The weekend actually got a jump on us this week, with the Only in Hollywood Music + Arts Festival, which opened yesterday (Thursday, November 5), and runs through Sunday, November 8. The festival features more than 100 live performances in dozens of venues over four days, as well as five pop-up art galleries and a new parklet.  Sponsored by the Hollywood Property Owners Alliance, KCRW, Palladium Residences and Capitol Music Group, the festival invites music and art fans to “walk the neighborhood, check out the curated selection of acts and artistic expressions, and grab a bite in one of Hollywood’s many restaurants.”  The fun is centered along Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard and Selma Avenue, near cross-streets Cahuenga Boulevard and Vine Street.  Events include a mix of free and ticketed events, so check out the link above for the full line-up and details.
 Also getting an early start and stretching the full weekend, from Friday, November 6-Sunday, November 8, the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes launches its inaugural folk art event, Folk Art LA Plaza curated by LA Plaza Board Member and renowned jewelry designer Federico Jimenez. The event, at 501 N. Main St.. runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and features the work of leading Latin American artisans from Mexico, the Southwest, and Southern California, in a family-friendly day of Latin American music, story-telling, dance, workshops, artisans and crafts.
 As the actual weekend dawns on Saturday morning, the focus is on the Miracle Mile neighborhood, where the Miracle Mile Residential Association will hold its annual meeting (10:00 a.m. at the Korean Cultural Center, 5055 Wilshire Blvd.).  Speakers will include City Council Member David Ryu, Neighborhood Prosecutor Mehrnoosh “Nooshi” Zahiri, Scott Epstein (Midtown Homeless Coalition) and representatives from the LAPD.  Discussions will include an update on the neighborhood’s efforts to gain Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) status for the area, as well as a Q&A on neighbors’ other concerns.
Later, head down the street to the La Brea Tar Pits, where No-Kill LA invites you to meet your new best friend.  At its “Super Adoption” event, NKLA will host more than 1,000 adoptable dogs and cats from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, with adoption fees as low as $50. All pets are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. Adopters receive a collar, leash, coupons, pet beds, pet food and more, while supplies last.  Admission is free to this family-friendly event and will feature L.A.’s most popular food trucks, an NKLA photo booth, and lots of fun prizes.
A bit farther afield, but to arts mode, the Autry presents its 25th Annual American Indian Arts Marketplace, which also spans two days,  Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  The festival features top-tier contemporary Native artists, performances, demonstrations, theater, food and film, celebrating Native American cultures.  More than 40 tribes will be represented, and the event offers something for everyone, including sculptures, pottery, beadwork, basketry, photography, paintings, jewelry, textiles, wooden carvings, and mixed-media works for sale, as well as Native dancers, musicians, storytellers, artist demonstrations and hands-on crafts.
On Sunday, there’s more art…and science.
First, UCLA will host Exploring Your Universe, a free annual science outreach day held on the UCLA campus from 12:00-5:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 8. The event is filled with exciting, family-friendly demos, activities, and talks on a wide variety of science topics and disciplines, including astronomy, atmospheric and oceanic studies, chemistry and biochemistry, biology, earth, planetary and space sciences, math, physics, psychology and more. Appropriate for all ages “from K through gray.”
And finally, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. on Sunday, stop in at the Craft and Folk Art Museum on Wilshire Blvd., for Hexaflexaperfecta!, a craft workshop with artist Rebecca Niederlander.  Learn how to make your very own folded paper hexaflexagon, the building block of Niederlander’s installation for the current Paperworks exhibition at the museum, and develop your own expandable sculpture. Warning… hexaflexagation may lead to a wonderful understanding of mathematics while having way too much fun folding paper! Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children and free for CAFAM members.
