Best things to do this week in Los Angeles and Southern California: March 16-19

Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating the end of Ramadan this week! If doughnuts are part of your tradition, find out why, as LAist’s Yusra Farzan digs into the history of this Eid specialty.

Licorice Pizza has your music picks; on Monday, you can celebrate the best in pop at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Dolby Theatre, while on Tuesday, R&B singer Son Little plays the Troubadour. Tuesday and Wednesday, New Orleans songstress Madeleine Peyroux presents WE ARE AMERICA: Songs That Give Us Hope at the Blue Note. Also on Wednesday, shoegaze stars Nothing are at the Belasco, and a whole bunch of bold-faced names will be at “Toby Gad & Friends” at the Hotel Café. On Thursday, hip-hop legend Talib Kweli plays the Blue Note, Australian dance artist 1tbsp plays the Fonda, Irish indie-pop duo 49th & Main play the El Rey Theatre and Canadian folksters The Barr Brothers play their first of two nights at the Troubadour with support from Benjamin Lazar Davis.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can check out the history of restaurant menus in Koreatown, meet the local veterans performing Shakespeare or grab a ticket for our dance class with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater on March 24 — no experience required!

Events

JR: Horizons

Through Saturday, April 25
Perrotin
5040 W. Pico Blvd., Mid-City
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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JR

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Courtesy Galerie Perrotin

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Back in 2017, I took a road trip to Tecate, Mexico to see French photo artist JR’s enormous installation — a towering image of a child peering over the Mexican border across to the same, dusty Southern California landscape on the other side. It was a powerful message about humanity, immigration and social justice. He brings that photo and many more to a new solo show, Horizons, on view now at Perrotin.

WORDTheatre's The Ocean: Our Liquid Universe

Thursday, March 19, 7:30 p.m.
Saban Theatre
8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills
COST: FROM $30; MORE INFO

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Courtesy WORDTheatre

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If you haven’t been to a WORDTheatre event, you’re in for a treat, as actors and musicians take to the Saban stage to present stories and songs from the sea. Producer Cedering Fox pairs performers with stories that speak to them, and brings short pieces to life in unique ways. This one kicks off with Sharon Stone and Lily Tomlin, and features performances from Dave Bayley of Glass Animals, Bruce Vilanch, Bellamy Young (Scandal) and many more who will share moving works about the importance of our oceans ahead of L.A. Climate Week. Plus, Best Things to Do readers can use the code LAist for 15% off all tickets.

Yoga at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Ongoing
6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood
COST: DONATION; MORE INFO 

Did you know there’s donation-based yoga, outside among the friendly spirits of Hollywood Forever Cemetery, several times a week? Start your day off with Kundalini, Vinyasa flow, or meditation with some of L.A.’s top teachers. Check the schedule and bring your mat, towel, water and, of course, sunscreen.

Richard Hell 

Thursday, March 19, 7 p.m.
Beyond Baroque 
681 Venice Blvd., Venice
COST: FREE, SOLD OUT BUT MAY BE AVAILABLE ONSITE DAY-OF; MORE INFO

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Courtesy NYRB Classics

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Punk icon Richard Hell heads to (where else) Venice to read from his novel, Godlike. A story about love between two young poets — a 27-year-old man and a teenage boy — is “based on Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine’s notorious affair, but set in the epochal downtown poetry scene of filthy 1970s New York.” Take yourself back to a grittier (and simpler) time. The event is sold out, but tickets may be available in person on the day of the reading.

Vendredi Sur Mer

Wednesday, March 18, 8 p.m. 
The Roxy 
9009 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood 
COST: $35.25; MORE INFO 

I’ve been using French music and ChatGPT to practice my French language skills lately, so I’m pretty into Swiss songstress Vendredi Sur Mer. She brings her dreamy French synth-pop that evokes time in the Swiss Alps to the Roxy; her latest album, Malabar Princess, is out now.

St. Patrick’s Day Parking Lot Party 

Tuesday, March 17, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. 
Cat & Fiddle
742 Highland Ave., West Hollywood
COST: FREE, DRINK AND FOOD SPECIALS; MORE INFO 

Corned beef and cabbage, Guinness, whiskey specials and a burlesque show are all on tap at the annual St. Patrick’s Day party at the Cat & Fiddle pub. Raise a glass and say sláinte to another year of Irish luck.

ACB presents Blanchine: Twin Masterpieces

Through Friday, March 27
Bank of America Plaza
333 S. Hope Street, Downtown L.A.
COST: STARTING AT $65; MORE INFO

Show Timothée Chalamet who’s boss and go to the ballet. We have a great dance community in L.A., and this special performance from American Contemporary Ballet of two classic George Balanchine pieces — La Source (presented for the first time in Los Angeles in more than 40 years) and Concerto Barocco — displays the extraordinary talent required for ballet and the art form's lasting impact.