The Brief

This article is an updated version of The Markup’s original article on how to prepare your phone for a protest, published in 2020.

No Kings Day protests are taking place this Saturday across the country. For the second time during this administration, organizers predict millions of people will hit the streets to declare that "in America, we don’t have kings and we won’t back down against chaos, corruption and cruelty."

Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

Deciding How and If to Bring Your Phone

Your proximity to organizers of a protest, your immigration status (here’s what to know if you’re asked about your immigration status at a protest) and other factors mean there is no one-size-fits-all privacy advice for whether to bring your mobile phone to a protest.

“All protesting and all marches are a series of balancing acts of different priorities and acceptable risks,” said Mason Donahue, a member of Lucy Parsons Labs, a Chicago-based group of technologists and activists who run digital security training classes and have investigated the Chicago Police Department's use of surveillance technology. “There is a lot of communication ability that goes away if you don't bring a phone period,” he said.

Leaving your phone behind means the data it holds and transmits will be the safest it will ever be, but it also means giving up access to important resources. It becomes much more difficult to coordinate with others or get updates from social media. For many, phone cameras are also the only way they can document what’s happening.

If you have access to a separate phone, whether it’s a “burner” phone, an old smartphone that you can reset or an old-fashioned camera, you could choose to bring these devices instead of your regularly used phone. However, not everyone has access to these devices or can afford to purchase a separate phone just for protesting.

If you take your cell phone with you, the rest of this guide runs through how to minimize risks to your privacy.

Use a Passcode, Not a Fingerprint

Fingerprint and face locks may be convenient ways to secure your phone, but they don’t always work in your favor if your phone is seized by law enforcement.

In the United States, the Fifth Amendment grants people the right not to be "compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against" themselves. When it comes to whether you’re obligated to unlock your smartphone, your Fifth Amendment protection varies depending on whether you’re using a passcode or biometrics like a fingerprint or face scans.

Courts have made opposing rulings on whether the Fifth Amendment applies to both passcodes and biometric locks, and most recently, a federal appeals court ruled that law enforcement can compel a person to unlock their phone using their fingerprint. On the whole, if you are choosing to bring your phone, privacy experts recommend that you use a passcode as your best option, but it isn’t failsafe.

“Police have these tools by Cellebrite, which essentially try to do tons and tons of guesses really fast on your phone to see what the passcode is. It works pretty effectively for the police because most people use fairly predictable and simple numerical codes,” explained David Huerta, a digital security trainer at the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

He recommends using an alphanumeric passcode, the longer the better. To add an alphanumeric passcode:

iPhone: Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Turn Passcode On or Change Passcode > Passcode Options > Custom Alphanumeric CodeAndroid: Settings > Security > Screen Lock > PasswordTo turn your biometric lock off:

iPhone: Settings > Face ID & Passcode >Tap Reset Face IDAndroid: Settings > Security & location > Pixel Imprint > Click Delete next to each fingerprintJennifer Granick, Surveillance and Cybersecurity Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, told The Markup, “It is legal to refuse to unlock your phone or to disclose your passcode, citing your Fifth Amendment rights if possible. There should be no negative ramifications.” Granick noted however, that police do not always act lawfully.

Subdue Your Signals (and Download Signal)

Protesters should be prepared for surveillance of their cellphone’s transmissions — even if they don’t make any calls, Huerta said.

In some parts of the United States, law enforcement has tools that can intercept cellphone signals, called “stingrays” or “IMSI catchers.” Stingrays collect the identifying details of phones in the area by “impersonating” cell towers, and newer models are believed to be able to intercept calls and messages, according to TechCrunch.

In 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union identified 75 agencies in 27 states and the District of Columbia that owned stingrays.

You can configure your phone to avoid connecting to the subset of stingrays that use 2G connections:

iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Lockdown ModeAndroid (v12 or newer): Settings > Network & Internet > SIMs > [Carrier] > Allow 2G > OffNote that activating “Lockdown Mode” on iPhone will restrict your phone use, and enhance your security, in a number of other ways; see the link above for more details. Similarly, you may experience less reliable cellular connectivity on Android without the 2G option enabled.

Huerta said that since some of these devices can scoop up text messages, you should use an encrypted messaging app like Signal or WhatsApp instead of your default one. (For iPhone users, iMessage is encrypted, but be warned: If you text with an Android phone user, it automatically switches to SMS, which is not.)

