Image via Complex Original
With palm trees, laidback vibes, tacos trucks, non-stop surf season, and warm days that never end, Los Angeles is like that cool friend that is always down for anything. Los Angeles’ long days and even longer summer nights have something for everyone. You could sit around with an ice-cold beverage in hand watching other people shred some gnarly waves. Or, you could work up a thirst dancing or throwing a Frisbee. If you want the full Angeleno experience, there’s always searching for just the thing to wash down non-stop taco sample plates or perk you up before partying with the stars.
Corona Extra is not affiliated with any of the events or locations referenced in the above article.
Frisbee Golf
Address: Solano Canyon Dr. and Park Rd.
Website: pdga.com
The ultimate brochacho pastime, Frisbee Golf, has all the strategic laziness of your father’s futile attempt at a hole-in-one but enough physical activity to exhaust a Golden Retriever. With similar rules to golf in that a course is followed, a heavyweight Frisbee or disc is thrown at a target. A winner is dictated by whoever throws the disc the least number of times. For the ultimate Frisbee Golf challenge, Elysian Park’s Chavez Ridge Disc Golf Course is where dudes go to sow their Frisbee seeds along the steep sides of the little mountain, engage in a good old-fashioned competitive throw down (literally), and wonderfully waste some time. The Chavez Ridge course is open to all levels, but it helps to be physically fit and able to calculate a few spare minutes (or hours?) into the archeological dig through the shrubbery for your disc. Don’t forget to allot a little time to a midday cheers while looking down the mountain at Dodger Stadium and asking the baseball gods to send the team to the World Series. Just this once.
Tacolandia
Address: 125 Paseo De La Plz
Website: laweekly.com
In Los Angeles, the streets aren’t paved with good intentions or with gold. But they are lined with juicy carne asada, soft tacos filled with braised cabeza, chopped onions, cilantro, and a vinegary slaw, or crispy battered fish dripping with chipotle crema or some secret sauce. Hitting up a taco truck after a long summer day surfing or sitting behind first base at a Dodgers game and watching the sun turn that cotton-candy color as it sets is as quintessential a summer day as it gets in Los Angeles. That’s why LA Weekly’s Tacolandia sounds like our personal version of heaven. The event, tailor-made for both loco foodies and taco-loving locals, takes place on Saturday, June 28 and includes a ton of trucks, restaurants, and vendors. The whole event is curated by Bill Espraza, the self-proclaimed “world’s first tacorazzo” (which we think is like a taco paparazzo) and goes from 3-7 p.m. at the El Pueblo De Los Angeles in Downtown. There are different levels of awesomeness going down but even the $25 general admission, which includes samples of over 40 tacos, sounds like the sort of heartburn that’s totally worth it.
Twilight Concert Series
Address: 200 Santa Monica Pier
Website: santamonicapier.org
Forget the cheesy Rom-Com scenario of checking off a few bases in the Ferris Wheel on the iconic Santa Monica Pier. On Thursday Nights in the summer, the Pier comes alive with beachside adult activities like the Twilight Concert Series. Teeming with attractive and in-the-know young people, the Twilight Concert Series is a huge, professional show that has the vibes of an intimate, post-surfing bonfire sesh. All you need to bring is the picnic, a fold-up chair, and gratitude for the picture-perfect Los Angeles summer night that is about to unfold in front of you. All the bands are carefully-curated to make the night as hip as possible. Last year boasted up-and-comers like knife-fight rocker Hanni El Khatib, grungy surf-rockers, Surfer Blood, and quintessential California ’50s-style R&B dude, Nick Waterhouse.
Mr. and Ms. Muscle Beach
Address: 1800 Ocean Front Walk
Website: musclebeachvenice.com
If the massive delts you’re rocking can rival the ex-Governator’s award-winning bulge then we don’t need to strong-arm you into registering for Venice Beach’s infamous Mr. and Ms. Muscle Beach contest. Located on the Venice Beach Boardwalk, Muscle Beach is where all the hard bodies show off their bronzed bodies on the daily, but anyone can enter the Mr. and Ms. Muscle Beach contest as long as they meet the required guidelines in categories like Body Building, Figure, Bikini, Men’s Physique, and Women’s Physique. This all-American body worship competition takes place on July 4th, so if lifting weights isn’t your thing you can always get baked under the sun while you eat chili-cheese fries, cheer on your favorite freaky macho man, enjoy the sunset silhouetted on their flexed muscles, and wait until red, white, and blue fireworks explode over the ocean.
