The Brief

Listen to a day of live music at the Leimert Park Jazz Festival. Attend a silent film festival. Shop at RuPaul’s Drag Race Drag Sale pop-up.

Events

Friday, Aug. 25; 7 - 9 p.m.

Friday Movie Nights | Detective Pikachu
Japan House L.A.
Ovation Hollywood, Center Courtyard
6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood 
As part of Japan House Los Angeles’ fifth-anniversary celebration, they’re partnering with Ovation Hollywood to present a free movie night featuring snacks, prizes, and the hit film Detective Pikachu. The film was selected to complement the POKÉMON X KOGEI | Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft exhibition.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Saturday, Aug. 26; 12:30 - 9 p.m. 

4th Annual Leimert Park Jazz Festival
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
3650 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw
The festival has grown organically from a neighborhood block party to a grand celebration of music artists, visual artists, small businesses and nonprofits in South L.A. Performers include Poncho Sanchez, Keyon Harrold, Gerald Clayton and Carmen Lundy. Additional activities include the Visual Arts Pavilion, a Community Resource Zone, a Kids’ Zone, food trucks, and a wine and beer lounge.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Saturday, Aug. 26; 6 p.m.

Off the 405: Alabaster DePlume
Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Dr., Brentwood
The Getty’s free concert series "Off the 405" ends its season this weekend with a performance from British poet and saxophonist Alabaster DePlume. “His songs are built on sonorous circular melodies and luminous tones that transmit calmness and generosity in warm waves—unless they’re raging against complacency and the everyday inhumanity of end-times capitalism.”
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

HIP-HOP SOUNDS & STORIES: A 50 & Forever Celebration Through the Decades is a free, two-day multimedia experience.

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Courtesy of NTWRK

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Saturday, Aug. 26; 11 a.m.

Hip-Hop Sounds & Stories: A 50 & Forever Celebration Through the Decades
NTWRK LA
433 N. Fairfax Ave., Beverly Grove
This weekend, NTWRK, Amazon Music and Audible present a multimedia experience that celebrates the various formats and methods of listening to hip-hop over the last five decades. On Saturday morning, attend a panel discussion exploring hip-hop's history. Panelists include visual artist Glen Infante, Amazon Music Artist Relations Manager Josh Peas, hip-hop DJ and multiplatinum artist DJ Drama, and music journalist, author and narrator of The Motherlode Clover Hope. The event also features performances from special guests. The exhibition space will be open all day on Sunday as well.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Sierra Madre Playhouse presents 'The Camera Is Ours,' a silent film festival featuring films before and after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment (1920).

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Courtesy of the Sierra Madre Playhouse

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Saturday, Aug. 26 - Sunday, Aug. 27

The Camera Is Ours Silent Film Festival
Sierra Madre Playhouse
87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre
The silent film festival features films released before and after the passage of the 19th Amendment (1920). The films, including The Perils of Pauline and Sparrows, will be accompanied on the piano by the noted accompanist and film historian Frederick Hodges. The festival also includes workshops and discussions.
COST: $25 - $75; MORE INFO

Saturday, Aug. 26 - Sunday, Aug. 27; 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

7th Annual Festival Chapín Los Angeles 
Lafayette Park
625 S. Lafayette Park Pl., Westlake
The annual event is a celebration of Guatemalan culture and community through the country’s history, folklore, music, arts and crafts and “Chapín” gastronomy, which includes dishes such as garnachas (similar to a Mexican ‘sope’), shucos (Guatemalan-style hot dogs), chicken enchiladas and hilachas (stewed meat). Music artists include Marimba Orquesta Alegría Chapina, Raúl Acosta y Oro Solido and Los Miseria Cumbia Band.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Saturday, Aug. 26; noon

VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Finals Day
Kia Forum
3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90305
Esports fans should head to the Forum to watch the last two teams battle it out for the VALORANT Global Champion title. The finals culminate a yearlong VCT esports global circuit for this tactical shooter game. The opening ceremony for the finals also includes musical performances from Grabbitz, bbno$, ericdoa, Emei and Jazz Alonso.
COST: Tickets start at $57; MORE INFO

Corey Helford Gallery opens 'Peering Through the Darkness,' featuring new works from Los Angeles art scene painter Luke Chueh.

