Soccer fans celebrate at watch party Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, in Los Angeles, after the United States scored a goal on the Netherlands.
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Ringo H.W. Chiu
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Associated Press
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Topline:
Here’s what to know about all the games, official FIFA fan events, Inglewood street festivals and free watch parties scheduled in and around South L.A. and Inglewood.
More details: The eight games to take place at SoFi Stadium — which will be renamed Los Angeles Stadium during the tournament — include a few major ones.
The Wood Cup street fests: Inglewood will host a pair of free “Wood Cup” street festivals on Market Street during the tournament in partnership with Metro. The street festivals will take place on Market Street between Florence Avenue and Hillcrest Boulevard, south of the Downtown Inglewood Metro K line station.
Read on... for more on how to see the World Cup in South L.A. and Inglewood.
So, you’re a fan of the beautiful game. You get up early on Saturdays to watch matches in Europe, whether your team is any good or not. Or maybe you’re finally ready to bite on this whole “football” thing now that some of the best players on the planet are flying to Inglewood this summer to play in the FIFA World Cup.
Either way, there’s a problem: You’re not interested in burning hundreds on a match ticket at SoFi Stadium.
You’ve come to the right place. There are a few opportunities for Angelenos to join World Cup festivities this summer, even if they don’t get a match ticket.
Here’s what to know about all the games, official FIFA fan events, Inglewood street festivals and free watch parties scheduled in and around South L.A. and Inglewood.
When are the games anyway?
The eight games to take place at SoFi Stadium — which will be renamed Los Angeles Stadium during the tournament — include a few major ones. Here’s the schedule, with kickoff times:
Group Stage:
Friday, June 12, 6 p.m.: USA v. Paraguay
Monday, June 15, 6 p.m.: Iran vs. New Zealand
Thursday, June 18, 12 p.m.: Switzerland vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sunday, June 21, 12 p.m.: Belgium vs. Iran
Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m.: Türkiye vs. USA
Round of 32:
Sunday, June 28, 12 p.m.: Group A runners-up vs. Group B runners-up
Thursday, July 2, 12 p.m.: Group H winners vs. Group J runners-up
Quarterfinal:
Friday, July 10, 12 p.m.: Winner match 93 vs. Winner match 94
Here are the official FIFA World Cup fan events in and around South LA:
For the first four days of the tournament — June 11-14 — the LA Memorial Coliseum will host the FIFA Fan Festival with food, music and live match broadcasts.
Adult general admission tickets are $10 each; kids 12 and under get in free with a paid adult. More expensive seats are also available for $30. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster or at the gate, when not sold out.
FIFA is also hosting a series of official fan zones on specified days. Some tickets are free but still must be reserved ahead of time online. Here are the three closest to South L.A.:
June 18-21, The Original Farmers Market: Matches include USA vs. Australia and Mexico vs. Korea Republic.
June 25-28, Union Station: Matches include Türkiye vs. USA, Uruguay vs. Spain.
July 4-5, Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park: Matches include knock-out stage games.
Here’s what to know about The Wood Cup street fests in Inglewood:
Inglewood will host a pair of free “Wood Cup” street festivals on Market Street during the tournament in partnership with Metro.
The street festivals will take place on Market Street between Florence Avenue and Hillcrest Boulevard, south of the Downtown Inglewood Metro K line station.
The first is scheduled from 2-10 p.m. on June 12 during the USA vs. Paraguay match at SoFi Stadium.
The Wood Cup is scheduled to go live again from 12 to 8 p.m. on July 10, according to city documents, when SoFi Stadium hosts a quarterfinal match.
The Inglewood City Council approved plans for both street festivals during its May 7 meeting.
Don’t miss these free World Cup watch parties in South L.A.:
Parks in Los Angeles will host a total of 100 “Kick it in the Park” watch parties during the tournament, scattered across 18 sites. Full details are available here, including how to get to events via public transit.
The free events will have soccer mini-clinics, family fun zones and city resource tables. Families should bring their own blankets, chairs and snacks.
