Toby B

Toby is our uber-busy events editor for Mommy Poppins LA. Feel free to email Toby about events for our LA area calendar.

Latest posts by Toby

New Year's Eve Weekend 2024 in Los Angeles: Fireworks, Balloon Drops, Noon Years Eve

Submitted by Toby B on Wed, 12/25/2024 - 2:48am

3 - 2 - 1, Happy Noon Year! Photo courtesy of the Southern California Children's Museum

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve weekend to ring in 2024? Here are some events and activities to add to your list for this holiday weekend.

Get out your party hats, folks; it's time to celebrate making it through another year. New Year's Eve 2024 offers loads of events all day, from Noon Year's Eve daytime celebrations at Discovery Cube LA and the Southern California Children's Museum to nighttime New Year's Eve festivities at Gloria Molina Grand Park, the Long Beach Waterfront, and Marina del Rey. And then, 2025 gets started in the most Southern California way possible, with parading floral floats.

Christmas Weekend 2024 in Los Angeles Top Things To Do: Boat Parades, Holiday Concerts, and More

Submitted by Toby B on Fri, 12/20/2024 - 6:55am

Forget the reindeer, Santa is paddling! Photo courtesy of Ventura Harbor Village

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles Christmas weekend? Here are some events and activities to add to your list for this holiday weekend.

Merry Christmas weekend, folks! The gift to us all in 2024 has been the many things to do in Los Angeles with holiday activities, light shows, Nutcrackers, and theme park celebrations everywhere you turn. A few suggestions sure to make spirits bright over Christmas weekend: the magnificent Newport Beach Boat Parade, the holiday version of the Warner Brother Studio Tour which puts a seasonal spin on the Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow, Las Posadas, the nightly free reenactment of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem; and the Los Angeles Ballet's stunning production of The Nutcracker in Hollywood.

And our gift to you is a ticket giveaway! We’re giving away a family four-pack of tickets to The Wiggles Bouncing Balls! Tour Giveaway. You can enter to win by signing up for our newsletter here.

However you choose to celebrate, happy holidays from all of us at Mommy Poppins!

Skirball Hanukkah Festival, Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade, and More Top Things To Do in Los Angeles This Weekend

Submitted by Toby B on Wed, 12/11/2024 - 7:35am

The Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade sets sail this weekend. Photo by © Venice Paparazzi for the event.

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles this weekend? Here are some of our favorite events and activities to add to your list this weekend

For a weekend that starts with Friday the 13th, this one sure is lucky! We're celebrating all the holidays, with the Farmer's Market Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree Holiday Kick-Off, CAAM's Kuumba Kwanzaa Celebration, and the Skirball's Hanukkah Family Festival.

We've got Christmas parades by land, such as Whittier's 70th Annual Uptown Christmas Parade, and boat parades by sea: Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade starts off with a 15-minute drone show!

The latest Lythgoe Panto comes flyin' in, second star to the right, and straight on to Thousand Oaks: Peter Pan and Tinker Bell - A Pirate Christmas, bringing Broadway-quality production values and gut-busting guffaws to audiences of all ages. And my friends, it is snowing in So Cal, with a Winter Wonderland at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw. All the sledding, no need for snow tires. I call that lucky!

19 Best Things to Do in Los Angeles December 2024 with Kids

Submitted by Toby B on Fri, 11/29/2024 - 6:15am

Disney on Ice: Magic in the Stars glides into DTLA. Photo courtesy of Feld Entertainment.

December brings plenty of things to do in Los Angeles with Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve. Don’t miss our favorite kid-friendly events and activities in Los Angeles this month.

Top things to do in Los Angeles and unwrap this December include Wicked at the Pantages, Manhattan Beach Annual Holiday Fireworks Festival (snow and fireworks!), an entire fleet of boat parades, including Dana Point's Boat Parade of Lights, and LA County's Annual Holiday Celebration. Mirabel, Tiana, and Moana skate into the Southland with a new Disney on Ice show that finds the Magic in the Stars. 2024 brings us a true Chrismukkah miracle as the first night of Hanukkah coincides with Christmas Day. However, some local celebrations occur earlier, such as the Skirball's annual Hanukkah Festival.

To end the month in style, ring in the New Year at Gloria Molina Grand Park—or Noon Year at the Southern California Children's Museum—depending on your bedtime, as we look forward to all the fun we'll have in 2025. Keep reading to discover the best things to do in Los Angeles this December.

For even more fun things to do in LA this season, check out our Holiday and Christmas Activities Guide for LA Families—which includes a roundup of the Best Holiday Lights Drive-Thrus, Walk-Thrus, and Christmas Light Shows in Los Angeles, where to see The Nutcracker and other holiday shows in LA, and more.

