The best things to do in Los Angeles this week

This annual Christmas pop-up in the heart of Hollywood (6555 Hollywood Blvd) promises a 21+ immersive night of holiday cheer, complete with twinkling lights, snowflakes and other festive decor—think giant ornaments, craft cocktails, theme nights, live entertainment and, of course, seasonal cocktails like the Egg My Noggins and Polar Punch. You’ll need to buy a $19 ticket (which doesn’t include a drink) to get inside.

The beloved Bob Baker Marionette Theater is back with its annual holiday production, which dates back to 1969. This year, the puppet-filled play is returning to the Sierra Madre Playhouse. From just after Thanksgiving through the beginning of the year, you can see the charming take on the classic ballet, with its large-scale marionettes and intricate sets, on most weekends and, closer to Christmas, select weekdays. 

If you’ll follow wherever Gilmore Girls leads, then you’re going to need to embark on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour this holiday season. For the final couple weeks of the year, the Burbank backlot is again supplementing its regular tour with the “Holidays Made Here” addition, which decks out the Stars Hollow section in festive decor, including the gazebo and Luke’s Diner, where you can sip coffee or cocoa from “Luke” actor Scott Patterson’s own brand—oh, and did we mention Patterson himself will be appearing in person each afternoon? In honor of the show’s 25th anniversary this year, the studio has further kicked things up a notch with new re-created sets, merch, a food passport add-on option and a nightly holiday light show. Holidays Made Here runs as part of all studio tours from December 18, 2025, to January 4, 2026. There’s also an event-only ticket option this year; while it’s the same price ($76), it means you can hang out in Stars Hollow all day.

Most of the year, Level 8’s rooftop bar, Golden Hour, is a poolside spot that channels the Copacabana. But over the holidays, it transforms into Winter Hour, a pop-up immersive winter wonderland outfitted in icicle lights, festive decor, faux snow and s’mores stations—and still boasting stunning views of DTLA. Don your après-ski or “Santa Baby” best and head to the top of the Moxy hotel. Your ticket includes a welcome drink—choose from a seasonal cocktail or a ski shot. For a more exclusive experience, spring for a cozy fire pit or intimate igloo. 

Relive your childhood theatergoing experiences this Christmas with Uncle Drosselmeyer, Clara and her beloved Nutcracker at the L.A. Ballet. The timeless show—which gets a SoCal-setting twist here—will travel all over L.A. for the holiday season, bringing classic pirouettes and Mouse King battles to UCLA, as well as 12 performances at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, where the show will be backed by the troupe’s live orchestra.

For the Record, the live production company known for transforming film soundtracks into immersive live musicals, used to pop up in Beverly Hills each holiday season for Love Actually Live. Now, it’s celebrating the season with a show made up of over 25 beloved songs from different holiday soundtracks, premiering inside FTR’s new permanent home: CineVita, the world’s largest Spiegeltent, in Inglewood. New Kids on the Block’s Joey McIntyre will host a night of numbers from films including Home Alone, Elf, White Christmas and, yes, Love Actually—all performed by a professional cast of singers, dancers and musicians. Pair your festive nostalgia with themed cocktails and seasonal treats.

Holiday light shows are popping up all over the city, but a free light installation is always welcome. Grand Illuminations—which features a custom 25-foot-tall LED light tree and dynamic display Lumiverse—returns for the second year on December 3 with a lighting ceremony, live music, a holiday market and refreshments from noon–7pm. The stars are the Electric Dandelions, 28-foot-tall kinetic sculptures that look like fireworks in action, which were designed by L.A.-based art collective Liquid PXL and debuted at Burning Man in 2016, popping up in the U.K., East Coast and various festivals before arriving at the Yard at Cal Plaza. The lights will stay on all holiday season, through January 4, till 10pm nightly.

Step inside a Christmas tree made of lights during the return of this illuminated installation at Downtown shopping center the Bloc. Sparkle DTLA will light up the night with 18 million different hues through the end of the year, and every night you can catch its displays dance to synchronized holiday music on the hour (5–9pm). The festivities kick off December 7 with live music, photos with Santa and the Grinch, plus some surprises.