The city is looking for volunteers for the events. You can apply online.
Three sites are in South L.A. and South Central. Here are the schedules for each location.
Jackie Tatum Harvard Recreation Center:
Friday, June 12: Canada vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina 12 p.m., USA vs. Paraguay 6 p.m.
Wednesday, June 17: Portugal vs. Congo DR 10 a.m., England vs. Croatia 1 p.m., Ghana vs. Panama 4:00 p.m., Uzbekistan vs. Colombia 7 p.m.
Monday, June 22: Argentina vs. Austria 10 a.m., France vs. Iraq 2 p.m., Norway vs. Senegal 5 p.m., Jordan vs. Algeria 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 27: Panama vs. England 2 p.m., Croatia vs. Ghana 2 p.m., Colombia vs. Portugal 4:30 p.m., Congo DR vs. Uzbekistan 4:30 p.m., Algeria vs. Austria 7 p.m., Jordan vs. Argentina 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 2: Round of 32 match 12 p.m., 4 p.m., 8 p.m.
Tuesday, July 7: Round of 16 match 9 a.m., 1 p.m.
Wednesday, July 15: Semi-final match 12 p.m.
South Park Recreation Center:
Sunday, June 14: Germany vs. Curaçao 10 a.m., Netherlands vs. Japan 1 p.m., Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador 4 p.m., Sweden vs. Tunisia 7 p.m.
Wednesday, June 24: Switzerland vs. Canada 12 p.m., Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Qatar 12 p.m., Morocco vs. Haiti 3 p.m., Scotland vs. Brazil 3 p.m., Czechia vs. Mexico 6 p.m., South Africa vs. South Korea 6 p.m.
Monday, June 29: Round of 32 match 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 4: Round of 16 match 2 p.m., 10 a.m.
Sunday, July 19: Final match, 12 p.m.
Green Meadows Recreation Center:
Friday, June 19: USA vs. Australia 12 p.m., Brazil vs. Haiti 3 p.m., Scotland vs. Morocco 3 p.m., Turkey vs. Paraguay 8 p.m.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Updated August 8, 2026 7:03 PM
Published August 8, 2026 5:14 PM
The Walnut Fire burning in Burbank.
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Screengrab from AlertCalifornia video feed.
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Topline:
A brush fire burning in Wildwood Canyon above Burbank has prompted evacuation orders for DeBell Restaurant and Golf Course and Stough Canyon Nature Center, according to the city of Burbank.
What we know so far: The Walnut Fire broke out Saturday afternoon near the intersection East Harvard Road and Wildwood Canyon Road.
Read on ... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Evacuation orders for DeBell Restaurant and Golf Course and Stough Canyon Nature Center remain in place for a fire burning in Wildwood Canyon above Burbank.
Evacuation warnings for Churches Ct. and Country Club Drive were lifted at 6:20 p.m.
As of 5:55 p.m., the fire had burned 40 acres and 70% contained, according to Burbank.
The Walnut Fire broke out Saturday afternoon near the intersection East Harvard Road and Wildwood Canyon Road.
Hiking trails around the area are closed. The Starlight Bowl concert scheduled for tonight has been canceled.
Listen to our Big Burn podcast
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Jacob Margolis, LAist's science reporter, examines the new normal of big fires in California.
The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, but only because more than 260,000 people dropped out of the workforce.
It was the second month in a row that the monthly jobs tally came in weaker than forecasters had expected.
"We are increasingly hearing from workers that they are anxious about their job security and they are frustrated by the fact that they are stuck in roles that are not necessarily good for them," said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at the job search website Glassdoor. "And that's on top of workers who are not in a job right now and feel frozen out of the job market."
Glassdoor's worker confidence index slumped in July to a record low.
The Fed's job gets harder
Restaurants and retailers cut thousands of jobs last month, and local government also saw large job losses. Healthcare continued to add workers, but at a more modest pace than earlier in the year.
