The best things to do in Los Angeles this week

The summertime screening series returns for the season, first with screenings at L.A. State Historic Park (Mamma Mia! on May 10 and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on May 17) and the Rose Bowl (Almost Famous on May 25), and then back at Hollywood Forever Cemetery toward the end of the month.

It’s more than just the low clearance: This exhibition at the Petersen explores the custom paint, engraving, upholstery and, of course, the gravity-defying suspension of the lowrider scene. In addition to iconic cars, the exhibit spotlights influential artists in the Chicano lowrider art scene.

For dinner and a movie, all in one, just follow the food trucks. During the spring, summer and fall, Street Food Cinema throws together a series of outdoor parties that include screenings of some of our favorite movies, paired with an assortment of gourmet food trucks and even a live music performance from a cool local band.

One of L.A.’s best free live music offerings, Jazz at LACMA has featured legit legends over its three-decade run at the museum. Seating for the program is available in the museum’s plaza on a first-come, first-served basis, though you’re welcome to picnic on the grass, too (you won’t really be able to see the show, but you’ll still hear it). You’ll find the series on Friday evenings in LACMA’s welcome plaza (just behind Urban Light) starting in April.

The Venice Artwalk returns for its 45th year to benefit the Venice Family Clinic with an auction and a free opportunity to glimpse the Venice and wider L.A. art scene. From May 10 to 19, pop into 910 Abbot Kinney to see pieces from Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, Ed Moses, Alison Saar, Kenny Scharf, Patrisse Cullors, Sayre Gomez and more.

See a free salsa concert every second Friday of the summer during this series at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. This year’s lineup includes Rumbankete, Gabrielito y La Verdad, Son Mayor, Son Miron and Club Mambi—all featuring Super DJ Robby.

Walk through a pavilion of fluttering butterflies and peep a chamber with pupae and caterpillars at South Coast Botanic Garden’s seasonal exhibition. For an extra $6, you can pick up a flower vial or ring filled with nectar to attract and feed butterflies.

L.A. has changed immeasurably since 1921, when this event was first staged as an agricultural fair. However, the perennially popular event still has farm-friendly appeal (livestock beauty contests, local produce) alongside the more modern acrobats, wine tastings, exhibitions and concerts.

Support emerging Asian American chefs this APHAM at this Little Tokyo dinner series with menus inspired by each chef’s identities and experiences. This Asian Pacific Heritage Month, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) will host the Rising Chef Series, a set of five-course weekday dinners ($180 per head) featuring three emerging Asian American chefs.

No, the Academy Museum isn’t staying open past midnight—but it is celebrating films that have typically screened then. To complement the museum’s John Waters exhibition and Pink Flamingos’ place as a late-night mainstay, it’ll be screening some cult favorites this April and May, including Eraserhead, Up in Smoke, Donnie Darko and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The hour stands before another springtime, and the Renaissance Pleasure Faire is nigh. Good mistresses and masters, prepareth thy schedules and costumes for the return of the oldest Ren Faire in the country, a spectacle that cov’reth 20 Irwindale acres with Elizabethan libations and amusement: fully armored joust tournaments and tea parties with the Queen along with beguiling stage acts, rides, games, delicious edibles and ales abound. The fesitivies will transpire each weekend at the Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area; procureth day or season passes in advance by visiting ye olde online box office. And no, we can’t stop talking like this.

Nature lovers rejoice! Spend a day at the Natural History Museum’s Butterfly Pavilion, which will open from March 17 through August 25 with up to 30 butterfly and moth species and an assortment of California plants. The seasonal outdoor exhibit allows for adults and children alike to witness nature up close—we’re talking having bufferlies take flight and land on your arms or shoulders. Prime time for these unique butterfly flight experiences are between 10 and 11am each morning.

L.A.’s star-studded lecture series returns—both virtually and in person—with a lineup of writers, artists, performers, scientists and business leaders who will graciously blow your mind. For both online and IRL events, you’ll often have the option of purchasing a signed copy of the speaker’s book, as well.

The masters of alfresco rooftop movie viewing have returned for another season of screenings in Downtown L.A. Known for excellent film choices and a steady supply of snacks and booze, Rooftop Cinema Club is your snazzy, comfortable and less stressful alternative to other outdoor movie screenings. You don’t even need to bring your own camping chair—Rooftop Cinema Club provides you with your very own comfy lawn chair. And instead of listening to the movie over loudspeakers, you’ll get a set of wireless headphones so you never have to miss a word.

Find the full schedule on their site, or in our outdoor movie calendar.

Every Sunday you can find dozens of food vendors at this market at ROW DTLA, with a mix of much-loved pop-ups and future foodie stars. Look out for this year’s new vendors, including Basket Taco Co., Battambong Barbecue and Taste of the Pacific.

Let the wild rumpus start at this celebration of beloved children’s author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. The Skirball Cultural Center is displaying more than 150 sketches, storyboards and paintings from the Where the Wild Things Are creator.

This major Ed Ruscha retrospective includes his meticulous photos of L.A. streets and a reconstruction of his Chocolate Room (which, yes, is a room made out sheets upon sheets of chocolate).

You might’ve noticed Johnson’s beautifully carved and gilded redwood organ screen on recent visits to the Huntington. Now, for the first time in four decades, you can see it paired with other pieces he created for the California School for the Blind in Berkeley, California—with 41 works in total on display.

Judy Baca’s half-mile–long The Great Wall of Los Angeles, a collaborative mural painted in the ’70s along the Tujunga Wash, has received all sorts of museum love in the past few years. But LACMA has a particularly unique show to boast about: The local Chicana muralist and SPARC artists will paint two new sections of The Great Wall during museum hours. The exhibit also debuts a new section of the wall, in honor of activists known as the Freedom Riders, dubbed Generation on Fire.

See how the Hairspray and Pink Flamingos writer and director’s delightfully filthy style has redefined the possibilities of independent cinema—as well as what exactly goes into making an indie movie—during this career-spanning exhibition at the Academy Museum.