Weekend: Renaissance Pleasure Faire Opens

Jesting, jousting and some ye olde costuming fun? Forsooth and indeed.

ORIGINAL RENAISSANCE PLEASURE FAIRE OPENS: It's got a big name, but you can call it Ren Faire, the soiree of Santa Fe Dam, or Southern California's biggest and best-known ye olde medieval spectacular. If you've seen it in a medieval movie or TV series, bet it is here: jousting, jests, royalty, songs, ruffs, tights, leather goods, fairy wings, turkey legs and mead-type drinks. The extravaganza runs every weekend between Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, May 19. 

THAI NEW YEAR: Thousands of revelers make for Hollywood each spring to celebrate Songkran. Traditional dances, concerts, a pageant, and booths selling parasols, toys, and more goods will fill Hollywood Boulevard near Western. Tips? Metro is a good way to go, and you'll want to eat at the celebration. Grilled pork, egg rolls, papaya salad, fried rice, sweets aplenty, and a beer garden are a few of the gastromonic choices. The daytime party is on Sunday, April 7.

VAL KILMER SALUTES MARK TWAIN: Literature's best-known rapscallion isn't the easiest of icons to take on, and if an actor is playing Samuel Clemens in his later years? Make-up is typically applied in full. Val Kilmer will play Mark Twain in full Twain regalia for one night in Northridge. Expect wry observations and such. Also interesting? The actor will remain on stage after the show while his make-up is removed, the better to chat with the audience. Saturday, April 6

DOO DAH QUEEN TRYOUTS: You can be royalty, at least for a day, or at least for the length of Pasadena's famous (and infamous) Doo Dah Parade. These auditions, set to roll at the American Legion Bar in the Crown City on April 7, are not your typical tryouts. If you come in head-to-toe sequins, and sing a few show tunes, then somersault around the room, then play the spoons, you might have a real shot.

LOOK UP FOR PERFORMANCE ART: Two unique building-base performances, both from acclaimed choreographer Trisha Brown, are set to roll at UCLA and The Getty Center. On Friday, April 5, a dancer will walk down the side of the Broad Art Center. And on Saturday, April 6, dancers will shimmy atop and around The Getty. Both are free to watch, though parking costs at The Getty.

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