7 Exciting Things To Do & Eat This Weekend

Spring has sprung—and no offense to our allergies—but we’re thrilled about it. If you’re in the same energy field, take advantage of the many exciting events happening around town this weekend. There are sandwich pop-ups, all-night dance parties, art exhibitions, and more. 

THE EVENTS

CELEBRATE IRANIAN NEW YEAR

This Sunday, March 20th, Farhang Foundation is hosting the country’s biggest Nowruz celebration at UCLA. Running from 12-5pm, the festival will be held at Dickson Court (adjacent to Royce Hall) and will feature stilt walkers, dance and music performances, an Iranian tea house, puppet shows, a large-scale Haft Sîn, and a variety of other food and beverage vendors. Admission is free. 

HAVE DIM SUM IN CHINATOWN

Perhaps a Sunday trek to the San Gabriel Valley isn’t in the cards this weekend. Check out a classic spot in Chinatown instead. There’s juicy xiao long bao from Golden Dragon, sticky rice from CBS Seafood, and late-night carts (9pm, which is late-night for dim sum) at Won Kok. 

PICK-UP A LUNCH BOX

Open Market in Koreatown is hosting an all-day pop-up this Saturday, March 19th with guest chef Tuệ. She will serving a special $30 lunch box filled with an original sandwich called “The Mama Do” (Vietnamese sweet and savory BBQ pork sausage, chicken pate, lemongrass chili oil aioli, cucumbers, pickled papaya and carrots, and crispy shallots all on a Clark Street Baguette), plus locally-roasted Vietnamese iced coffee and pandan coconut mochi krispies for dessert. Available for pre-order only. 

EAT TACOS AND LAUGH

If you’re in need of some good laughs these days, head to Vamanos Tacos this Saturday, March 19th for the Culver City Comedy Show. The weekly stand-up show starts at 8:30pm and features an excellent line-up of six LA-based comedians. Plus, it’s St. Patrick’s themed this week, meaning plenty of green beer and green margaritas, and as always, free admission.  

DANCE UNTIL DAWN

Case counts are low and the sun doesn’t set until 7pm—we can’t blame anyone who’s in the mood to dance right now. Big Gay Party, the pop-up dance night, is back this Saturday, March 19th at Los Globos in Silver Lake from 9pm-2am. The theme is 1990s vs 2000s, featuring two different rooms playing hits from each respective decade. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. 

photo credit: Jakob Layman

DONATE TO UKRAINE

Order takeout dinner from either AOC location (Beverly Grove and Brentwood) on Sunday, March 20th and Monday, March 21st and 100% of all proceeds will be donated directly to World Central Kitchen and their ongoing relief efforts in Ukraine. If you ever wanted to order double of their Spanish fried chicken, now’s an excellent time to do so. 

CHECK OUT SOME ART

This Sunday, March 20th, head down to the Historic Chinatown Art gallery for the fourth annual Herstory: A Women’s Art Exhibition. Running from 2-6pm, the event will be incorporating female artists of all kinds with special exhibits, activities, and vendors throughout the day. General admission is $20 at the door, but free during their early bird special.