Melrose Trading Post is a favorite among flea-market shoppers year-round, but every Sunday in December, it’ll offer a merry twist. More than 260 local artists, makers and vintage vendors will be selling gift-worthy goods alongside live music and family-friendly holiday activities. Take your picture in the Rock ’n’ Roll Santa photo booth, get creative at an artist-led gift-making workshop, and catch performances by the Grand Arts Jazz Carolers and Little Women Ballet. And if a puppy’s on your Christmas wish list, you can adopt one on-site on December 28. Admission to MTP is usually $8, but you can get in for free December 7 and 14 if you bring a new, unwrapped toy for the Mágico Toy Drive; members of IATSE, SAG/AFTRA and Actors’ Equity unions get complimentary admission all month long.

Feeling like you and your four-legged friend are attached at the hip? Spend even more quality time together during this dog-friendly series at Palos Verdes’ South Coast Botanic Garden. One Sunday a month, you can roam the gardens’ 87 acres with your fur baby. Nearly all of the paths are open to pups, except for the rose garden and a couple of other small areas. You’ll find plenty of water stations set up across the grounds, as well as an optional obedience class for purchase. You—the human—will need a reservation, while your best friend—the pup—will need to remain on their leash at all times, including in the parking lot. 

If you’re shopping in Orange County and dreaming of a white Christmas, the open-air Irvine Spectrum Center has your answer. Located in Giant Wheel Court by Nordstrom, this Anaheim Ducks–sponsored rink offers an opportune time out from a busy shopping day. Following each 90-minute skating session, the rink is closed for resurfacing, so you’ll never have to skate on slush. Head to the adjacent Ferris wheel during the half-hour the rink is closed for nonstop fun. Tickets—$27 with skate rental, $24 if you bring your own—are available at the rink, but if you want “jump the line” tickets, you can buy them online ahead of time for $50.

The Queen of Christmas—well, her likeness anyway—has taken over the Skybar at Mondrian this holiday season, filling the swanky poolside bar with lots of “All I want for Christmas” spirit. Sure to be a hit with both Carey fans and Christmas lovers of all candy-cane stripes, the pop-up winter wonderland boasts wall-to-wall holiday décor inspired by the singer, interactive photo ops, album backdrop re-creations, festive food, holiday cocktails and, of course, lots of merch. And forget letters to Santa—here you’ll find a dedicated “Letters to Mariah Carey” station, and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” will be played every 30 minutes. Your ticket gets you a welcome cocktail and 90-minute access to the immersive experience.

The annual L.A. Kings ice skating rink presented by Coca-Cola once again returns to L.A. Live. Skate around the dazzling Christmas tree that stands in the middle of the outdoor rink, and take in an LED holiday light show on the huge screens around the plaza. Choose from four nightly skating sessions. Note: General admission tickets, which include skate rental, are only sold on-site, and can’t be purchased online ahead of time.

This Christmas-themed Costa Mesa event has been turning Orange County into a veritable winter wonderland for 11 years now. Expect a Forest of Lights walk-through, snow play, ice tubing and photo ops, visits with Santa and a new falling snow area and themed entertainment zones with live music. Upgrade your experience with carnival rides, ice skating, bounce houses, “polar putt-putt” golf and fireside igloos. Hot cocoa and seasonal treats will help keep things cozy. 

Tanaka Farms opens up its Irvine fields for this after-dark wagon ride and walk-through. Hikari—which means “light” or “shine” in Japanese—has set up light displays including a long trail of lanterns, plus some festive theming that’s overtaken the farm’s scarecrows, corn maze, tractors and trees. You’ll be able to explore the lantern field by both tractor and foot, and afterward you can peruse a petting zoo, games, crafts and photo ops with Santa. While you’re there, you’ll also find the farm’s produce stand, a holiday market and a Christmas tree lot. You’ll need to purchase a parking pass on weekends, as well as tickets for each person any day of the week; the prices fluctuate depending on the date, so opt for a weekday for the lowest price.

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L.A. doesn’t typically seem like much of a winter wonderland, until, that is, you create an ice skating rink right in the midst of Downtown skyscrapers. Come glide around and pretend there’s snow on the ground at Pershing Square’s outdoor holiday skating rink. Skate rentals are included in admission, though lockers and skating aids cost a few dollars extra.

