What to Know
- Mother's Day is Sunday, May 12
- Several gardens will be open, including Descanso Gardens and South Coast Botanic Garden; a reservation and a ticket is required at The Huntington
- Brunches will abound, with The Langham Huntington, Pasadena and the Queen Mary in Long Beach offering celebratory meals
Happy Mother's Day: A bright spring Sunday will be all about showering your mom with all sorts of marvelous gifts, adventures, and treats. Make your way to a local public garden, or go further afield to The Flower Fields in Carlsbad, which is wrapping up this weekend. Screenings will shimmer, with "Mamma Mia!" launching the weekend at LA State Historic Park, and airy meals at Tanaka Farms will bring a homespun quality to the holiday. Here are more ideas on how to find the festive fun for your #1 favorite person.
Lowrider Exhibition: Eye-catching detailing, beautiful interiors, and marvelous moxie will be on display when the "Best in Low: Lowrider Icons of the Street and Show" exhibit opens at the Petersen Automotive Museum on May 12. The Gypsy Rose, "the first lowrider to be inducted into the National Historic Vehicle Registry," will be on view, along with several other on-the-roll treasures. A fabulous car show will get the "Low" show rolling on May 11, too; advance tickets are a must.
Free Kite Festival: Handmade kites will flutter over Los Angeles State Historic Park as the 4th Annual Community & Unity People's Kite Festival takes flight on May 11. The afternoon get-together will include chances to make art and participate in a flying contest; a colorful kite-based tribute to a trio of local animals will also be a highlight. Feel free to show with your own handmade or purchased kite or simply stop by and watch the airborne artworks soar overhead.
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City of Angels Spring Market: If you and your mom love browsing all sorts of amazing artisanal goodies, from clever tees to cute kitchen towels to exquisite ceramics, you're in some sort of Mother's Day Weekend kind of luck. Unique Markets is back at the California Market Center on May 11 and 12, meaning you can browse and buy from oodles of intriguing vendors selling art, homewares, jewelry, and packaged foodstuffs. Find your ticket ahead of time on the site.
Bye-bye, Boysenberry Festival: Fret not, fruit fans, for Knott's Berry Farm will never be devoid of the delightful, juicy, purple-tastic icon that so many berry buffs obsess over. But the Buena Park theme park must bid farewell to its annual Knott's Boysenberry Festival, which is when dozens of special gooey-good snacks pop up around the attraction-packed destination. The festival was already extended once, but May 12 is truly and really the final 2024 day. And yep: You'll need a Knott's ticket to enter.
