Christine N. Ziemba

Forget overpriced, prix fixe meals. How about a picnic in Grand Park, a Single AF cocktail party, an erotica reading, a lesson in Bawdy Botany, Frieze L.A. and a Panic Party?

Celebrate the Year of the Rat. Kick off Black History Month. Eat grilled cheese sandwiches. Check out art inspired by L.A.

You've got your pick of great concerts from YBN Cordae and Willie Nelson to Sarah MacLachlan and Tower of Power. Feel the grooves at a dance fest, ogle Miwa Matreyek's shadowplay or check out the films of Marty and Bob.

Get in free to MOCA. Build yourself up at a LEGO convention. Ride the subway without pants. Don't get high at a CBD market.

Kumquats, Canadian horror movies, an Elvis and Little Richard dance party, a Jerry Seinfeld musical and a performance inspired by Octavia Butler's work.

Eat, drink, dance, glow, roller skate, and float your way into the next decade.

Time to explore the city while everyone else is out of town.

Burn some calories at a turkey trot. Then check out the holiday classic "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," "Love Actually Live" and a UCB show that improvs a Thanksgiving family meal.

Solange curates a free weekend of art and performances. Seven OC cities Meet on Beach. A food fest celebrates chicken tenders. Go-kart racing meets cosplay.

Enjoy a nighttime adventure under the full moon. Watch documentaries on Blue Note Records or climate activists in Ecuador. Attend film festivals. Listen to Flea talk about his new memoir with Malcolm Gladwell. And Sleater-Kinney's in town with new music and a new lineup.

So much to do! Celebrate Día de los Muertosr. Ice skate in Santa Monica. Ride the A Line (fka the Blue Line) for FREE. Eat fried chicken sammies and drink historic cocktails.

'Tis the season for Día de los Muertos events, fall festivals, Halloween parties, Victorian zombies, corgis on the beach and Glenn Danzig.