The softening job market may complicate the Federal Reserve's job, since it's also battling stubborn inflation. The Fed may be more cautious about raising interest rates at a time when the labor market appears less stable.
For people who are working, average wages have risen 3.2% in the last 12 months. That's likely not enough to keep pace with inflation, however, so workers' paychecks don't stretch as far as they used to.
"Part of the reason that workers are feeling bad about today's job market," Zhao says, is that "a lot of those wage gains have been eaten up by rising energy prices."
Copyright 2026 NPR
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Every Sunday night, a semi-secret event at the tony Los Angeles Athletic Club lets anyone experience a near-private concert from jazz legends — for just $10.
Why it matters: The revolving cast draws from a repertory group of about 15 artists, including: saxophonist Rickey Woodard, who played for Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and more; trumpeter Nolan Shaheed, who backed Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Stevie Wonder.
Read on ... to find the details of this hidden gem ...
It seems that jazz is everywhere in Los Angeles. Blue Note opened a club last year, venues like Sam First, Catalina’s, Vibrato and the Baked Potato draw large crowds, and hotels and bars are adding jazz to their schedules.
But every week, a semi-secret event at the tony Los Angeles Athletic Club lets anyone experience a near-private concert from legends such as Rickey Woodard, who played saxophone for Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and others; and Nolan Shaheed, trumpeter for Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and more.
That’s before you get to the evening’s singer, who might be 96-year-old pianist Betty Bryant, former Raelette Val Monroe or singer and Grammy-winning songwriter John Proulx.
Until recently, the Sunday night Jazz Salon was free. Now it charges a nominal $10 per person, which is still an outrageous bargain, so be sure to add something to the tip jar on the piano, and maybe try one of the cocktails or the steak frites.
Inside the club
Walking into the club earlier, you see black-and-white photos of all types of healthy pursuits on the walls, as well as trophies and mementos of the club’s nearly century-and-a-half history. Plush sofas, high ceilings and book-filled shelves are the order of the day, and alongside members in gym gear or lugging laptops, you go up in one of the elevators to the third floor, where the Jazz Salon takes place.
Dave Ross, bassist and founder of the Jazz Salon.
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James Bartlett
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LAist
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The bassist who built it
Earlier in the day, Dave Ross, 76, was setting up the amps, drum kit, mixer and mic stands. He also administers the website, acts as MC and plays double bass as part of the ensemble. He began the venture over a decade ago, when he persuaded the LAAC, of which he had long been a member, to host concerts in their redecorated restaurant and bar.
Ross draws from a repertory group of about 15 artists, and the concert takes place opposite the bar in a wood-paneled room of just a few dozen leather chairs and tables. This small scale makes the night intimate and unique.
Sunday Night Jazz Salon
Location: Invention (3rd Floor), The Los Angeles Athletic Club, 646 S Olive St., Downtown Los Angeles
Time: Sundays, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM (with a brief intermission) Cost: $10 cover charge at the door Make reservations and check out the weekly artist schedule
“No gig is ever the same,” says Ross. “We don’t rehearse, and every time we play a song, we're never trying to play it the same way we played it before.”
That makes the night fun, too. Since you’re right near the musicians, you can hear their laughter and banter, as well as their impressive solos. Ross, stage left, stays out of the limelight — which is how he prefers it — and often says he's just happy to be there playing.
“You're there to keep the beat, the pulse of the music,” he says. “And then, secondarily, the notes that you play help the other musicians understand what the chord, what the harmony is. I'm just doing it for the pleasure of playing the music.”
The Jazz Salon is a $10 Sunday night concert at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
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James Bartlett
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LAist
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Why $10 barely covers it
Once a month, Ross and some of his stable join a touring artist — recently five-time Grammy-nominee Karrin Allyson — in the club’s 250-seat ballroom for a more formal ticketed event, but there have been just two complete sellouts of them this year: tributes to Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond.
