I hope you are enjoying summer wherever you may be! This post was inspired by a colleague at work eager to have a list of possible activities for the summertime. If you’re in the Los Angeles area during the summer months, either as a local or a tourist, here are some ideas to get you out and about taking advantage of what Los Angeles has to offer this time of year. If you are elsewhere, use this as inspiration to find similar summer events, special exhibitions, and unique experiences in your area.

🇳🇴 🇸🇪 🇩🇰 Scandinavian enthusiasts, don’t miss the last section. How many of those Scandinavian inspired places have you been to?

What’s on your summer to-do list?

Special Summer Events in LA

• A month-by-month calendar of L.A.’s outdoor movies (Locations include parks, rooftops, a cemetery, and shopping centers.)
• Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica (Pool open 6/16-9/2)
• 626 Night Market in Arcadia and Orange County (Various weekends July, August, and September)
• KCRW Summer Nights (Various dates and places, free)
• Grand Performances in DTLA (Throughout the summer, free)
• Sunset Concerts @ Skirball Cultural Center (Thursday evenings, free)
• Jazz at LACMA (Friday evenings, free)
• Barnsdall Wine Nights @ Barnsdall Art Park (Friday evenings, adults only)
• Off the 405 @ The Getty Center (Saturdays evenings, free)
• CicLAvia (8/18: Meet the Hollywoods, free)
• Hollywood Bowl
• Dodgers Game

Special Exhibitions – See them before they’re gone!

• Camille Claudel @ The Getty Center (through 7/21/24)
• Accidentally Wes Anderson: The Exhibit @ Santa Monica Art Museum (through 8/18/24)
• Butterfly Pavilion @ Natural History Museum (through 8/25/24)
• The Messi Experience in LA @ The Stage at Casitas, Los Angeles (through 8/30/24)
• Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak @ Skirball Cultural Center (through 9/1/24)
• LEONARDO DA VINCI: Inventor. Artist. Dreamer @ California Science Center (through 9/2/24)
• Mickalene Thomas: All About Love @ The Broad (through 9/29/24)
• ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN @ LACMA (through 10/6/24)
• Best in Low: Lowrider Icons of the Street and Show @ Petersen Automotive Museum (through Spring 2025)

Seize the Moment – Have you been yet?

• Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms @ The Broad, DTLA (free)
• Smorgasburg LA in DTLA (Sundays, free to enter) – Did you know that “smörgås” means “open faced sandwich” in Swedish?
• Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles
• Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena
• Sawdust Summer Art Festival in Laguna Beach (6/28-9/1, check out OC Resident Nights & Free County Days)
• LAist City Treks: Let’s get out and explore LA and SoCal on foot! (And then grab a bite to eat)
• The 70 best hikes in L.A. and Southern California | Los Angeles Times

For the Scandinavian Enthusiasts! 🇳🇴 🇸🇪 🇩🇰

• Solvang — Visit the Danish Capital of America! (13 delightful things to do in Solvang, the Danish fairy tale town with plenty of ‘hygge’ | LA Times)
• Shoops European Deli & Cafe in Santa Monica — “SHOOP’S specializes in innovative breakfasts, sandwiches, salads, & soups in the European tradition of quality & freshness.” They have a European imports market with licorice, chocolate, deli, and grocery items.
• Copenhagen Pastry in Culver City — An authentic Danish pastry shop offering light and flaky pastries baked fresh throughout the day, a variety of layer cakes, rye bread, kransekake bites, rumkugle, and more. Don’t miss the Princess Cake available by the slice.
• Clark Street Bakery in Brentwood, Larchmont, and Echo Park — After spending the summer at his Swedish wife’s family’s town working in a wood-fired bakery in the Swedish countryside and falling in love with the craft, Zack Hall returned home to become a full-time bread baker. Try cinnamon buns, cardamom buns, vanilla buns, Danish rye bread plus more.
• Open Face Food Shop in Los Angeles (West Adams) — “From traditional Danish flavors to elevated American fare, you will find something for everyone at Open Face Food Shop.”
• Sockerbit in Los Angeles (Beverly Grove) — “Inspired by nostalgia and Swedish traditions, Sockerbit offers hundreds of candy options to choose from! Everything from gummies, licorice, marshmallows and chocolates, in different shapes, textures and flavors.”
• Berolina Bakery in Glendale — Artisan European breads and pastries. Try cardamom and cinnamon buns (strips and braids also available), Swedish limpa, Danish rye, and much more.

So far this summer we have checked off a few special summer experiences — a Dodger game, dinner at historic Yamashiro Hollywood with its unique architecture and stunning views of LA, a CicLAvia event in South LA, and hiking (with geocaching) at dusk.

Is this the summer when I finally seize the opportunity to check off some long standing wishes such as visiting the Sawdust Summer Art Festival in Laguna Beach (June 28-September 1, free for LA County residents July 7 and August 11) or the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena? I’m also intrigued by the idea of an adults only sunset swim with friends at the Annenberg Beach House where floaties and s’mores are provided. LAist’s new summer series, City Treks: Let’s explore LA and SoCal on foot! (And then grab a bite to eat), has also caught my attention. So far there are itineraries for Culver City/Park to Playa Bridge, Atwater Village/LA River, Anaheim, Magnolia Park in Burbank, Monrovia, Encino, and Oxnard. The next CicLAvia event is August 18 and connects West Hollywood, Hollywood, and East Hollywood (Meet the Hollywoods). I think it’s going to be a good one!

What do you have on your summer wish list to do?