LA Street Food Festival: There must be some sort of mathematical formula involving division signs and quadrangles that can assist a person when they're confronted with almost 100 different food trucks. For each truck offers up numerous tantalizing choices, from posh ice cream sandwiches to stuffed Aussie-style pies to offbeat ceviches to dumplings both delicate and hearty. Or maybe we won't need an equation at all, at the Rose Bowl, on Saturday, July 11, for the 6th annual fest; whatever looks good is where we'll stop and buy and chow. That formula works most fabulously, too.
Comic-Con International: Thousands upon thousands of Angelenos are calling upon our sibling-close city to the south for a host of star-laden panels, memorabilia-buying opportunities, and all of those rock-your-costume events. It's the world's biggest pop culture convention, and it leaps onto the rooftop, proverbially and superhero-style, of the San Diego Convention Center through Sunday, July 12. Will Wonder Woman be the most popular outfit this year? Furiosa from "Mad Max: Fury Road"? The cutting-edge-ness of what fans are into shall soon be revealed.
Lotus Festival: Peaceful respites in the city are pretty plentiful around Los Angeles, but few are as storied or as historic as Echo Park Lake. A certain flower is very much associated with the downtown-adjacent getaway, and we pause each July to celebrate it. The Lotus Festival includes "food, live music, ethnic dances" that fete the Pacific Islands and Asia. As for how long this venerable gathering has been with us? The community fest has flowered for three and a half decades now. July 11 and 12
Summer Nights in the Garden Open: We've entered prime be-outdoors-now time, when June Gloom is blowing its long kiss goodbye but the especially toasty days of August haven't yet arrived. The Natural History Museum is using this auspicious moment to launch a lovely quartet of Friday night fetes all centered around the Exposition Park spot's very walkable and leafy outdoor space. DJs, live animal presentations, and things like pickling demos -- pickling! -- await. Starts July 10, runs on various Fridays into August.
Hot Sauce Expo: But if it is heat you seek, of the molten mouth food-enhancing sort, Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach is your spot on July 11 and 12. A whole hot saucy shebang is due, with vendors selling all sorts of wicked wares that rank high on the Scoville Scale. Honest and true, can you go whole pepper in your mouth? Then you are probably the kind of eater that throws down the sauce on everything from eggs to ice cream. Get ready, fiery eats enthusiasts.