Huerta recommends Signal over other apps because it’s battle-tested: In 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia served a subpoena on Open Whisper Systems, the company that makes the app, seeking information about two Signal users for a federal grand jury investigation. The only information the company was holding? The time the users’ accounts were created and the date the users last connected to the app’s servers.

Lockdown Location Tracking

Law enforcement can also request “cell tower dumps” from telecom providers. In its February 2020 transparency report, AT&T disclosed that it received 1,289 demands for cell tower searches during the second half of 2019. The company said that the demands “ask us to provide all telephone numbers registered on a particular cell tower for a certain period of time."

Because of the risk of such surveillance, some experts suggest turning off your cellphone altogether at a protest. For instance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation recommends turning your phone off or enabling airplane mode while you’re at the protest, because it ensures that your device won’t be transmitting signals.

But turning off your phone means you won’t be able to communicate with others or use your camera to record. So if you have to keep your phone on, try to at least manage what location information your apps may have. The Verge has a handy guide for Android users, and Business Insider has a comparable one for iPhone users.

You can even turn off all location services entirely:

iPhone: Settings > Privacy > Toggle Location Services offAndroid: Settings > Location > Toggle Use location off 

Harden Your Hardware

Another scenario that Huerta suggested that protesters consider is what to do if your phone is seized by law enforcement. If you can, back up your device before heading out to make the decision to wipe it if you find yourself in a tight situation a little bit easier. There are tutorials for both iPhone and Android users.

Encrypting your phone also makes it more difficult to access information if it’s been seized, because files can only be read if someone has the encryption key. DuckDuckGo, the privacy-oriented search engine, has step-by-step instructions for both iPhone and Android users.

Neutralize Notifications

Notifications are normally a great way to quickly check messages, but if your phone is lost or seized, it may reveal information that you’re not comfortable sharing with others.

“Many times, if you don't have a chance to turn off your phone before a device gets seized, even if law enforcement can't unlock your phone,” Huerta said, if your notifications are on, “they don't even have to unlock your phone, they can just scroll down and see everything that you're up to.”

Reducing the amount of open information that sits on your locked screen can increase the security of you and the people you’re communicating with.

On Android, you can strip notifications of context by going to Settings > App & notifications > Notifications, going to the “Lock screen” section and turning off Sensitive notifications.

With iPhones, you can change how detailed an app’s notifications are by going Settings > Notifications, selecting that app and then scrolling down to the Options section and setting “Show Previews” to “Never” and “Notification Grouping” to “Automatic.”

You can also turn off notifications entirely:

iPhone: Settings > Notifications > Set Show Previews to NeverAndroid: Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications > Notifications on lock screen or On lock screen > Don't show notifications

Think Before You Share

Photos and videos can reveal more than you intend.

Image files can contain metadata that includes the date the photo was taken, the make and model of the device it was shot on, and even the GPS location of where it was taken. One of the easiest ways to strip a photo of its accompanying metadata is to take a screenshot of it and post that instead of the original image, Huerta explains.

And even if you use a screenshot, check the image for information you might not want to make public, such as indications of location and the identity of other people.

Law enforcement has access to powerful facial recognition databases. Civilians also have tools in reach that can reverse engineer the who, what, and where of your social media posts. One way to mitigate these is to cover up identifying information using an emoji or by drawing over it with a solid color.

Signal Messenger also allows users to blur the faces of people in its camera image editor.

Physicalize Your Phonebook

Phones can run out of battery or get lost, broken or taken away. Don’t make it your only way to access important contact information.

Reporter Madeleine Davies suggested writing down the phone number of a lawyer or emergency contact on your arm with a Sharpie.

The National Lawyers Guild operates legal support hotlines across the United States that are specifically for people who have been arrested at political demonstrations. Look up a hotline for your area and write it down.

This article was originally published on The Markup and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

It’s only been a month since the federal government shutdown caused the 5.5 million Californians who use CalFresh — the state’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — to see their payments delayed.

And although payments of SNAP (formerly referred to as food stamps) have restarted, another holiday season is around the corner, putting extra strain on folks who are food insecure in the Bay Area.

One positive development: The CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program — a state program offering SNAP recipients up to $60 of free produce each month — has restarted as of November.

The program, which first launched in 2023, is dependent on state-allocated annual funds that are spent until they’re used up, and the 2024 cycle ran out for CalFresh users back in January of this year.

