Toshiba Tall Ships Festival: It's not quite Talk Like a Pirate Day yet, but you can get a glance back at what ships of yore looked like out on the high seas of a past century. The tall ships are pulling into Dana Point and, with them, tours, ventures out onto the water, and cannon battles as well. And landlubbers should search out on-the-shore treats like parrot shows and shiply vendors. While both Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13 will be filled to the hull with happenings, the Sunset Parade on Friday night, Sept. 11, is one of the cameras-out treats of the weekend.
South Bay Pride Music & Art Festival: While LA's pride party wrapped in June -- as did San Francisco's -- the celebrations continue into the late summer, with this tune-filled, DJ-dance-a-riffic, loads-of-activities gathering in Chula Vista's Bayside Park. There are to-dos for kids, from bounce houses to kayak tours, something that isn't a typical staple of a pride party. Celebrate LGBT, dance into the night, and perhaps take to the water, too, for a family-sweet sail, on Saturday, Sept. 12.
Long Beach Comic Con: Jokers and Wonder Women and Darth Vaders shall be out in costume-y, convention-loving throngs on Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13. There shall be panels and star appearances -- John Barrowman of "Torchwood" and Nicholas Brandon of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will be in the house -- and there shall be the Artists Alley, photo ops, and places to rock your costume, too. Plus: Space Expo 2015, a partnership with The Columbia Memorial Space Center, will bring a "world of scientific discovery." Place: Not space, but the Long Beach Convention Center.
Long Beach Lobster Festival: If you happen to be at the con, and you don't mind getting a bit of butter sauce on your cape -- or even using your cape as a napkin, when needed -- then keep in mind that the first of Southern California's big September lobster parties is taking place at Rainbow Lagoon, which is not all the far from the convention center. There shall be live tunes, there shall be kidly to-dos, and there shall be fresh Maine lobster and coleslaw and watermelon, too. It's a three-dayer, from Sept. 11 through 13, if you can't get enough crustacean action and need to return.
Final Sunset Swim: Is summer well and truly and completely gone, save for the official autumnal equinox kicking off in a matter of days? It doesn't feel like it. So take heart, summer lovers: The Annenberg Community Beach House has one more Sunset Swim to go for the season, on Friday, Sept. 11. These are the 18-and-over nights, the evenings that have swimming and games like coconut bowling, and this is the last lark of the year. Oh, the Santa Monica pool is still humming, but if you want your Sunset Swim in, the time is now. (Or the night of Sept. 11, rather.)
