Events
Oshogatsu Family Festival
Jan. 11. The Japanese American Cultural & Community Center hosts a free, all-ages celebration welcoming the Year of the Horse, offering a full day of cultural activities and live performances just steps from the Japanese American National Museum, currently undergoing renovations. Children can dive into horse-inspired crafts and origami, while families gather for rice-pounding rituals, calligraphy demonstrations, candy sculpture showcases and live music. The afternoon also features improv troupe Cold Tofu. Sunday at 11 a.m. 244 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles. jaam.org
LA Art Show
Now-Jan. 11. The Los Angeles Art Show stands as one of the country’s longest-running platforms for contemporary, modern, historic and traditional art, drawing everyone from art history majors to avant-garde gallery owners. The fair brings together global galleries alongside a wide-ranging mix of modern and contemporary presentations, historical works and cross-cultural perspectives. Highlights of the 31st edition include the first major solo presentation of Sylvester Stallone’s abstract works and the debut of the fair’s Latin American Pavilion. Thursday-Sunday at noon. 1201 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles. laartshow.com
American Icon: A Mustang Immersive Experience
Now Open. A multi-sensory journey through time, this immersive car experience places visitors at the center of the cultural legacy of the Ford Mustang, blending storytelling, technology and adrenaline into a walk-through spectacle. Moving room to room, guests encounter 360-degree projections, high-speed turntables and 4D motion seats alongside some of the most iconic Mustangs ever built, with special exhibits spanning six decades of American culture. Narrated by Anthony Mackie, the experience reframes the Mustang’s history through the voices of owners, racers, fans, rebels and the pop-culture moments that shaped its enduring legend. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. 539 S. Mission Road, Los Angeles. Get Tickets Now
Smorgasburg Returns
Jan. 11. The open-air food market celebrates its grand reopening with 13 new vendors joining the lineup. Standouts include Hot Grease serving ultra-crispy fried snapper with seasoned fries and housemade sauces, modern Peruvian street food from Piruchi, Taiwanese breakfast favorites by Eat Souula and Ruru’s Golden Tea, pouring karak chai finished with cold-foam toppings. Every Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 777 S Alameda Street, Los Angeles. la.smorgasburg.com
Food + Drinks
Award-Season Cocktails at Circa 55 Rooftop
Now Serving. For award-season evenings that call for sweeping city views and classic Hollywood glamour, CIRCA 55 Rooftop Restaurant + Lounge at The Beverly Hilton delivers with an open-air setting and a limited Iconic Decades Cocktail Menu inspired by the eras that defined Hollywood legends. Standouts include The Baron, a harvest-season reimagining of a Beverly Hilton classic crafted with the hotel’s limited-edition Beverly Hilton Reserve whiskey and The Glitz and The Glam, a champagne-topped pink cocktail finished with gold shimmer for a red-carpet flourish. Hours vary. 9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. hilton.com
Awards-Season Specials Shine at Nobu Los Angeles
Until Jan. 11. To mark awards season, Nobu Los Angeles marks awards season with a lineup of Golden Globes–inspired offerings available for a limited time. The menu features The Golden Yuzu lobster, a lobster with asparagus and shiitake mushrooms, finished with bright yuzu and gold leaf for a celebratory flourish. For at-home viewing, Nobu Los Angeles is also offering a Golden Globes takeout package, featuring yellowtail jalapeño, a caviar cup, lobster salad with spicy lemon dressing, assorted nigiri and miso black cod. Hours vary. 903 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. noburestaurants.com
Veganuary at Pure Vita
Now Serving. As January encourages diners to explore plant-forward eating, Pura Vita Los Angeles offers a fitting destination rooted in classic Italian comfort reimagined without animal products. The West Hollywood restaurant serves handmade pastas, wood-fired pizzas and red-sauce favorites through a fully vegan lens, balancing traditional technique with modern execution. Hours vary. 8274 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. puravitalosangeles.com
Plant-Based Steak Frites at BOA Steakhouse
Now Serving. The popular steakhouse partnered with innovative plant-based brand Beyond Steak to debut the Beyond steak filet , marking the latest chapter in Chef Brendan Collins’ ongoing effort to broaden the modern steakhouse experience. The club room–style steak frites delivers familiar steakhouse richness through clean, plant-based ingredients, including protein derived from faba beans and avocado oil, served alongside grilled portobello, tomato, thousand-layer fries and beurre de Paris. For specific locations and hours, visit boasteak.com
Arts + Culture
The Notebook Live at Pantages Theatre
Now Playing. Based on the best-selling novel that inspired the iconic film, The Notebook follows Allie and Noah, two people from different worlds whose bond endures despite the forces that try to pull them apart. The stage adaptation pairs emotional intimacy with a soaring score, earning praise for its romantic highs and heartfelt storytelling. Showtimes vary. 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. Get Tickets Now
Prometheus with Esa-Pekka Salonen
Jan. 9-11. Opening the Body and Sound festival, the Los Angeles Philharmonic welcomes back Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen for a program that explores how music is felt as much as it is heard. The evening centers on Scriabin’s Prometheus, a mythic meditation on humanity’s gift of fire. A synesthetic composer, Scriabin’s work is accompanied by projected color; that vision is realized through a luminous sculptural installation by multimedia artist Grimanesa Amorós, seamlessly fusing sound and light into a fully immersive experience. Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m. 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. laphil.com
Second Sundays: Japanese New Year
Jan. 11. Ring in Lunar New Year early at The Huntington, where the gardens’ Second Sundays series invites visitors to experience time-honored cultural traditions as part of regular admission. Witness the centuries-old practice of kumi-daiko drumming on the half hour, create a Shimenawa wreath using rice to welcome good fortune in the year ahead and slow down with demonstrations of Ikebana, the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangemen. Sunday at noon-3 p.m.. 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. huntington.org
Matisse’s Surprises, with John Walsh
Starts Jan. 11. Art historian John Walsh launches a four-part lecture series this Sunday at Hammer Museum, examining the remarkable six-decade career of Henri Matisse. The opening talk, Exactitude Is Not Truth, focuses on Matisse’s early breakthrough on the Riviera, where he broke from conservative realism and embraced the bold, electrifying color that helped define modernism. Designed for both longtime admirers of the Fauves and curious newcomers, the series offers a fresh lens on how Matisse reinvented his work across every stage of his life. First lecture is this Sunday at 11 a.m. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. hammer.ucla.edu
Photo credit: Ohogatsu Festival Photo courtesy of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California & James Giovanni Pan.The Baron courtesy of The Beverly Hilton. All images are courtesy of the venues and businesses featured.