But this year, the program has received an injection of $36 million, which is projected to last until summer 2026.

In previous years, the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program has made “a real, real difference to so many families,” before its funds were used up, said Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San José), who chairs the state Legislature’s Human Services Committee with oversight of CalFresh policy.

But despite that, he said, “still only a small percentage of all CalFresh-eligible families are using it.”

While only six stores in the Bay Area are participating in the program right now — almost all of them in the South Bay — anyone receiving CalFresh benefits can automatically receive $60 worth of fresh produce each month if they’re able to reach one of these locations.

Keep reading for how the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program works, where it’s available and how to redeem your money in-store.

And if you don’t need this information yourself right now, consider sharing it with someone else who might: “One in five Californians suffer from food insecurity,” Lee said. “So statistically speaking, you are, or you know someone who is struggling with food.”

Can anyone on CalFresh use the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program?

Yes: If you receive any CalFresh (SNAP) benefits, you have automatic access to the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program at participating stores (see below).

You don’t need to apply for anything, as your EBT card itself is your proof of eligibility.

Can I use the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program in any store that accepts EBT?

No: You’ll need to visit one of the specific stores participating in the program.

In the Bay Area, almost all of these stores are in Santa Clara County:

• Santa Fe Foods, 860 White Road, San José
• Arteaga’s Food Center, 204 Willow St., San José
• Arteaga’s Food Center, 1003 Lincoln Ave., San José
• Arteaga’s Food Center, 2620 Alum Rock Ave., San José
• Arteaga’s Food Center, 6906 Automall Pkwy., Gilroy

In Alameda County, you can use the program at:

• Santa Fe Foods, 7356 Thornton Ave., Newark

There are also participating stores in Monterey and Salinas counties, and several in the Los Angeles area. See a full list of grocery stores participating in the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program.

How do I use the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program in the store?

First, make sure you’re in one of the stores participating in the program — mistakes can happen — and that you’ve brought your EBT card with you.

Next, do your shopping as normal, and pick up fresh fruits and vegetables as part of your trip. You don’t have to separate the produce or pay for it in a different transaction.

At the register, tell the cashier you’d like to use your EBT card to pay for your shopping, like you usually would. When it comes to the fresh fruits and vegetables in your cart, you’ll initially see the costs of those particular items come off your EBT funds — but then those funds will be immediately returned, making that produce effectively free at the register.

Another way of seeing it: If your cart amounts to $15 of EBT-eligible food, including $5 of produce, you’ll initially see $15 debited from your card on the screen — but then you’ll see the instant rebate of $5 for your produce, meaning your final receipt will only be $10.

“People don’t have to enroll and do anything different; they don’t have to keep track of some paper coupon or some other card,” said Eli Zigas, executive director of Fullwell: the Bay Area nonprofit advocacy organization partnering with the state to administer the program this year.

“It’s all built into the EBT card at the participating locations,” he said.

And while you can get these instant rebates for up to $60 worth of produce each month, remember: You don’t have to “spend” that $60 up in one transaction. Your EBT will automatically keep track of your produce purchases and just stop issuing the instant rebates once you’ve hit that $60 cap for the month.

Does the amount of produce I can buy using the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program depend on how much I’m receiving in CalFresh benefits?

No: Every CalFresh household can get up to $60 of free fresh fruits and vegetables with their EBT card, regardless of the amount of benefits they receive. It’s a flat amount for all SNAP users in the state.

My EBT balance is at $0 right now. Can I still use the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program?

No: To get the instant rebate on money spent on fresh fruit and vegetables, you’ll first need to actually spend those funds using your EBT card — even though you’ll immediately get the money back onto that card.

If you don’t have any money on your EBT card available, you’ll have to wait until your CalFresh funds are reloaded next month to be able to use the program again. But remember that if your EBT funds are running low, you can still spend a smaller amount — or whatever’s available on your card — on fresh fruit and vegetables and receive the money back instantly, until you’ve maxed out that $60-per-month cap.

Is there a deadline to use the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program?

The $36 million approved in the most recent state budget by the California legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom for the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program “is three and a half times more money than this program has ever had previously for an annual cycle,” Zigas said.

In previous years, Lee said, the funding would last for different periods “because the program was so wildly successful and oversubscribed that it would run out for a while.”

