October 2023 events calendar for Los Angeles

Hollywood Forever Cemetery claims to host the largest Day of the Dead celebration in California, and we wouldn’t doubt it: The cemetery grounds are covered with art exhibitions, dance rituals, musical performances, arts and crafts projects and food vendors (and crowds) aplenty. You’ll see altars to the dead created by community artists, and can either watch or participate in the calaca (skeleton) costume contest.

Walk, run, skate, bike and explore car-free stretches of South Pasadena and the Arroyo Seco Parkway—yes, the 110—during the latest edition of this open streets event. The Metro-presented 626 Golden Streets clears cars off the road in different parts of the San Gabriel Valley for one day only. On Sunday, October 29, you’ll be able to set foot on six miles of the 110 freeway between the 5 and its endpoint in Pasadena from 7 to 11am, and then along Mission Street in South Pasadena (from Orange Grove Boulevard to Garfield Park) from 7am to 2pm. Make sure to take advantage of the five Metro stops along the route.

This is one of the largest Halloween street parties in the world, and there’s really no better place to be on October 31st. Sure, the crowd is huge (like, a half-million people huge) and a bit belligerent, but the amazing display of costumes and general merry-making spirit deem it at least a worthy stop, if not your main destination for the evening. There will be dancing, drinking and many impromptu costume contests. Even if you don’t plan on entering one, it’s best to still come dressed to the nines—no one likes a party pooper in jeans and a T-shirt. Find it along Santa Monica Boulevard, between Doheny Drive and La Cienega Boulevard.

See our guide to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval.

The Hammer Museum’s excellent, ongoing series of biennial exhibitions ups the ante each year with its spotlight on emerging and under-recognized L.A. artists, and the sixth edition seems like no exception.

Titled “Acts of Living,” this year’s show focuses on how art is inseperable from everyday life and includes a mix of new commissions and historical works from 39 up-and-coming and prolific artists, including Marcel Alcalá, Sula Bermúdez-Silverman and Jibz Cameron, among others.

Unlike the 2020 edition (which didn’t debut until 2021), this one won’t share its hosting duties with the Huntington. That’s no surprise, though, considering that the Hammer now boasts a larger, fully-realized venue.

Stroll through a mile-long trail filled with all things pumpkins, including an illuminated forest of jack-o’-lanterns, during Descanso Gardens’ annual Carved. For three weeks this fall (Oct 6–29), the event will line a loop of the botanical garden with pumpkins in all sorts of forms: as a sea monster rising from a pond, in thick clusters on ground and cobbled together into a house.

Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus combine forces in this emotionally direct rock trio.

Each year, Cinespia brings classic cult favorites to the hallowed resting place of Old Hollywood greats—and a couple of off-site screenings, too. For each evening at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, pack a picnic (yes, booze is allowed), pose in the photo booth and enjoy DJ sets, dance parties and all sorts of other magical mischief that’d otherwise be strictly forbidden behind the cemetery gates.

Confront familiar foes at Universal Studios’ annual Halloween festivities, where big-budget scares meet iconic horror movie characters. You’ll be able to navigate multiple scare zones and mazes, including ones based on The Last of Us, Stranger Things, Evil Dead Rise, The Exorcist: Believer, Chucky, the classic Universal Monsters and a selection of creatures inspired by Latin American folklore. Also, the “Terror Tram” takeover of the studio tour will return with a Jordan Peele mash-up that features the Tethered doppelgängers from Us in the Jupiter’s Claim area from Nope.

CicLAvia’s October 15 ride just might be its most impressive one yet. The bike-friendly event will create nearly eight miles of car-free streets, including along Figueroa and Broadway in DTLA and Chinatown, along 1st and Central in Little Tokyo in the Arts District, and then across the 6th Street Bridge and toward 1st in Boyle Heights.

See future box office hits as well as niche, indie gems at the annual AFI FEST. This year’s five-day program opens with Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail’s Leave the World Behind and closes with Bradley Cooper’s Maestro and includes additional screenings of Freud’s Last Session and Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, among others.

Walk across the grounds of the scenic King Gillette Ranch as the Santa Monica Mountains hideaway is illuminated with thousands of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns. Nights of the Jack returns with an on-foot, mile-long trail this year (with food trucks and a “Spookeasy,” too). 

See Danny Elfman step back into the role of Jack Skellington for a live performance and screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas at the Hollywood Bowl. The concert has become somewhat of a staple in L.A.: Elfman staged similar shows at the Hollywood Bowl in 2015, ’16 and ’18, and over at what’s now BMO Stadium in 2021. Now the voice behind the Pumpkin King is set to return to the Bowl stage once again for this Halloween tradition.

See how the Hairspray and Pink Flamingos writer and director’s delightfully filthy style has redefined the possibilities of independent cinema—as well as what exactly goes into making an indie movie—during this career-spanning exhibition at the Academy Museum. “John Waters: The Pope of Trash” includes costumes, props, photos, handwritten scripts, correspondence and memos, scrapbooks and more.

Its past installments have found attendees stealthing their way through a Victorian home and embarking on a Blade Runner-esque bounty hunt. And now this celebrated immersive horror theater event will once again return for an event at a nearly 150-year-old mansion. Delusion, an interactive seasonal event that combines elements of immersive theater with a more story-based approach to a walk-through haunted house, will again take over the Phillips Mansion, an 1875 estate in Pomona.

The LA Phil is entering its 20th season at the singular Walt Disney Concert Hall, and to celebrate the orchestra will mount a series of tributes to and collaborations with the hall’s architect.

The season starts with an opening night gala in honor of Frank Gehry (Oct 5) and continues with appearances by Esa-Pekka Salonen (Oct 27–29), who conducted the LA Phil when Disney Hall opened, as well as the U.S. premiere of Thomas Adès “Tower – For Frank Gehry” (Nov 4, 5). The centerpiece, though, is a Gustavo Dudamel-conducted staging of Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold, with scenic design by Gehry (Jan 18–21).

Look out for a display of Walt Disney Concert Hall models at the Getty in conjunction with the celebration.

Boney Island, a beloved kid-friendly Halloween event that called Griffith Park home until the pandemic, returns from its hiatus with a new setup at NHM’s Nature Gardens. From September 28 to October 31, the illuminated installation brings familiar fixtures (skeleton performers, shadow puppets) and mixes them with some sciency additions (fossils, animal presentations).

The GRAMMY Museum celebrates hip-hop’s 50th anniversary with interactive DJing, rapping and sampling stations and instantly recognizable artifacts like LL Cool J’s red Kangol bucket hat and the Notorious B.I.G.’s red leather pea coat.

The LA Opera and the Theatre at Ace Hotel once again join forces for a chilling mash-up of live music and film. Hole up in the Ace’s gothic auditorium for a screening of the 1935 Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff classic, The Bride of Frankenstein, complete with a live accompaniment from the LA Opera Orchestra of Franz Waxman’s original score.

The producer, songwriter and composer has not only helped produce chart-smashing hits for Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Halsey, but also produced his own mix of house-electronica where he merges everyday samples and recorded conversations.

The masters of alfresco rooftop movie viewing have returned for another season of screenings in Downtown L.A., the Arts District and El Segundo. You don’t even need to bring your own camping chair—Rooftop Cinema Club provides you with your very own comfy lawn chair. And instead of listening to the movie over loudspeakers, you’ll get a set of wireless headphones so you never have to miss a word.