- Friday, June 17 from 5 to 8 p.m.
- $15 adult (free for adult members); $10 child (children under 12 months admitted free)
- Music, photo opportunities, places to make summery crafts, more
Spotting a bear inside the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Gardens?
You're likely to come across a showy peacock or peahen (they're plentiful at the Arcadia idyll) or even a turtle or two (these stocky shellebrities do love to sun on various water-adjacent rocks, no surprise).
In other words?
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You won't see anything ursine inside the Arboretum, but you will come across all sorts of colorful critters, including bunnies and the occasional super-fast lizard.
Still, bears will be out and about on Friday evening, June 17, but worry not: They'll be invited to the landmark, and in a celebratory, snap-a-photo kind of mood.
What's the claws for celebration? The Arboretum's beloved Teddy Bear Picnic is ready for its beary big return.
The popular event has long been a favorite of families seeking an adorable alfresco festivity, the sort of gentle and joyful celebration that tots enjoy as much as the grown-ups.
Tickets? They're available now.
Good to know? Only humans will need to purchase admission, for any stuffed animals in attendance will receive complimentary entries (we'll assume they're not entering the gardens on their own, but rather accompanying their people).
So, for sure, invite your teddy bear, your stuffed lobster, your cuddliest dinosaur, or your favorite doll along for the sunset-sweet event.
Photo opportunities, DJ tunes, craft-making areas, and other smile-summoning goings-on, like classic lawn games, will fill the flowery expanse.
If you're not keen to pack your own cuisine, The Peacock Cafe will have boxed meals. Do keep in mind you'll need to pre-order your dinners, so please do so ahead of time.
The Teddy Bear Picnic won't unfurl throughout the entire stretch of the spacious place — the Arboretum fills out 127 acres, after all — but the chance to join a cheery, family-fun event, one that occurs when the gardens would typically be shuttered for the night, is certainly a rare one.
As rare, perhaps, as spotting a bear inside the lovely location's gates.
But bears, of the softest, furriest, and most huggable varieties, will reign on the final Friday of spring 2022, a tradition that families around Southern California have come to love.
