The Brief

Last week, I checked out the Hammer Museum’s first free Thursday late night galleries event of the summer, and it was one of the most creative events I’ve been to in a long time. Folks of all ages were hanging out in the craft area, making buttons from vintage collage magazines and Riso prints with the help of Heavy Manners Library. Local bands also took the stage, and inside, I saw the very moving Noah Davis exhibit, here until August 31. The next one is July 31 — don’t miss it!

If I have one must-do rec this weekend, it’s to head south. Long Beach is hosting a bunch of great events, including the Dragon Boat Festival, the Art + Design Festival and the Vans Warped Tour. Huntington Beach has the U.S. Open of Surfing, and Spring Awakening is at the Chance Theater in Anaheim.

More from LAist: we’re remembering some local greats that we lost this week, including the commodore of the Queen Mary, and of course, the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne.

Events

Sunday, July 27 
Quartet with Dave Harrington + Robert Walter + Spencer Zahn + Kosta Galanopolous
Zebulon
2478 Fletcher Dr., Frogtown 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Experimental musicians are taking over Zebulon this Sunday for the last of the Maximum Overdub & Secret Fires July Sundays series, “exploring improvisation, collaboration and sonic ritual.” The free event features Dave Harrington, Robert Walter, Spencer Zahn and Kosta Galanopolous. Plus, Nicole McCabe will perform solo.

Saturday, July 26, 9 to 6 p.m.
2025 Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival
5255 E. Paoli Way, Long Beach
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Colorful dragon boats will line the shores of Long Beach for the annual Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival, featuring races, art displays, dancing and more. The sport has its roots in traditions that are more than 2,000 years old in Southern China and has become a popular annual tradition right here in Southern California. Teams are members of the Southern California Dragon Boat Club and practice year-round.

Saturday, July 26, 2 to 7 p.m.
Downtown Long Beach Art + Design Walk
Multiple locations, Downtown Long Beach
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Downtown Long Beach Alliance

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After you cheer on the dragon boat racers, stay in Long Beach a little longer for the quarterly Downtown Long Beach Art + Design Walk, where you can explore new public art, installations, and performances. A new mural will be unveiled at Lincoln Park skate park and the Arts Council for Long Beach is hosting guided public tours. The day wraps up with the Long Beach Walls & Art Renzei "Stand Strong" exhibition closing party with Thinkspace Gallery. Plus, it’s all happening alongside the Vans Warped Tour and the last day of the Long Beach Walls / Art Renzei Festival.

Friday, July 25, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Sinego 
The Spotlight
1601 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood 
COST: $22.70; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Vitalic Noise Music Group

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DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist Sinego headlines The Spotlight as part of a tour celebrating his new remix project honoring the late Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian with dance remixes of Sebastian’s classic regional Mexican ballads. Sinego is known for embracing the diverse styles of regional Latin music and pairing them with underground electronic beats.

Saturday, July 26, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
All Abilities Celebration 
Julianne and George Argyros Plaza at Segerstrom Center for the Arts
600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
COST: FREE WITH DIGITAL PASS; MORE INFO

Music from DJ B. Diamond, storytime with Josh Lockwood-Wewer reading The School Yard Crisis: A Captain Peanut Adventure, ASL workshops, sensory-inclusive activities and more are happening at the free All Abilities Celebration on National Disability Independence Day from Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Orange County Arts & Disability.

Sunday, July 27, 2:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Fat Kid Dance Party 
602 E Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale
COST: $25; MORE INFO

If you’ve ever felt like you have two left feet or don’t look like the people in the dance videos you see on TV, this is the dance activity for you. Fat Kid Dance Party is a body-positive dance class for everyone, and it’s coming to Glendale this weekend. Get those leg warmers ready and dance your heart out with Bevin, who’s brought the party to cities all over the country and is heading to L.A. for the first time in five years.

Through Sunday, August 10 
Spring Awakening 
Chance Theater
5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim 
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO

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Doug Catiller

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“The Bitch of Living” is one of my brain soundtrack sounds — the kind of song that is a little inappropriate but also gets stuck in my head forever. Take a listen and you’ll see what I mean. John Gallagher Jr. simply killed it on Broadway.

Now the Chance Theater is putting on Spring Awakening, the show about coming of age in 1891 that had people saying it was the next RENT and camping out in the street in NYC. The music is by Duncan Sheik of Barely Breathing fame and won eight Tonys. Chance Theater’s version stars Corydon Melgoza as Melchior, Kayley Stallings as Wendla, Brody Tarrant Sitton as Moritz and Isabella Kaplan as Ilse.

