This is a fun, unique way to spend Father's Day weekend. I brought my dad here years ago for a…read moredifferent kind of Father's Day activity and we both loved it. I really enjoy seeing the creativity that's dwelling in people's minds and they're able to physically manifest it through skillful uses of chalk. Absolutely amazing. Make sure your phones and cameras are fully charged because you're going to want to take a lot of photos. Some of these don't even look like drawings. They look like photograph portraits. There are about 200 artists who participate each year, and you can vote for the best piece. I believe we parked in the Colorado structure and it was pretty affordable. Considering the festival itself is free, this is a great, one-of-a-kind, low-budget activity that I HIGHLY recommend if you're in the area.

It was a good surprise to stumble upon this event. Not sure how often this happened but we just…read morehappened to walk into it. Didn't think much of it as we thought it was just the half block of the street that was blocked off. But then noticed that it also took part of the plaza as well as the street across from that. I just thought it was the farmers market. These artist with their chalk skills are amazing to say the least. Taking a picture and then creating it with just chalk and showcasing it was unbelievable. Each and every artist from all ages displaying their work, from portrait to cartoon characters to photography. Walking through and checking each work out was amazing. Some were already finished while loads were still in the progress of their finished look. Even talking to them and asking what their inspiration was made the process more meaningful. In the plaza area, they had artwork for a silent auction as well as a dj. The whole place was pretty taken with artist on the ground working away. Even with the heat, it was not stopping them. The experience was great walking through and checking out what was being created. Meeting some of the artist was a nice touch to the day.

Really cool event! Best if you can get a time via the RSVP system, so you don't have to wait very…read morelong, but there is a stand-by line. (And at the time my friend and I went, on a Saturday around 2pm, the stand-by line was only a few minutes' wait. That may change if people read about it in the media.) Once you're in, you take off your shoes and store them in cubby holes. Then you head into a short orientation. (No jumping. No bouncing against walls. This is not a bounce house, even though it looks like one. Etc...) And then they open the plastic door and let you into a magical world of color. At times, the colors seem to change the longer you are in a "room," as your eyes get adjusted. You can sit or lay on the floor to get a better look or to take pictures. On a hot day, the air conditioning vents are welcome. (Some parts of the attraction can get quite warm, so stopping at an a/c vent now and then sort of offsets that.) It's hard to explain what Exxopolis is. It's as if you are Alice in Wonderland and you've just fallen down the rabbit hole, but instead of a new land, you land in magical ribbons of light. And to make the exhibit even better, every few minutes, a different sort of singing/musical group comes through. In the few minutes we were there, we hit an opera singer and a New Orleans-style jazz band. Highly entertaining exhibit. And this Los Angeles stop is totally free! Definitely recommend it. If you have kids, it'd be a great event to bring them to, as long as they're old enough to understand they can't jump on the walls like a bounce house and that this is more of a "relax and check out the colors" kind of activity.

We randomly found out about this installation the day before and arrived early on the last day and…read morewas able to get standby tickets. We had to wait 3 hours, but it was definitely worth the wait. If it comes through your city, you must check it out.

This is a great experience for dating and married couples. I enjoyed learning about my husband…read more We've been married for over a decade and I never knew his love language. It is helping us connect stronger in our relationship. I enjoyed this interactive museum very much. It's lgbtq+ friendly. The music is quite loud to help with privacy but can feel overstimulating for those affected by loud music.

Would definitely recommend if you and your partner are looking for an interactive date night. If…read moreyou're looking for a date experience that's equal parts thoughtful, joyful, and transformative, this is one to put on your list. Each room is uniquely designed and offers different segments to enhance the romance & get to know your partner more intimately. Reasonably priced and worth every penny.

*** I returned this year for my 2nd visit. ***…read more I enjoyed 2011 Walk more than last year. Art walk was scheduled 2-8pm and there were many ppl still perusing when I left at 7:45pm, so I concluded it was successful. Bradford Stewart Gallery remains my fave. He has gotta modern day Jackson Pollock kind of style: paint spillings and platterings to make interesting faux landscape images. *** A nice way to spend a Sat afternoon. ***