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'Walking through the Valley,' Courtesy of the artist and Corey Helford Gallery

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Saturday, Aug. 26 - Saturday, Sept. 30

Luke Chueh: Peering Through the Darkness
Corey Helford Gallery
571 S. Anderson St., Boyle Heights
The gallery presents its next major solo show, featuring new works from contemporary artist Luke Chueh, whose style blends elements of pop art, minimalism and surrealism. Also opening at the gallery is a solo show from Pop-Surrealist painter, illustrator and comic artist Camilla d'Errico. Also present is the annual Buy Art Save Kittens fundraiser (presented in partnership with Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats). The opening reception takes place on Saturday, Aug. 26, from 7 to 11 p.m.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Saturday, Aug. 26; 12 - 4 p.m.

World of Wonder Pop-Up Store - RuPaul’s Drag Race Drag Sale
World of Wonder Gallery 
6650 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood 
Shop a one-day sale that features merchandise from famed drag queens Pandora Boxx, Scarlet Envy, Scarlett Bobo, Ongina and Mariah Paris Balenciaga, who will all be in attendance to meet attendees. Additional merchandise will be available for purchase from Gottmik and Honey Davenport. House of Love cocktails and mocktails will be available for purchase.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Sunday, Aug. 27; 7 p.m.

Feel Good Comedy
The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
5970 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood
This all-ages comedy show features a bold and sassy lineup of up-and-coming comics including Terra Ace, Joy Wolfe, Eric Owusu, Genesis Sol, Sayaka Miyatani, Rachel Scanlon and Adrian Colon Jr.
COST: $20; MORE INFO

Sunday, Aug. 27; 1 p.m.

Happy Sundays
Various venues
Zaferia Neighborhood, Long Beach 
The music festival takes over various stages in the LBC. Check out over three dozen artists/bands, including Nectarines, L.A. Witch, Soft Palms, The Paranoyds, Julia Julia and others. The comedy stage returns this year to the Long Beach Playhouse with headliners Christopher Carmen and Shane Torres, plus more.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Sunday, Aug. 27; 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Prosperity Market
Hollywood Park (adjacent to SoFi Stadium)
1213 S. District Dr., Inglewood
Prosperity Market — a mobile farmers market that supports and highlights Black-owned businesses — hosts a pop-up event to celebrate Black Business Month and to conclude its third annual Black Business Scavenger Hunt. Vendors include The Farmer Ken, Sienna Naturals, Ghost Town Oats, Gloria's Shito, Runway Boutique, The Plant Chica, California Coffee Company, Happi Jam, Tranquilitea, The Lazy Rose Cafe, The Heart Dept, Sherman Produce, Compton Vegan, Chef Brandi Biggles and others. The parking lot entrance is located on 97th St. & Prairie Ave. and costs $5 for the first two hours. 
COST: FREE - $60; MORE INFO

Hike the old Los Angeles Zoo trail in Griffith Park.

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Rosalind Chang

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via Unsplash

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Outdoor Pick

Hike the Old LA Zoo 
Though the animals are long gone, abandoned, enclosed structures remain at the old zoo in Griffith Park. The easy hike can be creepy to do alone (though it’s now a picnic area), so if you’d like to hike the 2.5 loop trail with people, the Outbound City Project’s L,A, Chapter is holding a group outing on Saturday, Aug. 26. Meet up at the Merry Go Round Lot in Griffith Park starting at 8 a.m. to traverse the Fern Canyon Trail and the Upper Old Zoo Trail. The hike is free regardless of whether you go solo or with the Outbound group (but register to let them know you’re coming).

Viewing Pick

NFMLA Monthly Film Festival - InFocus: International Animation
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA)’s monthly film festival returns on Saturday, Aug. 26, from 2:30 - 10:15 p.m. at South Park Center in downtown L.A. The August line-up celebrates emerging filmmakers from around the world. The first program features a number of short films made in California; the second block focuses on films from the city of L.A. and the third program showcases international animation. The day also includes drinks and mixers, filmmaker Q&As and networking. Tickets: $10 - $30.

