What to Know
- The foodie festival happens daily from March 3 through April 25, 2023
- Theme park admission and a reservation are required; food and drink are additional
- The Festival Marketplace has cuisine-filled kiosks aplenty, while special events, culinary demos, and more add flavor to the festival's month-plus calendar
Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival: The multi-week sup-and-sip-tacular is back at the Anaheim theme park through April 25, with a caboodle of kiosks offering a host of intriguing dishes and drinks, including Cubano Sliders, Elote Paletas, colorful non-alcoholic beverages, and flights featuring award-winning California brews. Cooking demos, live tunes, and the limited-time return of Soarin' Over California, the nostalgic fly-high attraction, are on the merry menu, too. Be sure to have a park ticket and reservation if you'd like to attend.
Dana Point Festival of Whales: Our cetacean friends have been around for, well, eons, and probably a few eons on top of that, which can make this ocean-close party seem on the shorter side. But this beloved fest has been around for over a half-century, making it one of the biggies on the whale-loving circuit. The cheerful Saturday morning parade is one of the draws, but so are the kid activities, educational events, and the Saturday night concert with Sheena Easton and Taylor Dayne. It's splashing on March 4 and 5, with a Friday night reception.
Outdoor Foodie Flavor: LB Food-a-Looza is a mondo snack-around at Long Beach City College on March 4; well over a dozen food trucks will be there, with Surfer Taco, Mr. Falafel, and the Tres Leches Bus making a showing (it all begins at 2 o'clock). Yummy: 626 Night Market Mini Santa Monica will bring an appetizing air on March 4-5. And Smorgasburg LA will honor Women's History Month and a bevy of women-helmed eateries by turning over the Sunday ROW DTLA outdoor food market to RE:Her. Entry to the March 5 event is free.
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Make March Matter: This month-long campaign will raise funds for Children's Hospital Los Angeles in myriad ways, including through yoga classes, cooking workshops, and so many delicious dishes served at several SoCal eateries. Want to help out while dining out? Take a look at some of the 2023 participants, and check whether a specific date is tied to the fundraising effort. It all began on March 1, and wraps on March 31, giving people several days to visit a local restaurant or business and play a vital part.
First Fridays at NHM: We're again alighting upon the first Friday of the month, which means that we're longing to materialize, magically, at the Natural History Museum for an ensorcelled eveningtime affair. The theme? "Fandoms & Fantasy," so count on "Wizards, Witches, and Magical Powers" taking the science-inspired centerstage. Grown-up beverages, DJ tunes, and more fashionable/fabulous doings will be enchantingly afoot at the March 3 meet-up.
