As a major foodie and one who LOVES events...this was INCREDIBLE. This was my first time going…read more(6/11/23) and I will be planning on experiencing future events. Los Angeles' Taste of the Nation returned to Culver City/Media Park for its 32nd year. I got to enjoy exceptional eats, curated drinks, entertainment, and more! It featured dozens of the LA area's top tastemakers and renowned chefs who support from across the country and lend their talents/passion to ending childhood hunger in America. I had the Admission + Preview Hour Ticket which allowed: -Ticketholders to enjoy unlimited tastes, sips, and fun with early entry starting at 12pm. So, 4 hours (12pm-4pm) -Unlimited bites from participating chefs and restaurants -Beverage Garden featuring alcoholic and non-alcoholic options -Interactive games and prize opportunities -Live entertainment Some of the booths for the 2023 event included: *Angelini Osteria *B Sweet *Beachside Restaurant & Bar *Camphor *Death & Co. *Dog Haus *Durango Cantina *Girl and the Goat *Guerrilla Tacos *Jitlada *Kali *Kinn *Maple Block Meat Co. *Ospi *Pizzana *Playa Provision *Poppy + Rose *Qusqo *Ronan *Salt Restaurant and Bar *Santuari *Socalo *Sugar Palm I was only able to try to try a few of the sets up as they were either showcasing an item that had a meat item I could not eat or by the time I wanted to try something, they were already out. Overall, I ate and drank a lot and loved every minute it!

FOOD and DRINK GALORE!!!!…read more Umami Father's Office Culini Kerry Simon Restaurant Border Grill Street Loteria Chaya Fig Black Market Scoops Intelligentsia Akasha The list goes on and on and on! I've heard about Taste of the Nation and how it is a great cause in engaging millions of people across America in the "Share Our Strength's" solution to childhood hunger. The fundraising effort of Share our Strength raise funs to support the campaign to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. Yes, tickets are not cheap.. its $110 O_o which is so expensive but when you educate yourself about the cause and understand that it is for charity and realize that the quality of food and drink that will be featured at this event, you know you will get your money's worth especially when you have a list of celebrity chefs that are behind the great campaign. I've been to these food tasting events in the past such as Taste of Beverly Hills and just from past experience, I learned to strategize my tastings by not staying in one area the whole time but picking and choosing what I want to taste at different stations. For example, I learned now to eat the stations that offered sliders, pastrami sandwiches, or other items that will fill you up faster because of all the breading. -I also learned to stay away from carbonated drinks like sparking water or soda because the bubbles is also another thing that will fill you up fast. -I learned to try to go for more expensive quality items like halibut, steak, and seafood because those items will get your money's worth. Its great to be able to want to taste everything but realistically it would be difficult to be able to drink and taste everything at every station unless you are some food eating competitor that I don't know about which in that case, props to you!!! But yea, the restaurants did offer a lot of great dishes such as grilled halibut, steak skewers, freshly cooked paella, all you can drink cocktails, a lot of seafood items which I love but also there are alot of meat dishes for the carnivores too. I met a lot of great celebrity chefs such as Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger who were both very approachable and friendly. Kerry Simon was friendly too and talked about his upcoming restaurant openings and Campanille's Mark Peel was also very nice and joked around about how there is plenty of food to go around w/out sharing.. I also got to talk to Mo-Chica's chef, Ricardo Zarate who was very gracious as well. If you enjoy meeting and talking to celebrity chefs, I think you would really enjoy this event because it is your chance to meet and talk to these chefs in a very open and informal environment. Overall great event and I was seriously in a food coma for a very long time after having all the food and drinks. They had a lot of giveaways such as a whole cacique cheese, dessert to take home, bottled sparking water and regular water, and more! *Tip- The event was HOT and SUNNY.. got sunburned so be mindful of what you wear and bring your shades and sunblock cause it does get really really hot!! You will be out walking around in the sun all day so wear comfortable shoes and wear light clothing. It would also be smart to bring a duffle bag in case you want to take home a few freebies that you get from the event w/out holding it. You won't come out of the event hungry, I can guarantee you that!!