So what about 2026? “We estimate, based on previous usage, that the program will have funds to run through the summer,” Zigas said.

But after summer arrives, Zigas said, “it’s all going to depend on what the usage is, and whether there’s renewed funding.” So while you still have many months to try the program, you shouldn’t wait too long — not least because each month that passes will bring another $60 for you to spend on produce.

In the wake of the SNAP delays caused by the government shutdown, “I think people have seen recently more than ever before how important CalFresh is and how much people are struggling to put food on the table,” Zigas said. “We would love to see this program not only operate continuously all year long without interruption, but also expand — because it’s a limited number of grocery stores right now offering this program, and it could be so much bigger.”

Is the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program the same as Market Match, and can I use both?

Market Match is a statewide program that distributes funds to farmers’ markets across California, allowing people using CalFresh to “match” an amount of their choosing from their EBT card at the market with tokens to spend at that location — essentially doubling their funds.

Market Match is a separate state program from the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program, but people on CalFresh can use both programs.

Learn more about the Market Match program, and watch KQED’s video on how to use your EBT card at your local market.

Why does the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program focus on fresh produce specifically?

The program’s focus on fresh fruit and vegetables “is recognizing that CalFresh benefits, as good as they are, are often insufficient for people to afford the food that they want for their families,” Zigas said.

This is especially true of fresh fruits and vegetables, he said, “which are harder to justify buying when you have less income because they’re not shelf stable, and you don’t know if your kids are necessarily going to like them.

“People would like to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, and often just don’t feel like they can make that choice — or afford it,” he said.

There isn’t a ton of research into the effectiveness of making people prove they have jobs in order to access social services. But what evidence there is points in one direction: Placing work requirements on programs like Medicaid does almost nothing to increase employment or hours worked, while actively hurting people in need.

With roughly 15 million Californians relying on Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid, for their health coverage, the Golden State is staring that grim truth in the face.

A significant part of Congress’ so-called Big Beautiful Bill’s takedown of Medicaid funding revolves around forcing people to show that they’re working 80 hours each month before they can receive benefits. And with about a year left until that requirement takes effect, California policymakers are scrambling to mitigate its most toxic effects — even if they are legally required to implement the broader law.

“At the end of the day, there’s not a full workaround,” said Hannah Orbach-Mandel, a policy analyst at the nonpartisan California Budget & Policy Center. “But I do believe there are some ways that California can try to be a little creative about how the law is implemented, and people are looking into that now.”

Those possibilities include using California’s relatively high minimum wage ($16.90 an hour in 2026) to propose substituting income earned for hours worked under the new Medicaid rules, along with ways to streamline what is likely to be a nightmarish bureaucratic task of recording and verifying the information the federal government is demanding.

The stakes are certainly high enough. According to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, as many as 3 million Californians could be thrown off Medi-Cal based on the work requirement alone — a significant portion of the many millions of Americans across the country who face a similar fate. While the actual numbers will rise or fall depending upon how the requirements are implemented, the resulting strain on California’s health care system from fewer patients and more unreimbursed care could buckle it.

The work requirement derives from a generations-old Republican talking point that most people on public assistance could be working, but are either too lazy or unmotivated to do so. Research has disproven that theory repeatedly.

As of 2023, nearly two-thirds of all adults aged 19-64 on Medicaid were working full-time or part-time, according to the health policy research site KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among the remainder who weren’t working, the vast majority fell into one of three categories: sick or disabled, caregiving for another person or attending school. All of those groups receive exemptions to the work requirement in the new law.

It’s no surprise, then, that the Congressional Budget Office has already said implementing work requirements for Medicaid recipients won’t move the needle on employment. During debate on a 2023 Medicaid bill, the CBO concluded that “the employment status of, and hours worked by, Medicaid recipients would be unchanged” by work requirements.

A couple of states have tried such restrictions themselves, with disastrous consequences. In the first seven months after Arkansas implemented work requirements in 2018, for example, roughly 18,000 people lost their Medicaid coverage — most of them, state officials said, not because they didn’t qualify, but because they either didn’t understand the new rules or couldn’t navigate the maze of administrative details and gave up, losing their health care access in the process.

Meanwhile, there was no notable improvement to the state’s employment numbers or to its total number of hours worked, a finding that has been confirmed by more recent research. The Arkansas requirements were halted in 2019 by a federal judge who ruled the program did not meet the objectives of the Medicaid program.

