Weekend Events ~ Lil Kim and Janelle Monae At Pride, Los Lobos For Ukraine, Whole Hog BBQ, and A Zoot Suit Riot Memorial Cruise

We can’t bear the thought of you being bored this weekend. So we’ve cobbled together an events guide highlighting some of the fun things to do in and around Los Angeles over the next few days. Have fun!

THURSDAY, JUNE 2

• Hollywood's Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival started yesterday and goes through Sunday, highlighting dozens of short and feature films, animated works, musical performances, events, shows,and more. June 1-5, 6801 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90028, details here and tickets here

• Tonight the Hammer Museum's Conversations series, in collaboration with Artists For Amazonia, presents "Protecting the Amazon Rainforest: Averting the Ecological Tipping Point." Indigenous leaders and artists will discuss the global significance of the Amazon biome by highlighting how California’s oil imports affect the future of the Amazon rainforest, as well as calling for 80% of the Amazon to be permanently protected by 2025. They will also present the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative, which seeks to protect the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Free, 7:30pm, seats assigned at the box office on a first come, first served basis, 10899 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90024

• KCRW presents The Bungalow Santa Monica’s Night Market tonight at The Fairmont Miramar Hotel, featuring food vendors, DJ sets from Mayer Hawthorne, celebrity bartenders, fun for the kids, and Tequila. Tacos 1986, River Street BBQ, Steamin' Burger, vegan ManEatingPlant, Gone Bananas Bread Co., and Bubba Ice's hand-rolled ice cream will all be there. Will you? Free, Thursdays through September 1, 5-11pm, 101 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, CA

FRIDAY, JUNE 3

• West Hollywood's Pride Month celebration kicks off today, with the We Are Outloud Music Festival stretching across three days and nights. Today you can see Lil Kim and Marina perform, Saturday it's Jessie J, and Sunday will find Years & Years and Muna hitting the stage. Meanwhile, Janelle Monáe will lead Sunday's parade as Grand Marshall, joined by JoJo Siwa as Pride's Next Gen Icon. More details here and tickets here.

• Santa Monica Place and Streetlet are hosting the "Made with PRIDE Marketplace" pop-up every Friday-Sunday in June, as part of the city's annual SaMo PRIDE, showcasing over 15 LGBTQIA+ business owners and their stories, products, and services. Vendors include jewelry and clothing maker Artaya, pottery from The Clayborhood, Ecuadorian textiles from Inti Threads, houseplants and home-goods from PIPPI + LOLA, among the many, as well as art installations, workshops, and an overhead light installation. 395 Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica, at Broadway and Third Street Promenade

• There's a forest growing in Downtown. A Forest For The Trees, an immersive show offering a journey through a surreal forest of magic, music, and wonder and featuring "animatronic performing trees, captivating illusions of fire that you can control with your hands, and multi-sensory storytelling, all hidden within a 28,000-square-foot space." $13.50-$40, 516 South Mission Road, Los Angeles, CA 90033

SATURDAY, JUNE 4

• Weekend brunch is launching today at Downtown restaurant Damian, from Mexico City's venerated Enrique Olvera. Chef de Cuisine Jesús “Chuy” Cervantes menu will feature crab tostadas, rockfish ceviche, elote asado, burrito omelettes, chilaquiles, uni-laced Caesar salads, hibiscus meringue, along with a unique selection of cocktails and wines. Saturdays & Sundays, 11:00am-2:30pm, reservations available on Resy.com, 2132 E. 7th Pl. Los Angeles, CA 90021

• Creative Communal's Makers Market pop-up will hit Pasadena Commons this Saturday, with food vendors, free face-painting, a slime bar for kids, photo ops, live music by Zen Thomas, and over 25 local retailers and artisans. 11am-4pm, 140-146 South Lake Ave. Pasadena, CA 91106

SUNDAY, JUNE 5

• Moo’s Craft Barbecue, which has its origins as an underground East L.A. backyard BBQ popup, will celebrate its one-year anniversary in Lincoln Heights throughout June with special guest appearances from other acclaimed barbecue pitmasters. Guests will also be able to purchase raffle tickets for an extreme Barbecue kit – a Yeti cooler filled with essential barbecue equipment, books, a Moo’s gift card and more, with proceeds going to No Kid Hungry. This Sunday, Moo's will be joined by Flatpoint Barbecue for a whole hog barbecue, followed by Heritage Barbecue next Saturday, then a crawfish boil with Zef BBQ on June 18 and Santa Ynez's Priedite on June 25. 2118 N. Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90031

• A Memorial Cruise in honor of the 79th Anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots will be held this Sunday, starting in Commerce, and welcoming classic cars, carruchas, ranflas, and other custom automobiles riding in honor of "ancestors, pachucos, pachucas," and veterans and fallen soldiers of WWII. All car clubs are encouraged to be there, look at the rules closely. 11am rollout.

• Bless Your Heart, the Southern food pop-up from the owner formerly behind Murdered Out, will be making biscuit sandwiches this Sunday to benefit Robb Elementary School at Picaresca Cafe in Boyle Heights. 10am, 1300 S. Soto St. Los Angeles, CA 90023 UPDATE: The time and address was changed to the above from our earlier post.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8

• Okay, okay, it's not the weekend or even technically this week, but we feel it's vitally crucial to tell you that Los Lobos's David Hidalgo and Steve Berlin are teaming up with a bunch of other legends to re-form Los Super Seven for the Concert For Democracy at the at L.A.'s Ukrainian Culture Center next Wednesday, June 8th, to support Texas Turnout and The Good Deed Corps’ voter registration campaign, and raise funds for Ukraine war relief efforts. 7:30pm, tickets here.