Best Things To Do This Weekend In Los Angeles And Southern California: May 17 - 19

Elton John may have played his final Dodger Stadium show, but you can catch pianist Michael Sobie playing all of Elton’s greatest hits right in Santa Monica with a full 34-piece symphony orchestra in a church with great acoustics. Singalongs are sure to be lively as Sobie performs hits like “Bennie and the Jets," “Crocodile Rock," and more. Plus, get $10 off with the code MONALISAS.

Just reading the title of this event makes us laugh, so if it made you giggle too, there’s a good chance the event will be up your alley. Following the Netflix Is a Joke festival, a host of local standup comedians will perform their sets alongside live piano accompaniment. Hilarity is sure to ensue.

Don your best puff sleeve and corset, make a flower crown, grab your armor, and head out to Irwindale for the last weekend of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. Come hungry for a big turkey leg and work it off in a joust to the death or a dance around the maypole. You can even rent a period costume on site!

Artist Shantell Martin brings her iconic line drawings to a special event with breathwork expert Biet Simkin at the Compound space in Long Beach. Part of a monthly series on the intersection of art and wellness, this event will feature Martin live drawing alongside a breathwork experience from Simkin. There will also be a curated food and wine menu.

The central library is hosting events all day long for the whole family, celebrating AAPI communities, history, and traditions. Performances include a hula recital, a Japanese taiko drumming showcase, a reading from YA author Paula Yoo, and much more.

The Glendale Library is hosting a moving exhibit on the Armenian Genocide that takes a unique look at the history and legacy of loss and survival in the Armenian community. Before, After: Reflections on the Armenian Genocide “examines the connections passed down through blood, migration and history; from genocide to diaspora to belonging.” The show explores the patterns of grief, healing, and reflection through works by nine artists: John Avakian, Anush Babajanyan, Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Diana Markosian, Jacqueline Kazarian, Talin Megherian, Marsha Nouritza Odabashian, Jessica Sperandio, and Scout Tufankjian.

**Please note that the exhibition will be closed from May 24 to June 19, 2024. It will reopen on June 20, 2024.

One of the oldest music festivals in the country, the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Fest was first held in 1961. It brings together both professional performers and amateur musicians at the pastoral King Gillette Ranch. You can sign up to compete with your instrument of choice in the morning or just come dance and enjoy the stylings of famed bluegrass bands like headliners A.J. Lee and Blue Summit and the Way Down Wanderers in the afternoon.

Art fairs are the place to see and be seen lately and this weekend is the first outing of Design.Miami in Los Angeles. What better excuse to check out incredible art in a private Holmby Hills estate? Admission is free, but you must submit an inquiry on their website to receive the address and attend; the event features galleries including Jeffrey Deitsch and Wexler and artists like Alexandra Grant and Jonathan Prince.

Performance artist Siobhan O’Loughlin has spent the last several years taking baths – in other people’s bathtubs, in front of small audiences. In this documentary that follows her tour of houses, tubs, and towns, she reflects on the community connections and in-person experiences we all crave. The screening will be followed by a talk with O’Loughlin and No Proscenium, The Guide to Everything Immersive founder Noah Nelson.

Explore a wide range of stories about the Black experience, hosted by film critic Tim Cogshell, at AFI. For $25, you can make a day of it and check out all three feature-length documentaries as well as shorts. The films include A Woman on the Outside, about one family’s experience navigating the prison system and Over the Wall, which tells the story of the first Black woman on a NASCAR pit crew.

Maybe it’s that we’re all a little too tied to our phones or maybe it’s that the traditional book club so often becomes wine time, but whatever the reason, Silent Book Club is becoming a bit of a thing. It’s exactly what it sounds like – getting together with others to sit and read in peace and quiet. This month, the L.A. group is spending time in the sunshine with their tomes in Pan Pacific Park. Join and make some progress on your next great read.

Top Chef host Kristin Kish’s soju cocktails and bites from her Austin flagship restaurant Arlo Grey feature at the LINE hotel in Koreatown for an aperitif happy hour.

Opa! Enjoy a wide range of Greek delights from moussaka to spanikopita to baklava at the Orange County Greek Festival. There’s also traditional music and dancing, and a Greek marketplace all weekend long.

Netflix’s Somebody Feed Phil star Phil Rosenthal joins James Beard Award-winning chef Suzanne Goin and restaurateur Caroline Styne at the Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel for a family-friendly brunch. The event celebrates Rosenthal's latest book, Just Try It!: A Phil and Lil Book, co-authored with his daughter, Lily.