Weekend: Special Olympics World Games

Cheer on "6,500 athletes representing 165 countries" around SoCal.

Special Olympics World Games: Los Angeles 2015: Thousands of athletes hailing from 165 countries are ready to compete in over two dozen competitions, from swimming to soccer at spots around Southern California for a week-plus (it's being called "the single biggest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games"). Founded in 1962 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics celebrates "the power of 6,500 athletes with intellectual disabilities competing to be champions of their sports." Cheer on the competitors as they go for the gold, through Sunday, Aug. 2.

National Dance Day: Can a thousand people — or more — all perform the same routine they've just learned, and fully practiced, that morning? They can, and have, at this annual rite of summer, which is helmed by Nigel Lythgoe of "So You Think You Can Dance." You can preview the 2015 routine, and then make for Music Center Plaza, on Saturday, July 25, to learn it and do it along lots and lots of other dance-mad SoCalers. Cost to join. So free. As free as dancing makes you feel.

Steve McQueen with Kanye West Pop-Up Exhibition: A nine-minute film, all captured in one take, inspired by two Kanye West songs and directed by the lauded helmer of "12 Years a Slave"? The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has the video, filmed at a London dockyard. But the twist: It screens for four days only, beginning on Saturday, July 25. You can see "All Day/I Feel Like That" at BCAM and the price? The usual LACMA admission.

VidCon: "For people who love online video" is the thrumming vibe behind this annual Anaheim gathering, which hosts thousands of young content aficionados and the content makers who are, pretty much, total rock stars. This isn't just about YouTube phenomenons, though they figure largely; look for Vine favorites to also figure largely. John and Hank Green started this over a half decade ago, and, shall we say, the form has flowered since then. See Ze Frank, Jenna Marbles, and more, through July 26. 

So Cal Corgi Beach Day: So remember when around about 500 corgis romped at Huntington Beach in the spring? There may be an adorable encore of that on Saturday, July 25 in Long Beach as the mavens of the squatty sweethearts take to Rosie's Dog Beach. Word on the Facebook says that dogs (and their humans) are flying in from points beyond LA for this one, so plan on the pup contingent being on the plentiful side. 

Taste of Summer: The Victorian in Santa Monica is one of the most beautiful and mysterious structures along that stretch. So getting the chance to step inside, enjoy a tasty dinner, and support the Fulfillment Fund Leadership Council, which helps "make college a reality for students in educationally and economically under-resourced communities," is a lovely thing all around. The date of the fundraiser? Saturday, July 25. Information? This way.

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