Sunday, July 27, 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.
Christmas In July 
The Baked Potato
3787 Cahuenga Blvd., Studio City
COST: FROM $15; MORE INFO 

Getting a little too hot out there? Chill out with the Chad Willis Jazz Orchestra’s Christmas in July concert at the Baked Potato in Studio City. The show features special guests Don Randi on keys, the “Magic Saxes” — Phil O’Connor, Phil Feather, Sean O'Kelley, Phillip Whack, Quinn Dymalski — and many more fab musicians. Jingle on over!

Sunday, July 27, 5 p.m. 
OMNOM
Flora Grubb Gardens
13198 Mindenao Way, Marina del Rey 
COST: $41.66; MORE INFO

Garden center by day, house tech party by late afternoon. Marina del Rey’s unique nursery, Flora Grubb Gardens, is hosting OMNOM’s signature offbeat tech house beats at their open-air venue. Dance amongst the flowers and succulents!

Outdoor Pick

July 26 through August 3
Lexus U.S. Open of Surfing 
Huntington City Beach
315 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach
COST: FREE TO WATCH, CONCERT TICKETS SOLD SEPARATELY; MORE INFO

See former Championship Tour surfers and elite young talents alike battle it out on the waves at the Huntington Beach Pier for the U.S. Open of Surfing, or check out longboarders facing off for the first time this season on the WSL Longboard Tour as surf culture takes over Surf City USA, Huntington Beach. There’s also live music from bands including Common Kings and Yachty by Nature, food and a great party atmosphere all week long.

Viewing Pick

July 25-27, 8 p.m. 
'The Wind Rises: The Natural World of Studio Ghibli'
The Ford
2580 E. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood
COST: FROM $35; MORE INFO

The only thing that could make Studio Ghibli films even more magical is seeing them under the stars. Check out three nights of films at the Ford with The Boy and the Heron, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises, each hosted by film critic and writer Carlos Aguilar and featuring trivia with prizes from Super Yaki.

Dine & Drink Deals

Friday, July 25
National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
Ghirardelli
Santa Monica and Hollywood locations 
COST: $7.25; MORE INFO

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David Calavera

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Celebrate National Hot Fudge Sundae Day with a Mini World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae for just $7.25 on 7/25, available at all participating Ghirardelli shops nationwide! That includes the new Santa Monica location and the one in Hollywood.

July 25 through August 8
DineLA Restaurant Week
Multiple locations
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO

Summer DineLA is here! Check out prix-fixe lunch and dinner deals at a wide range of restaurants all around Los Angeles. There are far too many to list all the great options here, but a few picks include Cosetta in Santa Monica offering a $35 lunch deal, LaoXi Noodle House in Arcadia's $15 lunch and dinner special and Rossoblu downtown offering a $55 dinner deal.

Sunday, July 27, 1 to 3 p.m.
Meet and Greet with Galaxy Goalkeeper John McCarthy 
NORMS Carson 
20420 Avalon Blvd., Carson
COST: FREE

Goalkeeper John McCarthy of the Los Angeles Galaxy looks on during warm-ups before their game against the San Jose Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium on June 28, 2025.

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Eakin Howard

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Eat for free (if you’re among the first 50 fans) and meet L.A. Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy at the NORMS in Carson. All fans can get autographs and take photos with McCarthy, and every guest will receive exclusive giveaways and merchandise.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Rabbi Amy Bernstein says the wind-whipped fire in January 2025 that scorched much of the Pacific Palisades, destroying her home and damaging her synagogue, “blew everything open” for the community’s faith leaders.

“If our hearts must break, let them break open,” said the rabbi, who leads Kehillat Israel where 300 families out of 900 lost their homes. “This tragedy has really pushed us closer to one another. We’re working to change the things we need changed.”

Faith leaders both in the Pacific Palisades and in Altadena and Pasadena — devastated by the pair of fires that tore across Southern California — have relied on interfaith and community partnerships to rally congregants who are picking up the pieces 16 months later.

They’ve had to learn on the fly about insurance coverage and local land use regulations while still trying to keep their scattered flock together and raising money for basic needs. Pastors in Altadena have had to fight to protect the rights of Black people who decades ago found pathways to home ownership in that community despite redlining — but now risk losing their land to outside developers who sense an investment opportunity.

And throughout this span, faith leaders have had to cater to the emotional and spiritual needs of their communities and think about how they want to rebuild their sanctuaries that were lost or damaged in the fire. More than a dozen houses of worship burned to the ground or were damaged.

Interfaith relationships have become stronger after the fires

This would have been difficult for faith leaders to handle but for the interfaith relationships that became closer and stronger after the fires, said the Rev. Grace Park, associate pastor at Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church, which burned down.

Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Jews and yogis have not just found common ground in human suffering and loss, but have learned how to lean on one another in a time of dire need, she said.

“It’s a sense of mutual affection and respect, learning from each other and leaning on one another,” Park said. “We’re sharing the joys and the deep valleys of what it means to lead through a time of tragedy.”

Brother Satyananda, a senior monk at the Self Realization Fellowship, lost his living quarters and belongings in the fire. Much of the campus, started by Paramahamsa Yogananda who brought ancient spiritual practices from India to the West, fortunately survived the fire.

Satyananda recalls one day when Bernstein picked up on his sadness and offered him “motherly compassion.”

“We share the same profession where we’re tuned to people in need,” he said. “Now, our relationship has changed because we’re tuning into each other. There’s a greater level of trust.”

Pastor BJ King, who leads LoveLand LifeCenter, worked with the late Rev. Cecil B. Murray to heal communities and build interfaith coalitions after the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

“Back then, there was a choice whether or not to get involved,” he said. “But with these fires, there is no choice. It has affected everybody.”

Pastors have had to acquire new skills

King’s congregation has switched to online services after their leased church building in Altadena suffered smoke damage. Twelve families lost their homes. In addition to helping meet people’s basic needs, King has created a program organizing gatherings to connect therapists with those in need of mental health.

“Many people didn’t even know they needed that,” he said.

One of the most powerful roles faith leaders have played after the fire is to “continue to talk with power, people in charge,” said Pastor Jonathan DeCuir, who leads Victory Bible Church in Pasadena. He and others in the region have continued to meet with local officials and even conferred with Gov. Gavin Newsom to keep things moving for their communities.

DeCuir chairs the board of a nonprofit called Legacy Land Project, which provides financial aid, legal support and guidance on building contractors, as well as medical care to those affected by the fires.

The disaster has brought a level of camaraderie that DeCuir says he has never seen among the region’s clergy.

“Denominational lines have been crossed,” he said. “Even if we have different theological stances or approaches to ministry, we are all now looking at how to care for our people and community. If we don’t come together, Altadena will never ever be the same. The people won’t be there anymore. That, to me, is terrifying.”

While a church is more than a building, physical churches do appear as “beacons of hope” in traumatized communities, said Pastor Mayra Macedo-Nolan, executive director of Clergy Community Coalition in Pasadena. Her group has lobbied for houses of worship to be prioritized on the same footing as businesses in the rebuilding plan.

“When people start seeing churches rebuilding in Altadena, they’re going to feel like it’s going to be OK because the churches are coming back,” she said.

Reimagining a purposeful future

Pastor Jonathan Lewis, fourth from right, holds a groundbreaking service at the site of the burned Fountain of Life Nazarene Church to mark the beginning of its rebuilding in Altadena, Calif., April 26, 2026.

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Members of the congregation join in prayer during the groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the burned Fountain of Life Nazarene Church, marking the beginning of its rebuilding, April 26, 2026, in Altadena, Calif.

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Pastor Jonathan Lewis poses for a photo with his congregation during a groundbreaking service at the site of the burned Fountain of Life Nazarene Church, marking the beginning of its rebuilding, April 26, 2026, in Altadena, Calif.

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On April 26, the Altadena Fountain of Life Church broke ground to build a new sanctuary after their house of worship, which had stood for over three decades, was destroyed in the fire. Pastor Jonathan Lewis, who ministers to about 75, hopes the church will be ready in time for Easter next year.

“It’ll be a Resurrection Sunday for our church, too,” he said.

Alexis Duncan, who grew up in Altadena attending that church, came to the groundbreaking with her 6-year-old daughter. She lost both her home and her church building.

“It means everything to me that they’re rebuilding because I want the church to be there for my daughter as she grows up,” she said. “This new beginning gives me and my family hope and the encouragement to come back.”

Some churches like Altadena Community Church, a United Church of Christ congregation, are pausing to rethink their future purpose. The Rev. Michael Lewis, who took over in February after the previous pastor retired, said the congregation is looking into several possibilities for the one-acre lot, including affordable housing.

“We know that a church is not intended to be a landlord and the pastor is no property manager,” he said. “But, we’re also thinking about who is able to return to Altadena? How will this rich, economically diverse community that was scattered by the fire come back?”

The church has been around since the 1940s. A haven for actors, poets and musicians, the former sanctuary also served as a vibrant performance space. Lewis said they hope to incorporate a performance stage into the new facility.

“It’ll look different from what we had before,” he said. “Once we figure out how to build community, we can decide what physical structures will help us support that community.”

As for Kehillat Israel, on May 15, members will carry their Torah scrolls back to their sanctuary, marking one of the first returns by a house of worship to the Palisades since the disaster.

Judaism has had “a long history of starting over,” Bernstein said.

“It’s encoded in our cultural approach to the world, that there are things that can always be taken away from you,” she said. “But what you become can never get taken away.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he has requested a yearlong extension of FEMA funding for L.A. fire survivors. Without the extension, the money will run out July 9.

Now the decision on FEMA support lies with the federal government.

The funds have allowed many survivors to afford temporary housing and other daily needs. Most have yet to return home — 2 in 3 survivors who were living in Altadena or Pacific Palisades at the time of the fires are still displaced, according to the latest survey of more than 2,100 survivors by the nonprofit Department of Angels. Nearly 40% of respondents reported they will either soon run out of temporary housing insurance coverage or have already.

The situation is particularly dire for low-income households: Nearly 80% of respondents making $50,000 or less said they didn’t think they could afford housing for three months once coverage ended.

“The data is clear: This recovery is not over,” said Angela Giacchetti of the Department of Angels at a news conference organized by the Eaton Fire Collaborative in Altadena on Thursday. “If you are a survivor, you know this in your bones. For many families, it has barely begun. People have just begun to stabilize. We need federal support that reflects the scale of this disaster and systems that survivors can actually navigate and access over time.”

FEMA assistance isn’t reaching most survivors

The FEMA Individuals and Households Program can provide funding for survivors of disasters to pay for temporary housing, repair their homes, and respond to other challenges that insurance may not cover. It can also help cover costs if a survivor has no insurance.

Gil Barel has been relying on FEMA funds to pay rent on a small back house for herself and her son for the last year. She said they still haven’t been able to return to their rent-controlled Pasadena apartment because of smoke damage, though she still has to pay the rent for it.

Gil Barel is paying rent on a smoke-damaged apartment in Pasadena while FEMA funds have helped her cut the cost of temporary housing.

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Barel doesn’t know what they’ll do if the FEMA funding runs out.

“ I'm really stressed out,” she said. “I think I'm just kind of trying to put that thought aside and hope for the best.”

But in the 15 months since the fires, most survivors have not accessed FEMA funding. About 60% have received no FEMA assistance beyond the initial $770 payments dispersed in the immediate aftermath of the fires, according to the Department of Angels survey.

Many have faced denials, according to disaster case manager workers with Catholic Charities of L.A. and lawyers with Legal Aid Foundation of L.A.

That’s the situation for Gayle Nicholls-Ali and her husband, Rasheed, who lost their Altadena home of 15 years in the Eaton Fire. They’ve relied on their insurance to pay for a rental in Montrose, but that’s rapidly running out. And because they have that insurance, FEMA has denied further support.

Gayle Nicholls-Ali and her husband, Rasheed, lost their home in the Eaton Fire. They plan to rebuild, but the cost is a major hurdle.

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“A lot of our ALE [Additional Living Expenses insurance] is going to run out before we even are able to get into a house,” Nicholls-Ali said.

Without FEMA or insurance support, they’ll have to find a way to pay rent on top of a mortgage. They also face a big gap in the cost of their rebuild versus how much their insurance covers. Nicholls-Ali said without the help of FEMA and other sources of funding, recovering feels further out of reach.

Funds for long-term recovery still in limbo

FEMA funding extensions have been routine in past disasters, including the 2023 wildfires in Hawaii and after devastating flooding in North Carolina in 2024.

But the agency has faced significant cuts during the second Trump administration, and there are indications that disaster aid is becoming increasingly political. For example, President Donald Trump has approved aid for just 23% of requests from states with a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators, compared to 89% for states that with Republican governors and senators, according to an analysis by Politico.

The state has also not received more than $33 billion for long-term recovery, which can help pay for infrastructure upgrades and repairs, as well as help rebuild schools, parks and homes. That money was requested by state and local leaders shortly after the January 2025 fires and hasn’t been appropriated by Congress.

An international team of disease detectives is now racing to connect with the more than two dozen passengers who disembarked the MV Honius cruise ship on the Atlantic island of St. Helena before the hantavirus outbreak was identified.

These individuals have flown across the world, including to the United States.

The risk of further spread of this virus is low since it requires close and prolonged contact with an infected individual — and those infected seem to transmit the virus for only a brief period of time. But public health officials want to make sure the outbreak is contained.

Here's how authorities are using the practice of contact tracing to contain the outbreak and keep the hantavirus from spreading.

Contact tracing 101

The concept of modern contact tracing dates to the 1930s and was part of an effort to stop the spread of syphilis. It involves locating the close contacts of anyone who may have been infected. "By identifying people who are at risk of infection," says Preeti Malani, an infectious disease physician at the University of Michigan, "you try to get ahead when people don't have symptoms yet with the goal of preventing the infection from continuing to propagate."

This is a well-tested approach for containing an infectious disease. "It's the oldest tool in the epidemiologic toolbox," explains Malani. "We thought about this a lot early in the pandemic with COVID. But we also do contact tracing for sexually transmitted infections, for things like meningitis and even measles."

Malani likens contact tracing to monitoring ripples in a pond, "trying to prevent those outer rings from propagating by isolating individuals and by identifying individuals who might be at risk of infection."

The idea that "there's a time period where people don't have symptoms but could be harboring the virus, that's what contact tracing helps identify," says Malani.

It starts by pinpointing someone with an infection or suspected infection of the disease in question — in this case, hantavirus. Epidemiologists then look to see with whom they've recently had close contact since these individuals are more likely to have been infected.

This hunt for those with the greatest probability of infection is important. "Otherwise, it becomes an impossible web to contain because everyone is connected to everyone," says Boghuma Titanji, an infectious diseases doctor at Emory University. "So you have to stratify by high, intermediate and low-risk contacts."

The next step involves public health agencies ordering precautions for those who are infected or who may be infected but aren't showing symptoms yet. Such measures may include quarantine, so that an individual doesn't come into contact with even more people — who may then become infected.

One challenge that hantavirus presents is that its incubation period can last up to several weeks. In other words, "people take a long time to become symptomatic after they've been exposed," says Titanji. "Some of these primary contacts would have to be monitoring themselves for symptoms for up to 45 days to be at the tail end of that very long incubation period."

Aboard and ashore

The work isn't high-tech but it is painstaking, requiring officials to reconstruct the many interactions someone may have had over days or weeks.

Onboard the cruise ship, "you might have an individual who is a source of an infection," says Titanji, laying out a hypothetical example. "And then they were sitting at a dinner table with one individual who then goes back to their cabin and shares a bed with their partner who has a conversation with someone else on the deck."

Once someone disembarks the ship, the number of potential interactions can grow quite quickly. This is why officials were concerned when a KLM flight attendant fell ill after being aboard a flight with one of the infected cruise ship passengers. Fortunately, the flight attendant ultimately tested negative for hantavirus.

Titanji is heartened by what she's seen playing out so far. "It seems like the international collaborative effort has been really robust and the mechanisms for containment are in place and underway," she says.

Public health officials argue that contact tracing is a powerful approach that will reduce further spread. "We can break this chain of transmission," said Abdi Mahmoud, the director of the World Health Organization's health emergency alert and response efforts, at a press conference on Thursday.

He has good reason to be confident. Contact tracing was vital during the fight against COVID-19 and helped end the Ebola crisis in Liberia, containing the epidemic there more than a decade ago. Some of the contact tracing even involved hours-long hikes through the jungle to a remote village.

Authorities are hoping for similar success with this hantavirus outbreak.
Copyright 2026 NPR

The sky above Los Angeles State Historic Park in Chinatown will be dotted with color Saturday with the annual Kite Festival.

The festival had its beginnings as a joyful protest in 2021, back when a proposal for a Dodger Stadium gondola included cutting through the airspace above the park. Organizers say last year’s Kite Festival drew a crowd of about 7,000.

“The Kite Festival, [for] some people, it’s their favorite day in Los Angeles,” said Sue Bell Yank, executive director of Clockshop, the nonprofit arts org that runs the festival. “It’s the time when they really feel connected to their city. More so than any other time.”

This year’s programming includes a kite-making station where you can build your own flying art for a donation of $5, along with art workshops and the unveiling of a large floating, inflatable sculpture by Guatemalan kite artist Francisco Ramos.