The Culver City Art Walk only happens once a year. This year it was Saturday, June 4th. Such a…read moreshame because there were some talented artists. No wannabes, no hipsters, No "starving" artists. Real people with real talent. Let's get things straight. All galleries on La Cienega Blvd. are Los Angeles galleries. All galleries on Washington Blvd. are Culver City galleries. All galleries are apart of the Culver City Art walk. Culver City galleries offer free wine and snacks. I didn't see any of that at the Los Angeles ones. Each gallery had a number in the window so you knew you were at the right place. It was so much fun to gallery "hop" to all the galleries because they were so close to each other. I felt like I was going door to door like on Halloween. Lol. My favorite galleries were George Billis Gallery, JK Gallery, and Bradford Steward gallery. Others were good, but they didn't have the wow factor. The gallery hoppers at this Art Walk were older and lots of families brought their kids. In other words, it's an all ages event. There were a couple of food trucks. I stopped by Coolhaus and there were a few bars and cafes nearby for a quick bite to eat. I didn't see any parking structures. So you can find free parking in the surrounding neighborhoods. :) http://www.ccgalleryguide.com/

Twenty-two years and going strong, that's the Santa Monica Festival not me, if only. Although 90+…read moredegree heat was predicted, a light marine layer, cool ocean breezes created a pleasant backdrop to showcase this year's sustainability themed event, as well as, events within like, the Juneteenth Celebration, A Taste of Summer with the Annenberg Beach House and the Santa Monica Farmers Market Challenge which pitted Nyesha Arrington http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-9/bio/nyesha-arrington and Josie Le Balch http://www.josierestaurant.com/ to create a $15 meal for four. I fear this foodie was a festival wimp because I was too wiped to hang out for their food fight. A myriad of activities for folks of all ages with kids really digging the Big Blue Bus and trash recycling truck to hop on and explore. The free bike valet http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/santa-monica-festival-santa-monica-2?select=vH2e66N3SWb9kldxGYxzyg#uVsNV593GV0zcfWGsam18g encouraged leaving the car at home as my friends and I did. Plenty of food trucks http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/santa-monica-festival-santa-monica-2?select=vH2e66N3SWb9kldxGYxzyg#8h3JhmFhSm4yY2dSUK3G3g and even a fashionmobile http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/santa-monica-festival-santa-monica-2?select=vH2e66N3SWb9kldxGYxzyg#_UknuOz5Hw8CSlqpB0GlAw ! Santa Monica is indeed a city of cultural activities and well-honed services to be taken advantage of by all. More here: http://www.smgov.net/Portals/Culture/content.aspx?id=15035 Highlight for me was artist Cassandra Tondro's http://tondro.com/ "From Cans to Canvas" interactive painting experience http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/santa-monica-festival-santa-monica-2?select=vH2e66N3SWb9kldxGYxzyg#wUrJjuqoQeDWgII5lKypig http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/santa-monica-festival-santa-monica-2?select=vH2e66N3SWb9kldxGYxzyg#1rjspkly2CXSvNRTZ6H9sg If you missed today's festival, do bookmark it for 2014, trust me, it's worth it!

We came, we saw, we thronged! From a distance, the Santa Monica Festival at Clover Park looked like…read moreany other free outdoor community event, a weekend sea of pedestrians and rows of white tents and bold lettered banners. But Saturday was cool, Clover's grass was green, and the atmosphere was indeed festive. There were several options for free or metered parking in supervised lots within walking distance, making at least our vehicular arrival and departure quick and painless. After leaving the car, we made a beeline for the park's restrooms, where, as it typically happens whenever we step out to a fairground, we spent a considerable chunk of our visit waiting our turns in slow-moving lines. Plenty of music filled our ears while we waited, especially the notes coming from center stage, where a featured group, The Lions, sounded particularly captivating. We quietly joined standing watchers later on, just in time to see The Lions wrap up their soulful and energetic gig. Festival treats were also close at hand, so we couldn't miss tasting Linde's old-fashioned sugar roasted almonds. We followed our noses to her popular table where I impulsively grabbed us a couple of warm paper cones in a sweet twofer deal. Linde jokingly asked if we were unable to share, to which I honestly replied, "yes." It was a fair-tastic time. The usual apparel gifts and arts-and-craftsy things were available for passers-by to browse and purchase, and interactive activities engaged families, kids, and kids-at-heart. It seemed apparent to us after one walk-through that the city government was out to connect with and educate visitors in exchange for cheap swag and fun, with a number of public service kiosks that let you spin wheels and answer questions for prizes. We didn't get around to checking everything out (see Tess M.'s yelp here: http://bit.ly/11hmlqO for some neat things we missed), but all in all, the Festival was pleasant and low-key, which is pretty much Santa Monica in a nutshell.