Donations and the tip jar on Sunday evenings sometimes haven’t been enough to break even, either, which led to Ross reluctantly introducing the $10 charge. No matter what, he is determined the Jazz Salon will keep going.
“When I was younger, there was a receptionist I knew who was a nun. She said: “‘You know what your problem is? You’re too optimistic!’”
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published August 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Shemtob approaches strangers across Los Angeles and asks a simple question: What's your mom's best dish?
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Screenshot via Better Than Your Mom
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Topline:
Lime Truck founder and two-time Great Food Truck Race champion Daniel Shemtob is approaching strangers across L.A., asking what their mom's best dish is, and turning it into a taco on his food truck the same day. It's all part of a new five-episode series, Better Than Your Mom, launched on what would have been his mother's birthday.
Why it matters: What starts as a quick, chaotic street-corner challenge opens into something bigger — a Long Beach woman honoring her late mother-in-law's gefilte fish recipe, and a chef processing his own mother's death and the loss of his home in last year's Palisades Fire, one taco at a time.
Read on … for how a stranger's yes turns into a family's story, and what happens when a taco truck becomes a place to grieve, honor and remember.
Daniel Shemtob has been going around Los Angeles asking strangers this question: "What's your mom's best dish?"
He then turns their answers — from Filipino oxtail adobo to the Ashkenazi Jewish favorite of gefilte fish — into a taco for his new five-episode web series, "Better Than Your Mom."
One episode breaks from the format entirely: a head-to-head chopped salad taco challenge between Shemtob and Vanessa Silverton, daughter of famed L.A. chef Nancy Silverton, judged blind by Nancy herself.
Daniel Shemtob, founder of The Lime Truck and creator and host of Better Than Your Mom.
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Courtesy Daniel Shemtob
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A two-time winner of "The Great Food Truck Race" on the Food Network, Shemtob is no stranger to reality TV — he also founded The Lime Truck, serving Cali-Mex cuisine in Orange County.
What starts as a quick, chaotic street-corner challenge opens into something bigger — a Long Beach woman honoring her late mother-in-law's gefilte fish recipe, and a chef processing his own mother's death and the loss of his home in the 2025 Palisades Fire.
A dish for his mother
Despite loving fine dining, Shemtob said nothing beats the experience of having someone invite him to their mother's home for dinner.
"It's by far my favorite thing," he said.
Gundry watched as Shemtob reworked her mother-in-law's recipe in real time — a process that normally takes her more than two hours, done in 20 minutes.
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Screenshot via Better Than Your Mom
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That urge to connect with other people also came from wanting to celebrate his late mother's legacy and the impact she had on him in the kitchen.
"Eating was like a big part of how we shared and celebrated," Shemtob said. "It was a culture that was built around food."
A stranger says, 'yes'
While most walk past him or decline to talk, Shemtob said he's been surprised by how many strangers say yes almost immediately — like Anne Gundry, a retired biology teacher in Long Beach.
She answered with a dish from her mother-in-law from her first marriage — gefilte fish served cold.
Shemtob's take on Dena Levenstein's gefilte fish, reimagined as a taco with an apple-horseradish slaw.
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Courtesy Daniel Shemtob
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Gundry recalled her first meeting with Dena Levenstein, who would become her mother-in-law. The relationship started out cold — but cooking together changed their dynamic.
"That's where I honestly think we had the deepest bond with her," Gundry said.
Gundry described yearly visits to Levenstein's house as a cooking "apprenticeship," where Gundry was taught to cook by feel — adding ingredients by the handful, testing a dish's consistency by touch.
"She used to say, 'How does it feel?'" Gundry recalled. "And I'd say, 'I don't know, I don't know how it's supposed to feel.'"
Over the years, she learned. Now, Gundry teaches her own children that recipe the same way — without referring to what's written down.
Watching Shemtob cook on "Better Than Your Mom," Gundry was skeptical. Her own process takes over two hours; his took 20 minutes — until she tasted the apple-horseradish slaw he added.
"Brilliant," she said. "I've been trying to duplicate it at home."
