Events

Circus Vargas presents The Big One is Back at Del Amo Fashion Center, and is running through Monday, November 19th. Under a classic big-top tent, singing Ringmaster Kevin Venardos welcomes audiences to the festivities with an original Circus Vargas song that kicks things off with a splash of razzle-dazzle and a touch of Broadway. Musical and memorable, this timeless and thrilling show features some of the world’s greatest circus performers, including trapeze artists, jugglers, acrobats, death-defying stunt performers and, of course, lots of world-class clowns. Take a look beyond the sawdust and spangles, a peek past the mystique and wonder and discover why Circus Vargas is America’s Favorite Big Top Circus!

The offspring of Hailey’s Comet are about to put on quite a show in the skies of Culver City. Earth will pass through a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, which will give us the benefit of the annual Orionids meteor shower. The shower should be at its peak the night of Saturday, Oct. 20, until just before dawn on Oct. 21.  South Bay residents should check out Rocket Ship park in Torrance. or head down to the beach. Orionid meteor shower peaks at 9 PM. So what makes this shower so cool? First of all, c’mon—it’s a show of shooting stars. With the second-fastest entry velocity of all the annual meteor showers, meteors from the Orionids produce yellow and green colors and occasionally produce an odd fireball.

Come an join us for our once a year event at 710 Pier Avenue on the Hermosa Beach Playhouse lawn at the Community Center This event will feature at least a thousand pieces individually made by the glass artist putting on the event.  This event brings northern & southern California regional artists together for a two day event. 10% of the proceeds will go to the Hermosa Arts Foundation.  Prices for the glass pumpkins range from $15-$200. A distinguished group of regional glass artists are teaming up again to display and sell thousands of colorful hand-made glass pumpkins. The Great Hermosa Beach Glass Pumpkin Patch event is spearheaded by Bryan Ousdahl, a glass artist residing in Redondo Beach, CA. See the event website for details and photo gallery: Click Here

The third annual Taste of the Pier will take place on Sunday, Oct. 14, from noon to 6 p.m. This popular event will include a variety of small bites, live music, free balloons, face painting, arts and crafts, and more while touring the pier and boardwalk. Tasting tickets are $1 each. Receive one entry to win pier prize giveaways when you purchase 10 tickets. Each restaurant will feature a different menu item and non-food retailers will offer other discounts and items. Event proceeds benefit the Redondo Beach Educational Foundation and Cancer Support Community-Redondo Beach. For more informationvisit www.redondopier.com.

Technology, Entertainment, Design, has been a much-talked-about acronym over the past few years. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.” TED gets leaders in various subjects from around the world to give short speeches. The speeches are videotaped and put online for anyone to view for free. TEDx is a program of self-organized, hyperlocal events, a smaller branch of TED. TEDx Manhattan Beach will be on Saturday, October 13th, has held more than 20 events over the past few years, bringing in more than 1,000 people. This year’s conference theme is “Journey to Purpose: Dream. Educate. Thrive,” bringing leading-edge thought leaders and educators together to share their ideas on how to define and find purpose and its effect on the human mind, spirit and well-being. For all the details and to purchase tickets visit the site www.tedxmanhattanbeach.com

Come join us for the 35th Annual Manhattan Beach Hometown 10K, on Saturday, October 6, 2012. 4,000 runners will take to the streets for this moderate to slightly difficult course through downtown and residential Manhattan Beach, finishing at the Manhattan Beach pier. Profits go to local schools, fitness-related recreation projects and college scholarships. Family teams exist in the following categories: Brother-Brother, Brother-Sister, Sister-Sister, Mother-Daughter, Mother-Son, Father-Daughter, Father-Son (Sorry, no spousal teams) Teammates need not run together. Medals will be awarded to the top 10 combined running times in each category. Online registration is now closed and only walk in registration is available at the Redondo Beach Village Runner Manhattan Beach. Proceeds from the event are returned to the community in the form of scholarships to high school seniors living in Manhattan Beach and to various enhancements to the recreation facilities of local schools and parks. Over the years, the Hometown 10k has made donations back to the community in excess of $250,000!

Are you ready for some football?

A Los Angeles City Council committee gave a tentative blessing today to construction of a $1.1-billion NFL Stadium downtown and an estimated $315-million convention center hall, despite some concerns over the pending sale of development company AEG. With a little luck and some deep pockets, the NFL will be playing in a dazzling new stadium in Los Angeles in 2016. The agreement includes a community benefits package that requires AEG to provide money for job training and streetscape improvements. It also has a local-hire component intended to offer jobs to workers in communities adjacent to the stadium that suffer from high unemployment rates. The green light for the 76,000-seat stadium hinges on AEG’s ability to secure a football team to move to Los Angeles. This decision clears way for Los Angeles to pursue a franchise in earnest and gives AEG the full ability to go get a team.