THEY JUST CANCELLED THE 2017 Event which is a shame because I really liked the 2016 event…read more No word on refunds but let's hope for all those who bought tickets they will be coming soon.

I attended LA Weekly's Sips & Sweets for the first time this year at the Petersen Auto Museum, and…read morehad an amazing time. This event was very well planned and executed. The party was spread out over all 4 floors and there was a slammin' DJ on each floor keeping the atmosphere lively. The best part?! NO LINES!! Okay...maybe a couple of booths had lines but you could count them on one hand. The rest of the booths had no lines or lines that were a minute or two long. Signage was great too! Even the cleaning staff that was making sure everything stayed clean, were dancing while sweeping. Everything was free except for the savory food items - it is Sips & Sweets, after all, (desserts and cocktails) not a food festival. The savory items were on the top floor which was perfect after eating and drinking your way through 3 floors of desserts and cocktails. There was a wide variety of cocktails to sample - and they were decent size pours, too! The beautiful cars were works of art - they added to the cool awesomeness of the night. I attend plenty of food and wine festivals and this one ranks at the top of my list. I will definitely make this an annual tradition.

Love this place..every year the line up of musicians are worth the wait…read more Yayayayayyayay

The Culver City Summer Music Festival is A LOT smaller when you compare it to the Santa Monica…read moreTwilight Dance Series. Both are free concerts that occur on Thursdays in the summer. I prefer the Santa Monica concert more, because it's at the pier. Or, you can also watch the concert on a megascreen on the beach! The Culver City concert is located at city hall. Minimal grass space. Mostly concrete for you to sit on. There is free parking underneath city hall. Or you can park at the nearby Culver City Garages for 2 hours free. We got there at 6:30, when the concert was scheduled to arrive at 7. There was no place to sit. Every inch was taken. There isn't too many places to stand either, without blocking the sea of people sitting down. Luckily we managed to find a tiny spot in between two groups near the stage. If you get there early enough, the city of Culver City puts out chairs right in front of the stage for people to sit on. (About.. 30-40?) I don't know if I would come back. It's nice. And parking was relatively painless. And the concerts in Culver City have better acoustics. I guess I would . . . if there was a good band playing that night. *Two thumbs up*

An annual event for the past two years in Oakland, the Eat Real Festival came to LA for the first…read moretime this weekend for a two-day celebration of regionally-sourced, sustainably-produced and just plain good food. Held at the Helms Bakery District in Culver City, the festival itself was free to attend, with all food costing $5 or less. Part street food festival, state fair and block party, the event featured numerous food trucks and other food vendors, food skills demos and contests, a craft marketplace, music and educational workshops. What I LOVED: * FREE ADMISSION! * Vendors carefully chosen who provide REGIONALLY-SOURCED and SUSTAINABLY-PRODUCED food and drinks. Among the treats we enjoyed: - Hot dog from Let's Be Frank - Goat cheese from Drake Family Farms, drizzled with honey from Backyard Bees - Pulled pork slider and pork candy from Bigmista's BBQ - Burger and watermelon fresca from the Green Truck - Hawaiian shaved ice from A Rockin Ice and a snow cone from Sno-Con Amor - The flatiron, pork slider, grilled squash and fried cauliflower from the Flatiron Truck * Free SHUTTLES to/from the festival from numerous parking lots/locations throughout the area. Also easy to access by PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. Plus a free BIKE VALET. * Manageable crowds and lines (of course it's better early though). * With lots of food skills WORKSHOPS, DEMOS and even CONTESTS, the event is also very educational and fun to watch. We loved the Chicken Breakdown and the Flying Knives Butchery Contest (two teams of master butchers had to each cut up a 300+ lb steer hindquarter). * Stations well-staffed by FRIENDLY VOLUNTEERS to help you sort your TRASH, RECYCLABLES and COMPOSTABLE items. Also stations for you to refill your water bottles. My friend and I were at the festival on Saturday for most of the day (11 am - 7:30 pm) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Will definitely come again!!!

