Coachella Music & Arts Festival: The six-day, two-weekend gathering will draw thousands upon thousands of revelers ready to shake it to the huge acts (Radiohead, Lady Gaga, and Kendrick Lamar are the headliners) and pose before the out-sized installations (a common and typically quirky sight around the Empire Polo Ground location) and call upon a number of parties, both around the festival and at the hotels of the desert resorts (a nightly outdoor dinner for 200 is one highlight). The April 14-16, April 21-23 extravaganza is out-sized, yep, and starry, and sunny, and swimming-pool-y, and song-filled...
Easter festivities: Oh, that busy rabbit'll be hiding many, many eggs around Southern California, and his helpers will be setting up craft tables and family-sweet activities. Kidspace Children's Museum, Skypark at Santa's Village, the Irvine Park Railroad, and LA Zoo all have big-of-ear events a(rabbit's)foot. Just note that Irvine Park Railroad's celebration ends on Saturday, April 15, while the other three spots will be open, and celebrating, on Sunday, April 16.
The Great LA River CleanUp: Over 25 tons of trash have been removed from our fabled waterway since this annual pitch-in event started nearly three decades ago. Bet the river is breathing easier because of the efforts of volunteers over the years, and the Friends of the LA River, the org that oversees the spiffy-up. Want to lend a hand? It's all happening over three Saturdays, April 15, 22, and 29, at different points around the LA River.
Free National Parks entry: It's National Parks Week, when we pay tribute to those wild, historical, monumental, and heart-thrilling places that draw us back, again and again, for vacations, quiet moments, and periods of reverence. To mark the occasion, the National Park Service will waive admission at those national parks that typically charge admission (so, yes, Yosemite, Joshua Tree...). The dates? It's a one weekend, then the next, kind of deal: April 15 and 16, then April 22 and 23.
City Nature Challenge opens: Prepare to go photo-to-photo with other people in other places who are eager to show off the animals and flowers and trees and mushrooms and the wilder side of where they live. The Natural History Museum is involved, and you'll want to upload your cool snapshots to iNaturalist (it's a free app). Everything's on from April 14 through 18, so get out around your neighborhood and start seeking out squirrels, butterflies, poppies...