Nevertheless, Republicans enshrined such requirements nationally in H.R. 1 this year, and they are set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2027. They also further mandated that Medicaid recipients repeat the qualification process twice each year. The budget reconciliation bill says that those in the Medicaid expansion group between the age of 19 and 64 must show that they’re either working, going to school, in job training or doing community service at least 80 hours a month in order to stay eligible.

Those rules will chase people off Medicaid, which could increase death rates and lead to severe financial trouble. Many of those people, Orbach-Mandel says, will still fully qualify to receive benefits, but they either won’t know it or will get lost in red tape.

In California, 3 million people suddenly losing their health coverage means they’ll likely have no health insurance and no access to regular care, and will instead wait to see a doctor until they need to go to the emergency room — the one place where they know they cannot be denied care even if they can’t pay.

It all adds up to a massive new strain on an already overburdened health care system.

“That burden ends up falling on a lot of hospitals, like safety-net facilities,” Orbach-Mandel said. Many of those hospitals are already struggling to survive financially. The combination of fewer Medi-Cal patients and higher unreimbursed emergency room costs could drive them to discontinue certain services or face possible closure, as hospitals in Willows and Inyo County recently have discussed.

The Medicaid takedown is an almost perfectly Trumpian gambit: It helps to finance massive tax cuts for the nation’s richest individuals at the expense of some of the most vulnerable Americans, many of whom voted for Donald Trump. Republicans championed the work requirements mostly as a way to kick people off Medicaid.

That they will do — an estimated 6.3 million nationally, though some estimates run many multiples higher than that. California’s total may run higher or lower than the Newsom administration’s 3 million estimate as well, in part because there is no guidance yet on how the requirements are to be administered or monitored.

Orbach-Mandel said the state is ultimately responsible for gathering and producing the relevant documentation. Much of that work will be farmed out to California’s cash-strapped counties that could be saddled with building out the verification process.

Clarifying how that process should work is one way the state could ease some of the administrative effects of the new requirements. In terms of keeping more people eligible for Medi-Cal, the state’s minimum wage may come into play.

Orbach-Mandel said that one idea being tossed around is using the statewide minimum wage in a calculation of what California workers’ output is actually worth. Since that wage is higher than most other states and way above the national minimum of $7.25 per hour, California might argue that its Medicaid enrollees can prove a certain amount of earnings, rather than have to document the 80-hour work requirement.

Since federal implementation guidelines are still lacking, no one is certain what the final rules will be. It’s also possible that Congress ultimately postpones the start of the program, especially given Trump’s miserable approval numbers — and the fact that his approach to health care is the lowest-rated component of those.

Put simply, Trump’s coattails aren’t what they used to be. The Medicaid work requirements are looming, yes — but for many of the president’s longtime Republican loyalists in Congress, the 2026 midterms are going to happen first.

Copyright 2025 Capital & Main

Eleven Los Angeles County workers have been charged with felony grand theft for claiming unemployment benefits, despite working full time during the pandemic, according to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office on Friday.

Similar charges were field against 13 other county employees in October.

The D.A.'s office said the 24 individuals allegedly submitted fraudulent unemployment insurance claims totaling more than $740,000 to the California Employment Development Department between 2020 and 2023 — even though each was working full time and earning at least $3,000 a month.

The D.A.'s office says it will seek restitution from each person and that the county has reimbursed the state for the stolen money.

If convicted, 23 of the defendants face a maximum sentence of three years in state prison. One defendant faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison for additional charges.

The Auditor-Controller’s Office estimates that the county has lost more than $3.5 million from unemployment insurance fraud during the pandemic — either committed by county employees or by those faking the identities of county employees.

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Friday.

All December, local pop-ups and community arts spaces are hosting holiday markets on the Eastside.

Whether you’re trying to find one-of-a-kind pieces, handmade jewelry, or simply looking to support small businesses during the holidays, we’ve got just the guide for you.

Holiday Mercadito — Tonalli Studio

Inside Tonalli Studio

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Alma Lucia

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Boyle Heights Beat

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Tonalli Studio opens the holiday season with Holiday Mercadito, where you can shop goods from local artists, creatives and printmakers. Enjoy an afternoon of shopping while you check out the opening reception of the studio’s newest exhibition, La Morenita. The showcase will feature over 20 artists, including the works of Chicana altarista Ofelia Esparza, the studio’s co-founder.