The sushi spot Santō recently opened in Silver Lake.

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Jakob N. Layman

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Courtesy of Santō

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Dine and Drink Deals

Here are a few dine and drink options to indulge in this week.

• The Victor in Santa Ynez holds an end-of-summer clambake al fresco on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. Tickets ($125) include a welcome glass of bubbly and a feast of crab claws, steamed clams, mussels, sausage, potatoes, and buttery corn, plus beer and wine. 
• Sayonara Summer is a fundraising block party in DTLA’s Art District benefiting the food security program at No Us Without You L.A. On Sunday, Aug. 27, from noon to 6 p.m. on Colyton Street (between 5th and Palmetto), guests can enjoy some of L.A.’s favorite foods, spirits and brews while listening to DJs and mariachis throughout the afternoon. Tickets: $20 - $100.
• Rossoblu in downtown L.A. holds an ”End of Summer/Ferragosto" celebration on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 5 p.m. Tickets ($125) include an Italian spritz, pasta demonstration, an eight-course dinner and live music.
• Grand Central Market in downtown L.A. holds a Night Market on Friday, Aug. 25 from 8 p.m. to midnight. Shop from the Bazaar, eat from diverse food vendors, sip on cocktails or get inked from the pop-up tattoo shop. Free admission; VIP package is $30.
• On Friday, Aug. 25, 7 to 11 p.m., the L.A. Zoo’s popular Brew at the Zoo event returns for its 11th installment. The night features more than 40 breweries and cideries, with pub-style food options, live music, a DJ dance party, and, of course, wild things. Standard, early admission, VIP tickets and designated driver tickets are available. Food is only included in the VIP option. Ages 21+. Admission: $50 - $175.  
• Kevin Hart’s plant-based Hart House celebrates its first anniversary. On Aug. 25, all Hart House locations launch the limited time-offer “House Party” shake — vanilla mint cream swirled with dairy-free whipped topping and chocolate drizzle (available through Sept. 12). Customers also get a free cookie with the purchase of any meal. The Hart House Hollywood (6800 Sunset Blvd.) and University Park South (3726 S. Figueroa) locations are also hosting parties from 6 to 8 p.m. with swag giveaways, games and a DJ.
• The sushi and hand roll bar Santō opened in Silver Lake on Sunset Blvd. last week. Much like its original location in Mexico City, the new location offers both sushi classics and signature items including a torched hamachi nigiri with Oaxacan chocolate and Colima salt; otoro sashimi seared with Binchōtan (a Japanese coal), and items featuring vegan tuna and salmon from Fysh (which is a tapioca based product) for a vegan spicy tuna hand roll and more. The dessert menu features flavors (ube, matcha, et al.) from Pazzo Gelato across the street.

DUARTE, Calif. — Veteran actor T.K. Carter, who appeared in the horror film "The Thing" and "Punky Brewster" on television, has died at the age of 69.

Carter was declared dead Friday evening after deputies responded to a call regarding an unresponsive male in Duarte, California, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Police did not disclose a cause of death or other details, but said no foul play was suspected.

Thomas Kent "T.K." Carter was born Dec. 18, 1956, in New York City and was raised in Southern California.

He began his career in stand-up comedy and with acting roles. Carter had been acting for years before a breakthrough role as Nauls the cook in John Carpenter's 1982 horror classic, "The Thing." He also had a recurring role in the 1980s sitcom "Punky Brewster."

Other big-screen roles include "Runaway Train" in 1985, "Ski Patrol" in 1990 and "Space Jam" in 1996.

"T.K. Carter was a consummate professional and a genuine soul whose talent transcended genres," his publicist, Tony Freeman, said in a statement. "He brought laughter, truth, and humanity to every role he touched. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists and fans alike."