Not worth the $80+ price tag after applicable fees for general weekend admission…read more Driving into World of Illumination was a breeze because we had the first time slot of the day (6pm). No long line to enter as it took us roughly 10 minutes from the entrance to the start of Reindeer Road. The entire drive through experience lasted maybe 15-20 minutes. There is a specific radio station to tune into which pairs with the dancing lights. If this is your first drive through Christmas lights experience, I could see the appeal but there are much better ones around SoCal for almost the same price tag (Nights of Light OC was amazing last year and there were even live actors included, Santa, "snow" etc.). Can't justify the price tag and would personally not recommend this particular Christmas light show.

First off, finding this place was impossible. The instructions said to turn on gate 1 but we came…read morefrom the opposite direction and after circling the mall and Santa Anita park we found gate 1 and the one entrance. Some signage would have been helpful except that only exists at gate 1. 20 minutes of playing find the entrance.. the worst part, we spent more time finding the place than driving the actual lights! We finally check in and slow drive through, it's not busy. We got the $59 pass from Costco but I added the lightning and 3D glasses package so it's a $100 trip, we take my friend and our kids and go! The website says the show is 25-30 minutes? Seriously, no. We started at 8:01 pm this was when we woke the baby up to see the lights and we were done by 8:13 pm. 12 minutes? What a joke. The lights were cool but some of them were broken, kind of ruined the effect for some of the areas, for the price I would at least expected it to be maintained better for the length of their show. C'est la vie. Next year I'll try a different show, but this was less than expected for the price!

Went for a birthday party and had a ball! It's about 5/6 rooms of just fun!! They have a huge ball…read morepit that the kids go crazy in!!! Went for a party at 1pm and was done by 2/230 . Very kid friendly!!!

DO NOT GO! I had such a horrible experience at Neonika…read moreyesterday, and trust that I'm not the type throwing down one star reviews willy nilly. There was VOMIT in the shoe cubby at the ball pit that I unknowingly put my purse and shoes in! I was having a mediocre experience and then grabbed my purse to leave the ball pit room and it was wet. And the horror hit me just as the smell did. Someone else's vomit was all over my purse, my hand and even got on the scrunchie on my wrist. Horrifying right? As a lifelong ball pit fan, it's been ruined. The horror stories are true. But here's the part that makes this experience EVEN WORSE. My friend and I immediately went to the front where there was an employee and told him what happened. He was very nice and said how terrible and told his manager. Fine, this sort of thing happens right? THE MANAGER WAS SO RUDE. There was no kindness or apologetic response acknowledging this awful unexpected experience. She said they would look at the footage and slammed the door leaving us to wait in the heat, the majority of the exhibit was very hot and stuffy. I ended up knocking after continuing to wait. I explained what happened and she was almost argumentative with me which makes no sense, she didn't understand what I shared happened even though I told her twice and the first guy as well. She was very rude, I even offered to show her exactly where the vomit was especially when she said she would check the footage, but she just went back into the staff room. Her response was to mark my tickets unused so I could come back. Y'all know NO ONE is coming back to a place where they were slimed by some mystery vomit. She said they called someone --I guess to clean it up? Hopefully no one else got vomit on themselves as this whole rude saga played out. I tried once more to explain that how she was responding was making the experience even worse and I said I certainly wasn't coming back so she went back inside her office and slammed the door and eventually said my ticket had been refunded, she continued to be rude and treated me like I was the one did did something wrong. Don't risk it ya'll, not worth it in the least.

Last Sunday We finally got tickets to the Hospital of Emotions exhibition, and let me tell you…read more.. ALL the hype is definitely well deserved! This place is such an incredible experience, with 70 different exhibits, and each floor (4 floors) takes you through a different emotion. Every room has something unique to discover, experience, and reflect on. It's not just an exhibition you walk through--it's an experience that really makes you feel. Highly recommend adding this one to your list!

it was alright. extremely overpriced for what it was, and it sucks that a lot of the descriptions…read moreof exhibits were ai, even some of the exhibits themselves having ai videos and photos. the staff being in character was really cool though. the exhibit about the persons uncle was very cool, probably one of the only ones to actually make you feel something despite the museum being about "feeling". if moneys tight i wouldn't waste your time