South Bay residents will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness Space Shuttle Endeavour in its final moments of flight Friday morning as the shuttle, attached to a modified Boeing 747, will fly over multiple Los Angeles landmarks before touching down at LAX. The flight will dip to 1,500 feet to give the public a better view of the shuttle as it passes over famous landmarks. The California Science Center said that the public can expect to see the shuttle in Los Angeles air space starting around 10:30 a.m., weather permitting. Escorted by F-16 aircraft, the shuttle is then expected to land between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on one of Los Angeles International Airport’s south runways. Police also said the public can view the shuttle landing from the 700 block of West Imperial Avenue and the “greenbelt,” located at the intersection of Imperial Avenue and California Street in El Segundo.

According to the FAA and the California Science Center, the following Los Angeles landmarks will see a fly over by Space Shuttle Endeavour if conditions permit. For viewing locations and parking information, the science center recommends the public contact each venue for specific details. Check out the detials: Click Here

Craft beer lovers can rejoice this week as the annual L.A. Beer Week kicks into high gear Thursday and continues for a full 10 days throughout the South Bay and the Southland. Hundreds of events are planned throughout Los Angeles during the celebration including tap takeovers, rare beer releases, beer schools, beer dinners, meet the brewer nights and even a beer float ice cream social. The annual celebration of all things beer aims to raise awareness of and help evolve the craft beer industry in Los Angeles

For those living in the beach cities, here is a look at what events are happening in the South Bay:

9/20
Locals Night Naja’s Place, Redondo Beach 8:00 p.m. Naja’s will feature a variety of local breweries including Strand Brewing Co., Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, The Bruery and Cismontane, to name a few. Local Torrance brewers Joel and Rich from Strand Brewing will be on hand behind the bar.
Pre-Prohibition Pint Night Featuring Batch 19 BREWCO, Manhattan Beach BREWCO will feature an authentic, pre-prohibition beer known as Batch 19 for $5 per pint.

9/21
Ballast Point Night Select Beer Store, Redondo Beach 5:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. Select Beer will feature some of Ballast Point’s specialty beers. Glassware from Ballast Point will also be available.
Dogfish Head Night Naja’s Place, Redondo Beach 8:00 p.m. Delaware’s Dogfish Head brewery will feature some of their rarest beers on tap including the highly sought after 120 Minute IPA. Arrive early as last year, the rarest beers went quickly.

9/22
South Bay Brewery Shuttle Bus El Segundo Brewing Co., El Segundo 1:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. El Segundo Brewing will offer a brewery shuttle bus that will run a continuous loop to breweries in the South Bay. Stops include Beachwood BBQ and Brewing, Monkish Brewing and The Brewery at Abigaile. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at http://southbaybreweryshuttlebus.bpt.me

9/23
South Bay Tap Takeover and Pie Select Beer Store, Redondo Beach Noon – 8:00 p.m. All 12 taps at the store will feature local South Bay breweries including El Segundo Brewing, Monkish Brewing, Smog City Brewing and Strand Brewing. I Heart Pies will also be on hand serving up baked pies to pair with the beers.

9/24
So You STILL Want to Open a Brewery in L.A. Rock & Brews, El Segundo 7:00 p.m. Local professional brewers will talk about their experiences opening breweries in the Los Angeles area. Tomm Carroll from The Celebrator Beer News will moderate the discussion.
BREWCO Celebrates Oktoberfest with Hangar 24 BREWCO, Manhattan Beach Along with German soft pretzels and bratwurst, BREWCO will feature some of Hangar 24’s German-style beers including 4th Anniversary Dopplestick Alt Ale, Oktoberfest, Alt-Bier Ale and Helles Lager.

9/25
Figueroa Mountain Brewery Night Select Beer Store, Redondo Beach 5:00 p.m. – midnight Santa Barbara County’s Figueroa Mountain Brewery will feature their beers on tap including Hoppy Poppy IPA, Paradise Road Pilsner and their Danish Red Lager.

9/26
Firestone Walker Brewing Company Pint Night BREWCO, Manhattan Beach A representative from the brewery will be on hand to guide guests through a list of Firestone’s beers including Oaktoberfest, Wookey Jack, Double Jack IPA and Double DBA.
Sierra Nevada Night Naja’s Place, Redondo Beach 8:00 p.m. Naja’s will feature Chico’s Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and some of their rare beers may make an appearance.

9/27
Taste of Sonoma Night Featuring Lagunitas Brewing BREWCO, Manhattan Beach Meet Lagunitas representatives and try some of their beers including Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale, Maximus IIPA, Fusion 10 and cellar-aged GnarlyWine.

9/28
Green Flash and St. Feuillien Are Friends Select Beer Store, Redondo Beach 5:00 p.m. – Midnight Beer collaborations between San Diego County’s Green Flash Brewing and Belgium’s St. Feuillien will be featuring including Friendship Black Saison and Biere D’Amitie. Other beers on tap will include Park West Porter, West Coast IPA, Blanche and Triple.

For a complete list of L.A. Beer Week events throughout Los Angeles and the Southland, visit the official beer week website at www.labeerweek.com