so we left and went to the festival. We actually walked the parade route and the more festive and crowded part was closer to LBCC. The festival was lively with lots of things to check out. There were tons of food vendors (though the lines were pretty long), along with booths offering services and others selling different things. They also had a stage with music and dancers, which kept the atmosphere fun, and even a bounce house for kids. Be careful walking around the neighborhood...on our walk back to the car, the neighborhood had several homeless and sketchy folks trying to talk to my friend and I...just be aware. Overall, even with the slow pace of the parade, the cultural pride, performances, and festival atmosphere made it a worthwhile experience. Just wish I could've grabbed some yummy food. I stood in line for a bit..but it didn't move...so we decided to grab lunch elsewhere.

*** Beautiful day @ the LaBrea Pits.***…read more "Brasilian Day in LA" Festival was held here today from Noon to 5p, 12Sept'09. I met friends, we sat on a blanket under a tented area, listened to live music from five different performers/bands, ate foods from a variety of Brasilian restaurants and caterers, danced on a portable black&white checkered floor, and my boy even played in an inflatable castle with a slide as well. It was festive; food was good; fun for all. There were also promotional tents around. e.g. Delta Airlines to begin nonstop service from LAX to Sao Paulo this December 2009. *** Yes, I think I know where to go Xmas. ***

Another cool event we went to recently! We just happened to be in the Miracle Mile area, going to…read moreLACMA and noticed this festival. Fun, vivid, full of life like Brazil! So, we stopped by on the way to LACMA and on our route back to check it out, hang out, enjoy some food and drinks. Not a lot of sampling going on, but there were many vendors - food, clothes, soccer items, a beer garden, food trucks and a stage with bands, dancers, carnaval atmosphere. Cool and fun! We got crepes on the stick, mine had ham and cheese, my husband got one with chocolate inside. Very good. We also tried their Guarana soda! Pretty cool. Fun event! We're happy we happened to be in the area. Too bad they stop the fun at 6 PM. Bit early, right?

The hubs and I had a really fun time at this event today! There was a variety of food and drinks to…read morebe had. While we did face a few lines, nothing was outrageous. In addition, there were plenty of areas to sit and lounge. The entertainment included a 20 piece live big band made it all the more fun. An event we definitely want to return to next year.

Best time ever! For just $100 I ate and drank probably $300 worth of great food from world renown…read morechefs and famous wineries and liquor companies. There was live entertainment, a DJ and a silent auction. It's for a nonprofit charity so it made me feel good to go and have fun while benefiting underprivileged kids in LA. Organized really well. Will definitely go again.

WEHO Pride 2026…read more Before Pride Month officially ends, I could NOT leave without giving WEHO Pride the review it deserves. Some experiences live rent free in your head... and this was one of them. This year was our second year walking with Project Angel Food and somehow it was even more magical than the first. I had the honor of leading the parade with my son (with my husband under the balloon), which meant we got to set the tone from the start--twirling PAF flags, dancing the entire route, hyping up the crowd, and enthusiastically yelling "HAPPY PRIDE!" approximately 500 times (and loving every second of it). As if that wasn't iconic enough, Kym Whitley and Caroline Rhea followed behind us in the car and the crowd absolutely LOST IT every time they rolled through. And can we talk about the KTLA anchors?! They brought amazing energy all day--especially Melvin Robert! We got to chat before the parade and immediately bonded over our matching yellow moment. Coincidence? I think not. One thing WEHO Pride always gets right is the energy. Everywhere you looked there were families, friends, allies, adorable pets, sunshine, rainbow disco vibes, and people genuinely celebrating and showing up for each other. There was laughter, music, dancing, joy, and so much LOVE in the air. WEHO Pride... you did it again!!! Five stars. No notes. Already mentally planning next year's outfit and counting down until year three with Project Angel Food. ‍

