Sponsored message
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts & Entertainment

Dress Up In Your Dapperest Outfit For The Queen Mary's Art Deco Festival

queen-mary-deco.jpg
(Photo via The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles/Facebook)

Truth matters. Community matters. Your support makes both possible. LAist is one of the few places where news remains independent and free from political and corporate influence. Stand up for truth and for LAist. Make your tax-deductible donation now.


If you have ever wanted to go back to the 1920s or 1930s for some reason, the Art Deco Festival aboard the Queen Mary is your chance, only with WiFi and Tinder. If you love Art Deco, Los Angeles is a good place to live, not only because the city is packed with the architecture, but because the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles throws a number of events for era-enthusiasts all year long. The grandest of the events is the annual Art Deco Festival, which will happen for the 12th time on August 19 to 21, L.A. Magazine reports. It consists of three days of period-appropriate events, including tours, lectures and parties, most of it taking place on a ship that took its maiden voyage on May 27, 1936.

There will be a vintage auto show, vendors, vintage hair styling and tours of Long Beach's Art Deco buildings and art. There will also be a soda fountain tasting and a Gatsby dayside garden party, Prohibition mixology classes, and a tea time dance. Lecture topics include cigarette holders, filmmaking, radio, artist Noel Coward, and Jennifer Wong will also present a lecture on her grandfather, architect Liu Jipiao. And of course, the event would not be complete without a couple of cocktail parties. Friday night's parties involve speakeasies and pajamas, while the main fête, the Art Deco Grand Ball, is on Saturday.

Tickets can be purchased for individual events, the entire weekend, or the entire weekend plus a hotel room on the boat here.

Here's a video of the event in 2011 with a filter that makes it look sort of like parts of The Shining, which is fitting, since people like to say the Queen Mary is haunted:

And here's the event in 2012:

Sponsored message

If maritime parties aren't your thing, the Art Deco Society is also hosting a trip to Santa Barbara via train in November for members. Guests will travel via a vintage rail car before spending the day in Santa Barbara and then returning to L.A. that evening.

As for the Queen Mary, it will soon be undergoing renovations intended to update the ship while keeping its Art Deco stylings intact.

Art Deco Festival takes place August 19-21 at the Queen Mary, located at 1126 Queens Hwy in Long Beach. Tickets are available here.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.

Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.

If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.

Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today

A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right