Copyright 2026 NPR

Downtown Los Angeles

A person in an inflatable frog suit holds a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Etienne Laurent

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AFP via Getty Images

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A woman holds incense during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Etienne Laurent

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AFP via Getty Images

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A person holds up a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP via Getty Images)

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Etienne Laurent

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AFP via Getty Images

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A person holds up a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Etienne Laurent

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AFP via Getty Images

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A tourist bus drives past as people protest in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Etienne Laurent

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AFP via Getty Images

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Pasadena

Alison Brett (far right) of La Crescenta at the Ice Out For Good protest in Pasadena on Jan. 10, 2026.

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Josie Huan

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LAist

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Casey Law of South Pasadena at Ice Out For Good protest in Pasadena on Jan. 10.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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People have been taking to the streets nationwide this weekend to protest the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, a 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer this week.

At least 1,000 events across the U.S. were planned for Saturday and Sunday, according to Indivisible, a progressive grassroots coalition of activists helping coordinate the movement it calls "ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action."

Leah Greenberg, a co-executive director of Indivisible, said people are coming together to "grieve, honor those we've lost, and demand accountability from a system that has operated with impunity for far too long."

"Renee Nicole Good was a wife, a mother of three, and a member of her community. She, and the dozens of other sons, daughters, friends, siblings, parents, and community members who have been killed by ICE, should be alive today," Greenberg said in a statement on Friday. "ICE's violence is not a statistic, it has names, families, and futures attached to it, and we refuse to look away or stay silent."

Large crowds of demonstrators carried signs and shouted "ICE out now!" as protests continued across Minneapolis on Saturday. One of those protestors, Cameron Kritikos, told NPR that he is worried that the presence of more ICE agents in the city could lead to more violence or another death.

"If more ICE officers are deployed to the streets, especially a place here where there's very clear public opposition to the terrorizing of our neighborhoods, I'm nervous that there's going to be more violence," the 31-year grocery store worker said. "I'm nervous that there are going to be more clashes with law enforcement officials, and at the end of the day I think that's not what anyone wants."

Demonstrators in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.

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Sergio Martínez-Beltrán

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NPR

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The night before, hundreds of city and state police officers responded to a "noise protest" in downtown Minneapolis. An estimated 1,000 people gathered Friday night, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and 29 people were arrested.

People demonstrated outside of hotels where ICE agents were believed to be staying. They chanted, played drums and banged pots. O'Hara said that a group of people split from the main protest and began damaging hotel windows. One police officer was injured from a chunk of ice that was hurled at officers, he added.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the acts of violence but praised what he said was the "vast majority" of protesters who remained peaceful, during a morning news conference.

"To anyone who causes property damage or puts others in danger: you will be arrested. We are standing up to Donald Trump's chaos not with our own brand of chaos, but with care and unity," Frey wrote on social media.

Commenting on the protests, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NPR in a statement, "the First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting, assault and destruction," adding, "DHS is taking measures to uphold the rule of law and protect public safety and our officers."

Good was fatally shot the day after DHS launched a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota set to deploy 2,000 immigration officers to the state.

In Philadelphia, police estimated about 500 demonstrators "were cooperative and peaceful" at a march that began Saturday morning at City Hall, Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson Tanya Little told NPR in a statement. And no arrests were made.

In Portland, Ore., demonstrators rallied and lined the streets outside of a hospital on Saturday afternoon, where immigration enforcement agents bring detainees who are injured during an arrest, reported Oregon Public Broadcasting.

A man and woman were shot and injured by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Thursday in the city. DHS said the shooting happened during a targeted vehicle stop and identified the driver as Luis David Nino-Moncada, and the passenger as Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, both from Venezuela. As was the case in their assertion about Good's fatal shooting, Homeland Security officials claimed the federal agent acted in self-defense after Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras "weaponized their vehicle."
Copyright 2026 NPR

Bob Weir, the guitarist and songwriter who was a founding member of the popular and massively influential American rock band the Grateful Dead, has died. According to a statement from his family posted on his website and social media pages, Weir died from underlying lung issues after recently beating cancer. He was 78.