WeHo Pride, we're back!…read more And this year was stacked!! From the Out Loud Music Fest featuring Ava Max, Jade, the Pussycat Dolls, Baby Tate, so many greats... including Lizzo making a surprise appearance at the Abbey. Ya gurl comes through every year now! To the Street Fair and Festival itself and the rampant cheer of all things LGBTQIA2s+ and beyond :) As a queer black multi-ethnic, part indigenous, Two spirit individual (he/they) - the history and importance of pride thrives in me and others. From our victories to our struggles, our leather folks, our allies and so many people from all walks of life coming together to be unapologetically truthful to ourselves and in the moment. The Sunday parade is always a good time and as multi-year parade marcher with various orgs including the Leather Contingent of West Hollywood, the Imperial Court of Los Angeles and Hollywood, numerous non-profits and supporter of so many great brands and groups that stretch down Santa Monica Blvd is worth it every single year, but maybe in more sensible shoes then thick cut leather boots. Celebrating small and local businesses via vendors, food spots and the bar life is a must. Motherlode was the hot spot for the bulk of the post parade fun, but absolutely check out personal favorites like Gym Bar, Schmitty's, Trunks and others. Roosterfish we meet again, but a last your VIP unnecessary entrance we had to expel a, "Hard pass!" Music was amazing and hanging out with so many of my chosen fam, fellow leather titleholder siblings, and making plenty of new friends was the vibe and then some. Everyone singing, "Like A Prayer" remixed by Madonna is something that will stay with me for a very long time. And the Mel C. DJ set. Highly recommend a rideshare, LA Metro or carpooling as parking is beyond sparse during this weekend, especially the day of the parade. Portable restrooms throughout the start of the parade on Crescent Heights, all the way down to the Pavilions and Robertson Blvd. Q Tips: Keep an eye on your belongings Be respectful. Be happy Be you! Happy Pride :)

It was today! You missed it! I didn't!…read more But there's always next year...because this event is held annually, on Sunday, around the weekend before Halloween, in front of Lunada Bay Plaza (Via Anacapa & Yarmouth Road, adjacent to Palos Verdes Drive West). Signs are posted in Malaga Cove & Lunada Bay on PV Drive West before the event. The festival is small, mostly locals who walk there from home. If you drive, park on surrounding residential streets (free). Via Anacapa is shut down between the hardware store & Yarmouth Road for the festival. There's a concert in Lunada Bay Park, right in front of the plaza. The event is put on by Lunada Bay Homeowners Association for Lunada Bay residents but open to all. Leashed dogs apparently OK, I saw several (who didn't know quite what to think of the critters in the petting zoo). No charge for entry to the festival or concert but you might want to bring a pumpkin on wheels & register to enter the pumpkin race. Great fun! Pumpkins go every which way, rarely in a straight line. People chase their pumpkins down the hill on the practice runs to keep them from smashing into whatever's in their path. I saw one wipe out against a car tire. Adults were having at least as much fun as kids with those pumpkins. There was also a petting zoo, a climbing wall, food booths, balloon artist, face painting & more. Some kids wore their Halloween costumes. The owners of Lunada Market & Deli cooked up burgers, brats, corn on the cob, sides, all reasonably priced. Delicious cheeseburger with all the trimmings ($7)! I shoulda had two. I got sunburned watching the pumpkin races! They race in groups of 5, then the winners of each race compete, assuming their pumpkins survive the first round. Family fun at its finest. I wanna enter the pumpkin race next year! I'll borrow a neighbor kid to bring with me so I don't look stupid. In my Halloween costume....