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Not to be confused with Enchanted Forest of Light at Descanso Gardens, this newcomer to L.A.’s Christmas-lights scene is also located in the San Gabriel Valley—Santa Anita Park, to be precise—and claims to be the largest Christmas-lights maze in the world. In addition to its lit-up labyrinth with a 100-foot tree of lights as its centerpiece, the one-stop holiday extravaganza also boasts ice skating, an ice slide, a Ferris wheel, mini golf, a shopping village, visits with Santa and festive treats and drinks. 

Riverside’s stunningly beautiful Mission Inn is bathed in over 10 million twinkly lights during the annual Festival of Lights, which has lit up the city for 33 years now. The free, six-week-long holiday tradition runs from late November to early January and typically features more than 400 festive, animated figures. Having been voted the “Best Public Lights Display” by USA Today, the festival attracts over 500,000 visitors each year. The spectacle will kick off with a Switch On Ceremony on November 22, followed by live music from Matt Mauser and the Tijuana Dogs, and there’ll be holiday-themed kiddie rides outside the hotel all season long.

It’s always Christmas at this charmingly kitsch amusement park outside of Lake Arrowhead. But it’s extra Christmassy toward the end of the year at Santa’s Village—especially if you’re lucky enough to get some fresh mountain snowfall. Swing by from November 13 to January 4 for lighting displays, a train ride, a magical nighttime walk through the forest, seasonal snacks, breakfast with Santa and tea with Mrs. Claus (those require a separate ticket) and ice skating.

Located just blocks from the ocean, Ice in downtown Santa Monica brings a bit of winter to the comfortable coastal city. The 8,000-square-foot outdoor rink runs daily from November to mid-January on the corner of Fifth Street and Arizona Avenue (less than a 10-minute walk from the E Line). Tickets for an hourlong slot ($24) include skate rentals, and you can book private parties and fire pits if you’re looking for something a bit more premium. Look out for cozy treats for sale, plus special events like classical Sunday afternoons and a sparkly shindig for Taylor Swift’s birthday (Dec 13).

Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s year-end production, formerly known as Holiday on Strings, has been reimagined as a holiday special complete with puppets in party clothes singing carols. Head to the troupe’s Highland Park location for the hour-long show, which follows host Demitrius Nova Twinklestar III on a tour of BBMT’s holiday traditions: You’ll see sledding slopes, caroling penguins, Santa’s workshop and more. 

Robert Therrien’s Under the Table has long been one of the most popular pieces in the Broad’s collection (you know the one—the giant table and chairs that you ask your friend to snap a photo of as you stand underneath). Well now the museum is hosting the largest-ever solo exhibition of the artist’s work, displaying more than 120 pieces, including many that have never been shown in museums before. Expect more huge housewares and striking works, plus some intimate drawings and surprises from the late L.A.-based artist. The specially ticketed show will fill the first-floor galleries through April 5, 2026.

Anonymous feminist art collective the Guerrilla Girls—whose members gained notoriety for donning gorilla masks and fighting the patriarchy—is coming up on its 40th anniversary, and the Getty Center is marking the occasion with a behind-the-scenes look at the group. See photography, protest art and the group’s famed posters—sporting statistics, bold visuals and satirical humor—that showcase the tactics the members used to demand recognition for women and artists of color. The Guerrilla Girls have even created a newly commissioned work for the exhibition. And you can add your own mark on the “graffitti wall” installation, giving visitors a creative outlet for their complaints about the world today. 

Accompanying programming throughout the run of the show will include a conversation between the Guerrilla Girls and author Roxane Gay, a feminist Valentine’s Day mail art workshop, cocktail receptions with the exhibition curators, tours and more.

You probably know of Shepard Fairey through “Obey Giant” stickers and later his Obama “Hope” poster, but his body of work comprises so much more than that. A new exhibition at Beyond the Streets explores the artist’s relationship with printmaking, displaying more than 400 of his original screen prints—including some rare and historic editions and hybrid works that combine screen printing with stenciling—and offering a behind‑the‑scenes look at Fairey’s methods. The exhibition runs though January 11 and will kick off with an opening reception on Saturday, November 15, from 7 to 10pm.

