Events

Angelenos love to show off, and the city has no shortage of opportunities for them to do so. Every New Year's Day the Tournament of Roses Parade - marching bands, celebrities and flower-coated floats - makes its way down Pasadena's Colorado Blvd. The Rose Bowl college football championship is played later the same day. A parody of the Tournament of Roses - the Doo Dah Parade - makes its way down Colorado Blvd in November, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

February is African American History Month, with films, lectures, exhibits and performances across the county. LA's night of nights, the Academy Awards, is held in March. In April, pet owners take their companions to Downtown LA's Olvera St to be blessed on the Saturday before Easter. Cinco de Mayo, marking Mexico's victory over the French army at the Battle of Puebla (1862), is celebrated on May 5 with plenty of south-of-the-border style festivities.

In June, LA Pride, the city's gay and lesbian celebration, is marked with a flamboyant parade down Santa Monica Blvd. The Summer Pops Festival runs from June through September at the Hollywood Bowl, and in late July, thousands turn out to the Hansen Dam Park to have their classic car, hotrod or motorcycle blessed by a real priest. The International Surf Festival hits the waves of Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo Beaches in August.

LA County Fair, held in Pomona in September, is the largest county fair in the world, with music, sideshows, rides and other country-style delights running over 18 days. For those who prefer not to get their glad rags grubby, November's AFI-LA Fest is one of the country's biggest film festivals, with more than 75 features from around the world.

For a bit of contrast, check out the Hollywood Christmas Parade, where movie and TV stars join Santa in a typically flashy parade, then join in Las Posadas, candle-lit processions that relive Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem and honour the Christ child.

Public Holidays
25 Dec - Christmas Day
11 Nov - Veteran's Day
4th Thu in Nov - Thanksgiving
2nd Mon in Oct - Columbus Day
1st Mon in Sep - Labor Day
4 Jul - Independence Day
last Mon in May - Memorial Day
Mar/Apr - Easter
3rd Mon in Feb - President's Day
3rd Mon in Jan - Martin Luther King Jr Day
1 Jan - New Year's Day