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LA Union Station Train Festival, Gabby's Dollhouse Live!, and More Top Things To Do in Los Angeles This Weekend

Photo courtesy of Underwood Family Farms
Photo courtesy of Underwood Family Farms
9/17/25 - By Toby B

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

This weekend in LA, we are cleaning up! The free Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival is just the ticket for train-loving kiddos. Halloween gets an early start with annual festivities including Kidspace Halloween, Magic of the Jack O'Lanterns (in its new home at South Coast Botanic Gardens), and Legoland's Brick or Treat. And everybody everywhere can pitch in and do their share at one of the dozens of Coastal Cleanup Day sites.  

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Best Things To Do This Weekend in Los Angeles

Gabby's Dollhouse Live! in Long Beach

Long Beach
Friday, September 19
Also Saturday, September 20 in Thousand Oaks
Gabby and all her friends are ready to play, dance, and sing at the Fred Kavli Theater in Thousand Oaks for this one-day-only live performance. Gabby and her team visit favorite spots from the show, searching for colors to re-create the rainbow.  READ MORE

Kidspace Halloween

Pasadena
Starts Friday, September 19
Halloween season at Kidspace starts September 19 this year. Kiddos can strut their stuff in the daily Halloween Parades - costumes encouraged! READ MORE

Westchester Arts & Music Block Party

Westchester - FREE
Saturday, September 20
This free, day-long, family-friendly celebration features live music and dance performances, vendors & community booths, kids' activities, garden tours, and food trucks – plus a beer and wine garden. READ MORE

The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long at the Bowl

Hollywood
Saturday, September 20
These are a few of my favorite things: raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, and the Sound of Music Sing-a-Long at the Hollywood Bowl. Where else do you get to work your inner Julie Andrews under the stars? READ MORE

Magic of the Jack O'Lanterns

Palos Verdes
Starts Friday, September 19
The pumpkins are on the move! In 2025, Magic of the Jack O'Lanterns is held in a new location: South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes. As before, guests are treated to a larger-than-life pumpkin experience. This year’s event is reimagined as Enchanted Hollow: a place where nature glows, jack-o’-lanterns shimmer, and wonder lives around every bend. READ MORE

Family Program: Cosmic Campfire

DTLA
Saturday, September 20
Star Forest at Cosmic Campfire is a family-friendly program at the GRAMMY Museum. Families can enter the imaginative world of Star Forest, a genre-defying virtual band that combines original music, storytelling, and animation into a multimedia universe designed especially for kids and families. The Cosmic Campfire experience invites audiences to sing, play, and explore together in an immersive program filled with music, interactive storytelling, and animated adventures. READ MORE

Coastal Cleanup Day 2025

Multiple Locations - FREE
Saturday, September 20
Coastal Cleanup Day organizes in-person group cleanups at coastal, inland*, and river sites throughout L.A. County. Volunteers pitch in at a variety of clean-up sites, removing the plastic bags, cigarette butts, and soda cans that sully our shores and waterways.  New this year: one man's trash can become your treasure, as California Coastal Cleanup Day becomes the world's largest scavenger hunt. Special "trash" items are hidden at cleanup sites all across the state. If you find one of them, you can redeem it for valuable prizes! READ MORE

Brick or Treat

Carlsbad
Starts Saturday, September 20
Legoland offers a festive kid-centric Halloween celebration on select weekends this fall. The fun includes tons of candy, an all-new show lineup, never-before-seen exclusive Lego characters, and more. New features for 2025: the Coast Cruise transforms into the Ghost Cruise, complete with ghostly surprises and giggles, the Driving Schools become a haunted highway full of silly scares and boo-levard detours, and the the Park entrance comes alive with Halloween mischief in the  Monster Halloween Hub, where guests can meet and greet with favorites like Mummy, Monster... READ MORE

Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival 2025

DTLA - FREE
Saturday & Sunday, September 20 & 21
All aboard for a family-friendly celebration of the past, present and future of train travel! The free event features activations and programs throughout the iconic Los Angeles landmark. READ MORE

Baja Splash Cultural Festival

Long Beach
Saturday & Sunday, September 20 & 21
The Aquarium  of the Pacific celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with the 24th Annual Baja Splash Festival. Where else can you see ancient Aztec dance performed in the shadow of a shark tank? READ MORE

Enegren Oktoberfest 2025

Moorpark
Saturday & Sunday, September 20 & 21
This Oktoberfest takes place at a local German brewery. Hosting a full Oktoberfest on Saturday and a light version on Sunday, the fest includes German beer, German music, German food, a Ferris wheel (Saturday), an obstacle course (Sunday), a petting zoo, face painting, crafts, and other fun activities for kids. READ MORE

Puppets in the Park

East Hollywood
Sunday, September 21
Bob Baker Marionette Theater visits Hollyhock House for free puppet shows on the lawn. The day includes a puppet performance and a family craft activity. READ MORE

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie Experience at the Grove

Fairfax - FREE
Sunday - Sunday, September 21 - 28
The Grove helps celebrate the theatrical release of the new Dreamworks Animation film Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie with a hands-on, interactive experience. Guests can join Gabby for photos, decorate their nails, dive into arts and crafts, color at the Crayola wall, and indulge in delicious treats. Attendees can also be among the first to try the new Gabby’s Dollhouse video game. READ MORE

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