Dealing with a difficult subject head-on, the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA’s new show, “Monuments”—co-presented by the museum and nonprofit the Brick (formerly LAXART)—juxtaposes both intact and vandalized Confederate monuments with contemporary artwork. The show looks at the recent wave of monument removals from a historic perspective and encourages discourse about challenging topics amid an ongoing national debate about the role of these statues and what they represent. Tickets for the special exhibition are $18, though if you book far enough ahead of time, you can take advantage of free admission on the first Friday of every month.

The Hammer Museum’s excellent, ongoing series of biennial exhibitions ups the ante with each edition of its spotlight on emerging and under-recognized L.A. artists. This October’s exhibition—the seventh such show—brings together works from 28 artists, spanning film, painting, theater, photography, sculpture and video, that engage with the city of Los Angeles. A 20-foot-high inflatable, Buggy Bear Crashes Made in L.A. by Alake Shilling, welcomes you to the museum on the corner of Wilshire and Glendon. 

Don’t go in the water, but do go to the Academy Museum to see the largest exhibition ever dedicated to Steven Spielberg’s original summer blockbuster, Jaws—which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The museum was already home to the last surviving model shark from filming, but now you can go behind the scenes and see some 200 original objects from the film across multiple galleries. Some highlights: a re-creation of the Orca fishing boat, the dorsal fin used both in Jaws and its sequels, costumes worn by the central trio and a room full of vintage film posters and merch promoting the film. There are interactive elements, too: You can have your own Chief Brody dolly-zoom moment (and see the lens used to film the famous shot), play the iconic John Williams two-note score and control a replica of the mechanical shark.

Japan House Los Angeles is bringing an exhibition of shokuhin sampuru—hyper-realistic food replicas that have crossed over from marketing tool to art form (think Is It Cake? but cultural)—to Los Angeles for the first time. See mouthwatering faux food representing each of Japan’s 47 prefectures, from coffee house parfaits to izakaya skewers, as well as Chinese and Western cuisine, and try your own hand at food presentation by filling a bentō box yourself.

The Getty Villa reopens to the public five and a half months after its Palisades Fire closure with this international loan exhibition dedicated to the Greek Mycenaean civilization and the kingdom of Pylos, which Homer immortalized in the Iliad and Odyssey. It’s the first major museum show in North America devoted to the Late Bronze Age Mycenaeans. See treasures excavators unearthed from Messenia, the Palace of Nestor and burial sites including the tomb of the Griffin Warrior (1450 BCE)—think clay tablets, gold cups, ornate weapons and tiny signets and sealstones adorned with awe-inspiring amounts of detail. 

On the 50th anniversary of the Norton Simon Museum, look back to when Simon took over management of the Pasadena Art Museum in 1975, then ahead to the museum’s exciting future at this retrospective exhibition. See rare photos from the museum’s archives, and learn about the history of its major acquisitions, exhibitions, building and gardens—which are currently undergoing a transformation.

The Natural History Museum’s taxidermy dioramas turn a century old this year, and to celebrate the museum is reviving an entire hall of displays that’ve been dark for decades. Expect some fresh approaches to these assembled snapshots of the wilderness, including alebrijes made of recycled materials, a crystalline depiction of pollution and a tech-driven display of the L.A. River.

The California Science Center is inviting kids to get in the game with a new 17,000-square-foot exhibition about the power of play and the human body in motion. Besides teaching about the science behind sports, it also offers interactive challenges and video coaching from a team of Los Angeles-based mentor athletes including dancer Debbie Allen, the Dodgers’ World Series hero Freddie Freeman, Olympic medalist softball player Rachel Garcia and more. And for the first time ever, the center has commissioned public art—all by local artists—to complement the exhibition, including a Dodgers mural by Gustavo Zermeño Jr. The free exhibition will run at the Science Center through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

More than 50 works on display at the Autry showcase how Indigenous artists have crafted visions of alternative futures in the face of enduring colonial trauma, with surreal spacescapes from Wendy Red Star, pop culture commentaries by Andy Everson and a site-specific space odyssey created by Virgil Ortiz.