What's on in Los Angeles (LA), United States through the year

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Rose Parade

• Festival

  Rose Parade

  1 JanChristmas & New YearCrowded

  New Year's morning in Pasadena, flower-covered floats and a hundred thousand people on Colorado Boulevard who mostly slept there. The floats stay on display for two days after. Source ↗

Still on: Winter rain season (1 Dec – 15 Mar), Gray whale migration (15 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Academy Awards weekend

• Festival

  Academy Awards weekend

  25 Feb – 20 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Hollywood Boulevard closes for the best part of a week around the ceremony, and the hotel and restaurant scene in the middle of the city behaves accordingly. Source ↗

Still on: Winter rain season (1 Dec – 15 Mar), Gray whale migration (15 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Academy Awards weekend

• Nature

  Wildflower season

  1 Mar – 30 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & bloomsCrowded

  After a wet winter the desert parks and the inland hills flower for a few weeks, and the roadsides at Antelope Valley and Walker Canyon jam solid. A dry winter cancels it. Source ↗

• Festival

  Los Angeles Marathon

  5–25 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalClosuresCrowded

  Twenty-odd thousand runners on a Sunday in March, on a course that has been redrawn more than once. Whichever route it takes, a long diagonal of the city is shut to traffic until early afternoon. Source ↗

Still on: Academy Awards weekend (25 Feb – 20 Mar (usually)), Winter rain season (1 Dec – 15 Mar), Gray whale migration (15 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Wildflower season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Wildflower season (1 Mar – 30 Apr (usually)), Gray whale migration (15 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — between the peaks

• Season

  May gray and June gloom

  1 May – 30 JunFog season

  The marine layer sits over the coast until early afternoon most days while the valleys are already hot. Ten miles inland is a different day entirely. Source ↗

Busy — between the peaks, LA Pride

• Festival

  LA Pride

  5–15 Jun · usuallyCrowded

  The parade and village weekend in Hollywood in early June, with Hollywood Boulevard closed for it. West Hollywood and Long Beach hold their own on other weekends, so check which one you mean. Source ↗

Still on: May gray and June gloom (1 May – 30 Jun)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Fourth of July

• Holiday

  Fourth of July

  4 JulNational holidayCrowdedRisk

  Official shows at the Hollywood Bowl, and unofficial fireworks across the whole basin for most of the night. The fire department runs extra brush patrols, because nothing has been rained on since March. Source ↗

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Summer break in United States

• Season

  Sea at its warmest

  1 Aug – 30 SepSea warm enough

  Late summer is the only stretch when the Pacific here is worth getting into without a wetsuit, and it lasts into the first half of October.

Busy — Summer break in United States

• Hazard

  Santa Ana wind and fire season

  15 Sep – 15 Dec · usuallySmoke season

  Offshore winds arrive over vegetation that has had no rain since spring, and the fire risk peaks before the first storms. Smoke can close the hills and the coast road for days. Source ↗

Still on: Sea at its warmest (1 Aug – 30 Sep)

Busy — between the peaks, Dia de los Muertos

• Festival

  Dia de los Muertos

  25 Oct – 3 Nov · usuallyNational holidayCrowded

  Altars and an all-night gathering in the Hollywood Forever cemetery on the Saturday nearest 2 November, plus nine days of processions on Olvera Street. Cemetery tickets go weeks ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Santa Ana wind and fire season (15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Dia de los Muertos

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Santa Ana wind and fire season (15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)), Dia de los Muertos (25 Oct – 3 Nov (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Winter / Christmas break in United States

• Season

  Winter rain season

  1 Dec – 15 MarMonsoonRisk

  Effectively all of the year's rain falls in this window, in a handful of Pacific storms. It is also when the hills are green and the air is at its cleanest.

• Nature

  Gray whale migration

  15 Dec – 30 Apr · usuallyWhale season

  The whole population passes offshore on its way to Baja and back, southbound around January and northbound with calves in March. Boats go from Long Beach and San Pedro. Source ↗

Still on: Santa Ana wind and fire season (15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually))