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Not headed east to Mud-chella Coachella this weekend? Not to worry because there's so much happening this weekend right here at home. Here are our top seven Coachella alternatives. This is definitely one weekend where you can't say there's nothing to do in LA. As a bonus, most of these picks are definitely cheaper than that desert music fest:
EARTH AND ARTS FESTIVAL
Pasadena's Earth and Arts Festival celebrates its 10-year anniversary tomorrow from 11 am-5 pm with Sandra Tsing Loh emceeing the festivities. There's family-friendly activities, exhibitions and entertainment, including a free public fruit jam by the Fallen Fruit art collective. For more adult-type attractions, the festival also hosts the first-ever sustainable beer garden, with Craftsman Brewing Company and Eagle Rock Brewery serving up 14-ounce beers for $5 in fully compostable, corn-based cups. Held at the Armory Center for the Arts & Memorial Park.
NIGHT MARKET
The Night Market, a staple in many Asian countries, comes to Pasadena tomorrow from 5-11:30 pm on Oakland Avenue between Colorado Boulevard and Union Street. The 626 Night Market promises an evening of fun and tasty Asian food, including HK style egg waffles, Indonesian BBQ satay skewers, Japanese dangos, Shao mai, sticky rice and a whole lot more.
SPRING MELT
The Spring Melt, tomorrow night from 7-11 pm, features an evening of food, entertainment, dancing and an open bar and silent auction for a good cause—a fundraiser for Food Forward, a volunteer organization that reconnects communities to the food system to do something about urban hunger. Clementine caters the food, which will feature a wide selection of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, plus salads and desserts with Jordan Winery wines and cocktails. Held at Elysian in Silver Lake. Tickets are $75per person.
BUFF MONSTER ART
Street artist Buff Monster’s new LA solo show Legend of the Pink Cherry opens tomorrow at Corey Helford Gallery. He's known for his super happy pepto-pink imagery, featuring an assortment of characters: softserve ice cream cones, bouncing cherries, and boob monsters. For this show, he's also making a series of collectible trading cards—The Melty Misfits—inspired by the Garbage Pail Kids. Opening reception: 7-10 pm.
CICLAVIA
Ten miles of LA streets will be car-free this Sunday for the fourth CicLAvia event. From 10 am-3 pm, bikers and walkers are encouraged to get out and discover East Hollywood, Koreatown, Westlake, Downtown L.A., Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights, El Pueblo, Fashion District and Central Avenue) from a different perspective. (We have a comprehensive guide to the CicLAvia guides.) The city has also partnered with Bike Nation for 100 free bikes for wheel-less people to borrow during the day.
SPRINGFEST
Coinciding with CicLAvia, Chinatown also moves things outdoors with its first Springfest—an outdoor street festival with local music, food and craft beers. The Spring Street Smoke House has hand-picked the breweries for the outdoor biergarten featuring favorites such as Karl Strauss, Bootlegger’s, Golden Road Brewing and Stone & Lagunitas. The restaurant also hosts a rib-eating contest, for the public's viewing pleasure. From 12-8 pm on Sunday.
TAX RELIEF
Lexington Social House in Hollywood offers guests 17% off their entire bill from today through Tuesday, April 17, with mention of Tax Day 2012 (discount cannot be combined with any other offer). This includes cocktails, so this is the place to be to drown your sorrows over your tax bill or to spend that refund money.