Checked out the Eat 'Real Fest this weekend. (A bay area event that decided to come to LA!!) Went…read moreon Sat during the first day of the dreaded and blown-out-of-proportion 405 fwy closure! Even w/ the closure there was NO TRAFFIC at all plus there was PLENTY of parking for the event. The event itself was held at the Helms Bakery building (which is now a bunch of stores). NO FOOD/DRINKS were over $5 There were over a dozen food trucks plus many food vendor booths! There were 2 beer gardens in the area. You could purchase a glass mug for $7- and refill for $5- (which I did). They had some great beers on tap.... Orange Wheat , Arrogant Bastard..... (You could only drink alcohol in the designated area so it was better to get food and bring it to the area so you can enjoy your beer too!) Beer Brewers represented: (http://eatrealfest.com/event/Los%20Angeles/California/2011/drink-beer) Ballast Point Brewing Hangar 24 Craft Brewery The Lost Abbey Craftsman Brewing Company Port Brewing Company Eagle Rock Brewery Stone Brewing Co. Firestone Walker Brewing Company The Bruery Wines: MAS Wine Company Palmina SilverTap Wines Inside one of the buildings they had local places that were selling local favorites like Jam/Jellies ...Chocolate.......etc (http://eatrealfest.com/event/Los%20Angeles/California/2011/eat-market) They had a stage where they showed different demonstrations...plus a butcher contest ..music.....etc It was a great day and I had a great time. Lots of people showed up...lots of families...w/ babies...and dogs. They even had a vendor there that was selling backyard set-up chicken coops so that people could raise their own chickens and have fresh eggs.(interesting!) The vendors I tried were: Bigmista BBQ (bigmista.com)- their pork sliders were great (they ran out of their chicken wings) Waffles De Liege (waffledeliege.com) - just waffles ..meh Corn Maiden Foods (cornmaidenfoods.com) - AWESOME TAMALES I would have tried more but the lines were very slow and the portions were very small (guess thats what you get for $5- ) Other vendors/food trucks: (http://eatrealfest.com/event/Los%20Angeles/California/2011/eat-vendors) A Rockin Ice Crepe 'n Around Go Country Chuck Wagon Nom Nom Truck Temaki Truck Anca's Romanian Bowers Gourmet Sausages Drip Bar Komodo Old Vine Cafe The Hungry Nomad Beach Cream CoolHaus Flatiron Truck Let's Be Frank Rokyo Vizzitruck Belcampo Meat. Co. Flying Pig Me So Hungry Truck Sno-Con Amor My only one complaint is that by 4 pm..( the festival was open until 9pm) a lot of places were sold out of food. If I didn't get there early I would have been upset. If the festival hours are from 1030am to 9pm...then you would think that all the vendors would be stocked up and have enough food to make until 9pm !! Even the beer garden ran out of their jars by 4pm which forced people to by the small $5- cups (which wasn't worth it). One of the best things about the event is that it is 100% environment friendly!! They had waste / compost / recycling bins EVERYWHERE..and they had an attendant standing by each area to show people exactly which bin to put the trash. OVERALL .it was a...great day with great friends/family and great food!!

Always a good time and another great thing the city does for free…read more If you like being outside in the summer and listening to music these events are for you.

"Hey Robin, do you want to go see KISS*?" "Are you kidding?…read moreI can't stand KISS!" "What if it's only 3 miles away with front row seating, it's free and Delius (http://www.yelp.com/biz/delius-restaurant-signal-hill#hrid:KFRZRQBd6YCfrg8D-6KZUw/src:self) is providing the desserts?" "Now you're speaking my language!" And I was treated to what turned out to be the best of the whole summer series of the Signal Hill concerts. These guys were totally into the act, making this performance the grandest finale I've seen here yet. I had so much fun up there with the dolled-up spark of high-heeled boys. But wait, I recall Gene's tongue being much, much longer... hmm**. That was about the only thing I missed with this group. I may not like KISS but I sure enjoyed this show! When I attend a rock 'n roll show, I want to be entertained and I got that in spades with these "thunder gods". *Gods of Thunder ("World's Best KISS Tribute Band)http://www.gotkisstribute.com/home.html **Having met Gene Simmons twice, I've seen the real deal ;-)

