SPRING INTO FUN
Spring has arrived in Southern California with spring gardening and spring cleaning keeping everyone hopping. But spring in southern California is also the perfect time to get out and enjoy the delights that spring has to offer from annual food and wine festivals to entertainment and more.
Enjoy nature as spring also awakens butterflies and glorious gardens. Child & Family Center’s Taste of the Town Sunday, May 5
Blomgren Ranch, 15142 Sierra Highway, Santa Clarita 91390
Info www.childfamilycenter.org/taste-of-the-town This annual food and wine fest benefits hundreds of children, teens, adults and families who are helped by the Child & Family Center’s mental health, drug and alcohol and domestic violence services.
Voted Best Charity Event, this all-inclusive premier food, wine and beer tasting event offers bites by local restaurants, caterers as well as beer and wine purveyors who will provide unlimited gourmet tastings for attendees.
Band favorite Mark Levang and Friends will once again entertain the crowd. Silent and live auctions offer the chance to bid on some great items! The Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire Saturdays and Sundays, April 6-May 19 Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area, 15501 E. Arrow Highway, Irwindale 91706
Info renfair.com/socal/the-faire
Nothing heralds the joys of springtime in Socal like The Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire.
Set in the quaint hamlet of Deptford in the 1580s, this Elizabethan-era English market faire reenactment offers guests entertainment, food, drink, vendors and hundreds of costumed characters. So, don your finest Renaissance costume, or come as you are, and enjoy 12 different performance areas where you’ll find daredevil acrobats, soulful musicians, side-splitting comedians, three full-contact jousts and hundreds of performers who bring the city of Deptford to life.
First staged in 1963 in Agoura this is the nation’s oldest Renaissance Pleasure Faire. Each weekends features a different theme.
See fully armored joust tournaments and tea parties with the Queen. In addition, keep an eye out for the daily stroll of the Queen among the commoners. Enjoy a maypole dance, as well.
Sip & Stroll at the L.A. Zoo
Saturday, April 13
Griffith Park Los Angeles Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles 90027
Info bit.ly/3tbmzh7
Sip on more than 30 selections of craft beer and cocktails (plus mocktails) during this after-hours, 21-plus event. Featured are pop-up keeper talks, special animal presentations, DJ dancing and live music, including the hottest “yacht rock” classics from The Astroyachts and tunes from DJ Johnny Hawkes. Rosé Bowl Rosé Festival
Saturday, April 20
Rose Bowl Stadium, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena 91103
Info bit.ly/3tboy36
For rosé lovers the Rosé Bowl is a wine festival featuring a selection of more than 40 rosé wines to taste on the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium field. It also features gourmet food and music. COC Star Party
Friday, April 22
College of the Canyons Canyon Country Campus 17200 Sierra Highway, Canyon Country 91351 Info bit.ly/4arzf5y
Spend a beautiful spring evening under the stars on the College of the Canyons Canyon Country campus. Attendees can explore the night sky through high-powered telescopes with the assistance of members of the Local Group Astronomy Club of Santa Clarita Valley and the Antelope Valley Astronomy Club.
Guest speaker John L. Callas of NASA’S Jet Propulsion Laboratory will discuss “The Robotic Ex
ploration of the Surface of Mars.”
This free event will be held outside on the Upper Plaza, adjacent to the Don Takeda Science Center. National History Museum Butterfly Pavilion Now through Aug. 25
900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles 90007
Info bit.ly/3xjbo3e
Walk amongst the butterflies in the Butterfly Pavilion at the National History Museum Los Angeles.
Wonder takes flight in this seasonal Butterfly Pavilion. This springtime exhibition features hundreds of butterflies, colorful native plants and plenty of natural light to help you see the butterflies’ shimmer.
See all stages in the butterfly life cycle, including eggs, caterpillars feeding on leaves and chrysalises.
Count up to 30 different species, including California natives like the Mourning cloak and Common buckeye. Descanso Gardens
1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge 91011 www.descansogardens.org
Spring is among the best times to visit Descanso Gardens. Enjoy flowering trees, tulips, lilacs, irises, roses and more.
Enjoy the various and different gardens of Descanso including the Japanese Garden, Camelia Collection, Rose Garden, California Native Garden, Lilac Garden, Oak Forest and more.
Celebrate Earth Day at Descanso with a weeklong celebration from April 22–28. View displays created by Descanso horticulture staff that celebrate native blooms and plants.