Holiday Market Sale — Plaza De La Raza

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Plaza de la Raza

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Plaza de La Raza’s Holiday Market Sale returns this year with its annual host, Los Angeles-based Chicano artist Frank Romero. Taking place in the Boathouse Gallery, the two-day sale will feature a “stop and shop” with artists and other vendors, where attendees can buy unique gifts this holiday season. Admission and parking are free on-site.

Holiday Artist Mercado — LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes

Visitors exploring the mercado at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.

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Courtesy LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes

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Local vendors, live screenprinting, holiday-themed workshops and even a Bad Bunny look-alike contest are what you’ll find at this year’s Holiday Artist Mercado. Explore booths featuring jewelry and clothing, and enjoy coffee from Acurrúcame Cafe, while listening to live DJs. Winners of the Bad Bunny look-alike contest will take home a $150 grand prize. Only the first 15 people who arrive in their Bad Bunny attire will be able to participate. A live screenprinting session with artist Mario Hernandez will allow guests to take home limited-edition shirts of Patrick Martinez’s neon art, “Tierra Y Libertad.” Guests also can visit the gift-wrapping station to experiment with a variety of different papers, ribbons and stamps to decorate gifts this holiday season. The event is free. You can let them know you’re attending by registering here.

Goddess & Queer Jingle Mingle — The East LA Goddess and Queer Mercado

A vendor at the 2024 Goddess and Queer Jingle Mingle event in East L.A.

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Courtesy Goddess Mercado

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Monthly East L.A. pop-ups Goddess Mercado and Queer Mercado are combining Latina and queer vendors for this special holiday collaboration event. The holiday fiesta encourages attendees to shop with intention and explore the unique arts and gifts for sale. Beyond shopping for the holidays, guests can check out the East LA Farmers Market, full of goods and community resources to explore. The event will feature live entertainment, a fashion show, an art walk, food and creative workshops. From clothing, apothecary, cosmetics, books and even handmade goods, the Goddess and Queer Jingle Mingle can be your next stop this gifting season.

Brigade Artisan Marketplace Solstice Holiday Sale — Brigade Artisan Marketplace

The 14th annual Solstice Holiday Sale returns to the Pico Aliso Recreation Center this year. This free family event will feature handmade gifts, fine art, self-care products and vintage upcycled fashion. The first 20 shoppers who purchase from a vendor will be entered into a raffle to win gifts and prizes. There also will be a raffle fundraiser with proceeds for IMPACTO Youth Programming. Grab some food and desserts while you catch live entertainment, including guest DJs and Danza Mexica performances. A solstice community altar will be on display for guests to leave an offering.

Mercado Del Pueblo Winter Marketplace

Eastside Cafe and Mercado Del Pueblo return this year to host the 24th annual Mercado Del Pueblo Holiday Market. This two-day event is open to all ages and will have a variety of activities to enjoy, from live DJ entertainment to food and drinks and raffles. Attendees also can shop around to support local artisan vendors and makers all weekend long.

Barrio Flea: Holiday Makers Market — Ray and Roy’s Market

The inaugural Barrio Flea Holiday Makers Market will take place at the new Ray and Roy’s Market, which opened earlier this year. Featuring over 20 vendors, makers and curators, you can find a selection of original handmade gifts, vintage clothing, art, jewelry and prints for sale, among many other goods. The event will have holiday Mexican wine specials and food pop-ups for folks looking to grab a bite to eat. Enjoy the sounds of DJs Linda Nuves and Ojos de Hojas while shopping locally. The Holiday Market is free and open to all ages.

Holiday Mercadito — Self Help Graphics & Art

Self Help Graphics & Art Marketplace.

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Eric Jaipal

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Self Help Graphics & Art

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This year, the Lincoln Heights Senior Center will transform into a Holiday Mercadito hosted by Self-Help Graphics and Art. Attendees can shop a variety of art, high-quality goods, crafts and decor from L.A.-based artists and artisans. Explore the booths, art and vendors — you might just find something for everyone on your list here.

By Our People For Our People: Community Night Market — InnerCity Struggle

InnerCity Struggle is hosting a community night market, By Our People For Our People. The organization encourages people to bring their loved ones and shop small this holiday season. Enjoy free food, giveaways and activities for all ages, including a DIY holiday gift-making activation. The evening also will feature local artists and vendors and a free community closet.