This organization needs to get their acts together. At both entrances there were long lines, one…read morecircling around the block, the main one we had to wait in line over an hour. There was no organized line , allowing people to cut the line, slowing the main line. At the gate, only two people scanning tickets. I have never seen such a lack of organization and crowd control at any event. If you are going there to take photos, there are not that many spots to shoot good photos away from the fences, get ready to fork out over $400 for about a dozen spots. Like in most motorsports, one thing this organization is good at is blocking good watching and photo spots

I think like most people here I am going to say the same thing which is I been coming to the Grand…read morePrix for a loooong time and it's become an annual tradition to come out and enjoy it all I love the smell of fuel the sounds of the roars of the engines and the overall atmosphere of the cars and people enjoying a good time whether if you are there alone or friends or family or a date it's an event for everyone I enjoy seeing all the different cars practicing or racing but also the convention center with all the things happening there and out back Food options come in the form of the kind of stuff you find at a fair/carnival and drinks too but also there's lots of restaurants to choose from Crew always seem to be friendly and it's always a smooth entrance The bad part is parking and seems to be getting worse each year This time I parked like a mile away practically wheee the 710 starts lol but it is what it is

Los Angeles Design Festival is great. What a great way to spread awareness and have fun at the same…read moretime. Being in the design and architecture industry, I love attending events like these. Especially if they are free (but we gave a donation). The Sustainable Landscape Tour was a bit disorganized but overall a very fun, educational and new experience. The tour was 4 hours and it hit 4-5 parks where sustainable plants, trees, and shrubbery were used as well as different water conservation techniques. Here are some of the parks we hit: * Marsh Park - this was an adorable and pleasant surprise!! Who knew such a beautiful and serene park existed right along the bike path and along the LA River! It has many different pockets of areas (children, grass, pavilion that you can rent, exercise machines) which were all neat. Well kept by MRCA, it's a beautiful stop if you're biking along the LA River or just strolling through the neighborhood. Plus they have their own parking lot! * Elysian Valley Community Garden & Jardin del Rio Community Garden - we only got to go to the first one due to time constraints, but what a lovely piece of land for the neighborhood to use. We saw all sorts of veggies, fruits and plants being grown. From artichokes to corn, strawberries to kale and so much more. Very inspiring and of course, timely with the whole revolution Ron Finley has started. * Vista Hermosa Natural Park - how can I not know about this park? Lived in LA all my life and passed by 1st St. so many millions of times. Wow, this was truly a hidden gem. Gorgeous grounds, gorgeous views, just beautiful and peaceful. I definitely want to make another trip out to check out everything. People were picnicking, napping, there were photo shoots going on, kids were running around. You would never think you're in the middle of LA in this park. There's a children's area, grass knolls, clean bathrooms, lots of benches and tables, and a soccer field. The views of the LA skyline are just breathtaking. * Grand Park - we have been here before but never walked it in its entirety. There's so much planning that goes into an urban park, it's really amazing. I felt so educated on the process and the procedures these architects, landscape architects and city planners went through to create such beautiful, peaceful, green space for us. Very educational as well as a great time exploring LA and parts that I would have never discovered by myself. I hope LADF keeps up the great work!

What an amazing event! There were so many options in the area to go experience FNOLA but glad that…read moreI stayed here. Apparently this was the place to be. The vendors of Robertson did an amazing job. There was plenty of fashion, swag, booze and DEALS!! Definitely made the most of the night and walked away happy with all of my goodies.

Fashion's night out = Free stuff (food, booze, etc...) and very very attractive women! This is a…read moremust in LA!