Thanksgiving Day Weekend 2024 in Los Angeles: Parades, Turkey Trots, and More Things To Do

Submitted by Toby B on Tue, 11/26/2024 - 6:43am

Earn those Thanksgiving pies! Photo courtesy of Turkey Trot Los Angeles

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles on Thanksgiving Day and all Thanksgiving Day weekend? Here are some events and activities to add to your list for this long holiday weekend!

Can we say it? We’re thankful. Our Thanksgiving Day Weekend calendar is stuffed with activities that reflect the season's joy. Take part in a Turkey Trot and visit a flurry of holiday light displays such as Tanaka Farm's Hikari and Holiday Road at King Gillette Ranch. Don't be a Grinch this holiday — check out festive happenings of Grinchmas and Super Nintendo World with the Holidays at Universal Studios Hollywood. To top it off, on Sunday, claim a spot on Hollywood Boulevard to watch the Hollywood Christmas Parade.

Plus, discover all the activities and events open on Thanksgiving Day, find out which restaurants are open on Thanksgiving, and check out our Thanksgiving Activities Guide for Families for Thanksgiving crafts,Thanksgiving movies, and even Thanksgiving jokes. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Mommy Poppins!

Best Holiday Lights Drive-Thrus and Christmas Light Shows in Los Angeles

Submitted by Toby B on Sun, 11/24/2024 - 6:33am

Enchanted: Forest of Light. Photo by Kathryn Rapier, courtesy of the event.

Holiday lights twinkle extra brightly in a city known for Hollywood, glitz, and glamour. Holiday light shows and Christmas light displays are all over Los Angeles. These festive light shows dazzle and get you in the holiday spirit. Stroll through immersive light displays, wander through Christmas lights in gardens, zoos, and farms, climb aboard a holiday lights train, or enjoy a Christmas light show by the water.

If that's not enough holiday lights in Los Angeles for you, festive SoCal neighborhoods go all out with their annual decorating traditions to treat Angelenos to some incredible neighborhood holiday light displays. For even more holiday fun, check out our Guide to Holiday and Christmas Events in Los Angeles.

16 Must-Do Christmas Events and Holiday Activities in Los Angeles for Kids

Submitted by Toby B on Fri, 11/08/2024 - 1:30am

Try sock skating at Kidspace Winter Frolic. Photo by Jamie Pham courtesy of the Museum

'Tis the season for Christmas events and holiday activities in Los Angeles! From the hundreds of Christmas events and holiday activities taking place this year, we've managed to trim our list to the top family favorites.

This year, Santa's bag is overflowing with festive fun for families in Los Angeles. This holiday season's stockings are full of theme parks dressed up in their holiday finest, traditional holiday parades, only-in-LA holiday shows, and other beloved holly jolly traditions. We can barely keep up with all the fun Christmas events and holiday activities in Los Angeles this year.

For more holiday activities, don't miss our Holiday Events and Christmas Activities Guide for Los Angeles, packed with every possible Santa breakfast, holiday and Christmas light shows, Nutcracker shows, Polar Express holiday trains, outdoor ice skating rinks, and so much more.

Veterans Day Weekend 2024 in Los Angeles: 13 Best Things To Do With Kids

Submitted by Toby B on Wed, 11/06/2024 - 1:01am

Veterans Day celebrations take place across LA. Photo courtesy of Canva

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles this Veterans Day weekend? Here are some family-friendly events and activities to add to your list for this long weekend!

We owe so much to our veterans—those who have put themselves in harm's way to defend the liberties we hold dear. This weekend also marks the start of several limited experiences and holiday-favorite events, such as Lite-Brite Worlds of Wonder in Santa Monica, Kidspace Winter Frolic, and the new Friends-themed Warner Brother Studio Tour.

Art and science collide with a three-day weekend at the PST ART + Science Family Festival at La Brea Tar Pits. Guests can make a California pollinator puppet, build with Adobe (the mud, not the software), make a colorful stop-motion animation, craft LED flowers & eco-friendly bracelets, look at the sun through solar telescopes, and so much more. Kid's favorite music makers performing include Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards, and Rhythm Child Network. Sounds good to us!

With a three-day Veterans Day holiday ahead, more upcoming holidays are top of mind, like restaurants open on Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, and holiday and Christmas events in Los Angeles to book now. Plan for more holiday fun in our Guide to Holiday and Christmas Events for Los Angeles Families.

Toby B

Latest posts by Toby

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