Thanks to Natasha that my boyfriend and I had so much fun at this event! Scored myself a 3-days…read morepass, but I can only made it two days. Not sure what we have missed on Friday night, but Saturday and Sunday was awesome. It was a great experienced on both days, but would have been better if we can be able to go all three days. My boyfriend and I got there on Saturday around 5pm. Parkings there are not great at all. We went circling around the area for cheaper parkings like $5, but no luck; then we went to the place across from the Lagoon Rainbow Park. It's $1 per an hour, but way better than $15 for the parking structures. We rather save those parking fees for a food tasting at the event. We came back on Sunday around 7pm and this time we parked at the same place as on Saturday to save us some bucks for food....that's how we do it. When we got in, walked over to the Cinema Makeup School area for some free simple zombie makeup. Didn't know about the Long Beach Zombie Fest until this year. It was a very cool idea and very fun event. Great event opened out for just mainly focus on zombies of all kind and also good for family, kids, and friends; basically cool for all ages. So many people and kids have created their own creativities/arts on makeup and dressed up as zombies. It would so worth it to go for all three days because they have different bands and singers/artists performed each day in the evenings; more like different kind of fun with mazes, music, food vendors, and only cost $25 general admission fee included FREE souvenir E-Photo (which I forgot to claimed), great deal to me. Oh and children 12 and under are free. We were so dead tired on Sunday, but had a great time and very memorable event. Definitely look forward for another Long Beach Zombie Fest next year.

Zombie Glorified! If you love Zombies like me, you need to come to the Long Beach Zombie fest and…read moreZombie Walk! It's a smaller festival but it's fun to watch the others dressed up in costumes and masks. Some costumes and make up are really good and really gruesome. (check out my pictures attached) The Zombie fest has many booths of vendors selling their items, haunted maze, The escape bus, costume contest, dance contest, food trucks and alcohol. There are Tribute bands Bring cash if you can, some booths only accept cash or those that does accept credit cards, charge you a small fee to use your credit card. Cinema makeup school is the makeup provider for the Zombie Fest. You can get a simple zombie make up done for free or for $15 for a latex effect, and an additional charge for any kind of makeup makeover done the way you want. They have a free souvenir E-Photo Booth for everyone with all kinds of glory, scary props to use in your picture. This is awesome, what a great memory to have for this zombified event! Parking is $15 or you can park across the street for free or metered parking.

This is a 40+ year old Dia de los Muertos celebration in the city of Los Angeles that is one of the…read moreoldest celebrations in the United States. The festival's best access is via the Gold Line. Street parking is available, however, the residents in the area already struggle w parking issues. The festivities typically begin with a ritual blessing and a procession. Rich cultural Aztec performances & altar displays give festival attendees a bit of a connection to the Mexican Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead) traditions & rituals that became frowned upon with colonialism. This unique & colorful event also has face painting for all ages, kiddie craft tables, food, merchandise, etc. Cash donation recommended but your are always encouraged to donate to Self Help Graphics low cost/free art programs. Parking: Limited Street WC: Porta potties

This event was much smaller than I anticipated. There were only a handful of vendors, and not much…read morethat I found interesting. I bought a pair of earrings on my way out, so I guess it wasn't all bad. The artists who were painting canvases at the front were pretty cool, but we didn't have enough time to sit around and watch them. We spent the most time in the food truck food court. There were five or six trucks. I wished there were more, but then again, I can only eat so much, so it ended up being alright. This would have been much better if we didn't have to pay five bucks each to get in.

The 2nd Make It Funky Festival presented by the Flock Shop LA was just as hoped it would be. A…read moresmall festival with great musical acts, both by DJ's and Bands, unlike the huge festivals with mediocre acts all day. If you are in the likes of KCRW and anything other than top40 than the $10 entrance is very much worth it. Funk sounds from Connie Price, lyricism from Wildchild, brass horn's blairing from The Rebirth, to all the wonderful DJ's that play in some of the most renowned underground venues will keep you two stepping the night away (ie: Soul Sessions, The Rhythm Section, Afro Funke, and Sonado Sunday.) The festival also had a Food Vendor Court which was filled with a couple of LA's famous food trucks. The White Rabbit Food Truck and Spring Street BBQ kept my belly full as I walked around. I am personally not a big vendor fan, but there were plenty of vendors with great stuff. The live art was very entertaining while DJ's feed the artists musical inspiration. Overall Make It Funky is an experience that I hope Chinatown and Flock Shop continue throughout the years. It brings quality music as well as great people together to open your mind, fill your belly, and your keep your feet moving.