A member of the Dead for its first three decades, and a keeper of the flame of the band's legacy for three more, Weir helped to write a new chapter of American popular music that influenced countless other musicians and brought together an enormous and loyal audience. The Grateful Dead's touring, bootlegging and merchandising set an example that helped initiate the jam-band scene. Its concerts created a community that brought together generations of followers.

Known to fans as "Bobby," he was born in San Francisco as Robert Hall Parber, but was given up for adoption and raised by Frederick and Eleanor Weir. In 1964, when he was still a teenager, Weir joined guitarist Jerry Garcia in a folk music band, Mother Mcree's Uptown Jug Band. In May of 1965 Weir and Garcia were joined by bassist Phil Lesh, keyboard player Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and drummer Bill Kreutzmann to form an electric, blues-based rock and roll band that was briefly named The Warlocks. After discovering that there was another band using that name, Jerry Garcia found a phrase that caught his eye in a dictionary and in December of that year they became the Grateful Dead, launching a 30-year run over which time they grew into a cultural institution.

Weir was a singular rhythm guitarist who rarely played solos, choosing instead to create his own particular style of chording and strumming that gracefully supported Garcia's distinctive guitar explorations especially during the extended jams which were the heart of the band's popularity.

Lyrics were largely a product of a communal effort between Weir and Garcia, as well as lyricists John Perry Barlow, Robert Hunter, that often blurred the lines between who wrote what. The opening lines to "Cassidy," which first appeared on Weir's 1972 solo album Ace and was played by the Dead on live recordings including the 1981 double album Reckoning, reflect the combination of metaphor, rhyme and storytelling set to memorable melodies that the band's audiences could memorize, analyze and sing along to:

I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream
I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream
Ah, child of countless trees
Ah, child of boundless seas
What you are, what you're meant to be
Speaks his name, though you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy

Weir's emotive singing, on "Cassidy" and other songs like "Sugar Magnolia," "One More Saturday Night" and the band's unofficial theme, "Truckin', " often included whoops and yells, in contrast to Garcia's calm and steady approach. His occasional tendency to forget lyrics was usually greeted by thunderous applause from fans.

After Garcia's death in 1995, at age 53, the surviving members of the band carried on in various forms and arrangements, the longest running of which was Weir's Dead & Company, which also featured Grateful Dead drummers Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. Weir and the band concluded their "final tour" in July of 2023, but then returned to the stage for two extended residencies at the Sphere in Las Vegas, in 2024 and 2025.

A self-described "compulsive music maker," in 2018 Weir formed yet another band to mine the depths of the Grateful Dead catalog. It was a stripped-down guitar, acoustic bass and drums outfit that he called Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. Its members included renowned bassist and producer Don Was.In October of 2022, Weir & Wolf Bros worked with a classical music arranger to present yet another iteration of the Dead's catalog, notable for never being played the same way twice, with a group that largely only plays what's written on the paper in front of them, the 80-piece National Symphony Orchestra.

In a 2022 interview with NPR, Weir explained the reason for that collaboration, and in doing so, seemed to offer a possible explanation for why the band's music stayed so popular for so long: "These songs are … living critters and they're visitors from another world — another dimension or whatever you want to call it — that come through the artists to visit this world, have a look around, tell their stories. I don't know exactly how that works, but I do know that it's real."

After Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, Weir kept the legacy of the Grateful Dead alive, touring with bands that came to include generations of musicians influenced by the group. Here, Weir performs with The Dead at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2009.

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Scott Wintrow

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Getty Images

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Weir's work to shepherd and sustain the Dead's legacy was rewarded by ever younger generations of Deadheads, the band's loyal following, who attended tour after tour, often following the band from city to city as their parents and grandparents did during in the 1960's, '70s, '80s and '90s.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in March 2025, Weir shared his thoughts on his legacy, as well as on death and dying, that had a hint of the Eastern philosophies that were popular when the Grateful Dead emerged from the peace and love hippie movement of San Francisco. "I'll say this: I look forward to dying. I tend to think of death as a reward for a life well-lived," he said.

Copyright 2026 NPR