Dance Downtown
Address: 135 N. Grand Ave.
Website: musiccenter.org
There’s only so far doing the Dougie and “leaning like a cholo” can get you with the ladies, so maybe you should stop dancing like no one is watching and, instead, learn some slick dance moves in public. On every other Friday night this summer, The Music Center in Downtown is bringing dance lessons, live bands and DJs, a picnic-friendly environment, and sweaty party vibes on a warm Los Angeles summer night. Bringing a date to learn Samba, Salsa, or Tango will score you points in the spontaneous department and all that exercise will leave you thirsty for more awesome Los Angeles adventures in Downtown’s buzzing bar scene the rest of the night.
National Parks Day
Address: Various
Website: nps.gov
Southern California is the greatest national resources of weekend warrior experiences, not only because the weather is almost always perfect, but also because it’s surrounded by every landscape that you could ever want to conquer. There’s snow-capped mountains, arid desert terrains, forests full of giant trees, and beaches for days all within an hour of each other. Although probably one of the cheaper forms of entertainment in Southern California, the entrance fees for the National Parks are enough to deter the biggest cheapskate. That’s why the free entrance on National Parks Day is so awesome. Pack up the cooler and head to places like Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Park for some virtually free rest and relaxation brought to you by Mother Earth.
Public Star Party
Address: 2800 East Observatory Rd.
Website: griffithobservatory.org
Hollywood: where stars of all kinds come out and play on long summer nights. The brightest of the bunch bro down somewhere between the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt because the Milky Way is where the real party is at. In Los Angeles, there’s no better place to watch the action than at the Griffith Park Observatory, on a mountain overseeing most of Los Angeles. Once a month, the Observatory has what they call the Public Star Party that includes free access to different kinds of telescopes to check out what’s going off throughout the observable universe. If Cosmos is your vibe, dork out this summer at the Public Star Party goes down June 7, June 5, August 2 and August 30.
Eat Your Way Through LA: Ice Cream Tour
Address: 3901 Lankershim Blvd.
Website: brownpapertickets.com
I scream, you scream, we'll all scream when that artisanal bacon-jalapeno ice cream sears a hole into our skull from brain freeze. But that sharp second of pain won't keep most of California from licking the heat with something cool and frosty once the temperatures reach triple digits. Secret City Tours has Los Angeles' ice cream fetish on tap with their upcoming Eat Your Way Through LA: Ice Cream Tour. Gone are the days of chasing down the illusory jingle of the ice cream truck; now you can celebrate National Ice Cream Month by indulging in all the creamy goodness Los Angeles has to offer on July 26. Whether you're a straight-up vanilla cone or something super LA like a chocolate sriracha, Secret City plans on taking ice cream lovers to both classic and trendy spots. The tour picks up from the Universal City Red Line Metro Station in a bus that will take you on a chaperoned ice cream adventure that includes the price of food, tips, giveaways, and prizes. Maybe all your ice cream tasting will help you figure out what flavor goes best in a beer float. We're thinking lime sorbet.
Vans US Open of Surf
Address: Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach
Website: vansusopenofsurfing.com
Surf’s up all summer long in SoCal, but the gnarliest of beach bros come to show off their skills every year at the Vans US Open of Surf in Huntington Beach. Generally spanning a week, the event not only brings professional surfers competing to win, but also attracts skaters going for the Van Doren Invitational, a King of the Skateparks BMX Tribute Jam, and awesome bands. Modest Mouse and The Faint were two that played last year. Budding wave warriors won’t be able to shoot a curl with the professionals, but can get inspired to become the boss of their own barrel while beach weather is at its freshest.
Chinatown Summer Nights
Address: 943-951 N. Broadway
Website: chinatownsummernights.com
Old-school neon signs, punk rock history, and Chinese-style facades that have been the backdrop of some of Hollywood’s cheesiest Kung Fu movies, Chinatown’s Summer Nights is where Angelenos go to soak up some quick-and-easy culture after they soaked up some SoCal sun. Chinatown Summer Nights takes place on the second Saturday in June, July, and August and is an outdoor summer party that includes food, DJs, and live music from awesome local bands. Last year included names like Nightmare and the Cat and Fever the Ghost. There are also interactive Chinese cooking lessons, Chinese cultural activities, local retail vendors, and even demonstrations of gluttony in competitive eating competitions including Eggroll scarfing and Xiao Long Bao binging—all open to the public.