Celebrate the life of Charles Fletcher Lummis who stitched a quilt of Southland culture and ethnicities by founding the Southwest Museum of the American Indian and leaving behind a legacy that enriches the Northeast corner of Los Angeles.

Lummis walked from Cincinnati to LA in 143 days to take a job as city editor of the Los Angeles Times. One of LA’s first city librarians, he infused the concept of multiculturalism into the City of Angels. Lummis’ sojourn through the Southwest on the way to L.A., opened his eyes to the beleaguered lives of American Indians and he became an Indian rights activist. His vision of all peoples living and working together still resonates today.

Sunday, June 7, the Lummis Festival kicks off its 4th FREE annual cultural celebration of all things indigenous to Northeast LA. A pop culture potpourri featuring 2 dozen musical, dance, and theatrical artists pack 4 stages with a dizzying array of styles, colors and languages. These FREE events play out over 3 locations 10:30AM to 7:30PM.

A 10:30AM poetry gala features poets Ruben Martinez, Gail Wronsky and Suzanne Lummis, director of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and Charles Lummis’ granddaughter, at the Lummis Home, 200 E Ave 43. Also known as El Alisal, this 2-story home made only from boulders, concrete, railroad ties and telegraph poles was built by Lummis himself. The extraordinary castle-like structure is now the HQ of the Historical Society of Southern CA.

Afterwards, head over to Casa de Adobe, 4605 Figueroa St. for FREE art exhibitions and artist demonstrations with J. Michael Walker, Raoul De La Sota, Luis Villanueva and many others, 1 to 4PM. Catch a rare tour of the adobe (yes, it’s FREE too!), modeled after the Rancho Guajome, a pre-1850’s Spanish Californian rancho. Now part of the Autry National Center of the American West, it’s only used for museum events, so Lummis Day provides a special opportunity to see what the Casa’s all about.

Get your dance on, whatever dance that happens to be, when the initial notes of music blast off at 12:30PM and play through 7:30PM at Sycamore Grove Park, 4702 N. Figueroa St, across from the Casa de Adobe. Artists performing at the FREE fest include Ozomatli’s Wil Dog Y Su Banda; the psychedelic country group, I See Hawks in L.A.; and local rock bands The Monolators and Seasons. Also appearing at the park festival site are blues, roots, salsa, jazz and Native American “round dance” performers.

For FREE kid-friendly fun, the family entertainment area features performances by the We Tell Stories group and the Puppets and Players Little Theater. Juli Crockett offers a “preview performance” of the theater piece, “Dawn of Quixote, Chapter the First,” which has been selected for the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

There’s also a FREE story time 1:30 to 2:30PM, @ the Southwest Museum, 234 Museum Dr., L.A., with a reading of 2 Navajo stories: The Unbreakable Code
by Sara Hoagland Hunter, illustrated by Julia Miner, and Turquoise Boy written and adapted by Terri Cohlene and illustrated by Charles Reasoner, alog with a docent-led activity. The museum is also part of the Autry National Center family of museums, which has long championed the cause of multiculturalism and provided a historical insight to the role of both Native and Hispanic Americans in the growth and development of California.

{ 0 comments }

Calling all fly boys and fly girls, hoist your paper phoenix in the air and fill the skies with your own personal artistic statement when you join up with FlyNY and NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. They’re hosting a FREE international Kite Flying bonanza—part kite design competition, part kite flying fun—from 10:30AM to 4:30PM, Saturday May 9 on Pier 1 @ 70th St in Riverside Park South on the Hudson River. [click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

When Tax Day bites on April 15,  sweeten your wounds with a little frosting! Cinnabon, makers of those can’t resist sweet, gooey baked confections,  are offering FREE Classic Bites 5-8PM on Tax Day!

If you are always tempted by the smell of these sweet snacks, enter Cinnabon’s essay contest for a $100 gift card. Enter online and in 500 words or less, let them know how Cinnabon put the frosting on a frenzied day.

Cinnabon’s promotion goes with its new branding phrase, “Life Needs FrostingTM” and in these frugal times, they are oh, so right!

{ 0 comments }

Wish you could visit the Magic Kingdom without going broke? Mickey & Minnie are offering their own stimulus packages so it’s a little easier to visit Disneyland without spending a fortune. Just in time for the highly touted 4-D Toy Story Mania.

Got a birthday any time between now and Dec. 31? If you hot foot it to Disneyland (or Walt Disney World) on your birthday, you can get in FREE! To take advantage of the Free on Your Birthday promotion, you have to register for your FREE ticket first.

[click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

Monday March 2


Art of Motion Picture Costume Design @ FIDM Museum & Galleries, 919 S. Grand Ave, LA 10am to 4pm through 3/29/09
Amazing costumes from some of 2008’s best films, including Academy Award®-winning “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Changeling”, “Mamma Mia”, “The Dark Knight”, “Revolutionary Road”, “The Other Boleyn Girl”, and more. 17th annual exhibit @ the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). 213-236-1397


Tuesday March 3


Natural History Museum of L.A. County FREE Admission, Exposition Park, 900 Exposition Blvd, LA 9:30am to 5pm
FREE Admission to the 3rd largest natural history museum every 1st Tue!
Kidspace FREE Family Night, 480 N. Arroyo Blvd., Pasadena, CA 4pm to 8pm
Free admission for all guests to this 3-acre indoor/outdoor educational extravaganza! Explore the Digging Deeper Gallery, Interactive Gardens, Early Childhood Center and more. Regular admission is $9 per adult/child. 626-449-9144.

[click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

Tuesday Feb. 24 is National Pancake Day. Will you be among the thousands flipping for FREE pancakes at IHOP?

The International House of Pancakes is offering patrons a short stack ( 3 ) of its buttermilk pancakes on this day, which is also Shrove Tuesday (brief explanation below).  FREE Pancakes are served 7 a.m to 10 p.m.  All they ask is that youconsider a donation to the Children’s Miracle Network or similar charity supporting children’s hospitals.

So is this FREE really free? Well, no. If you add a cup of coffee, a glass of juice or other item, you’ll pay for it. If you just get the pancakes and don’t have a dime to spare, then the event is indeed FREE.

And that’s the way to look at offers like these. As an event. Break your tradition of grabbing a Starbuck’s muffin in the a.m. and head to a local IHOP with a group of friends. There are 1,300+ IHOP locations  in U.S., Canada & Mexico.  Savor the pancakes soaked with as many of IHOP’s syrups as you dare to try. Enjoy your opportunity to have free fun moment. Then toss some change into the donation box if you have it. IHOP has raised $2 million since starting this tradition in 2006.

Don’t forget to tell friends and family about the event, especially those who are out of work or struggling to make ends meet. A chance to eat out and savor a little sweetness for FREE  might be the uplift they need.

As for National Pancake Day falling on Shrove Tuesday:  the day is also known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. A day when Christians prepared for the food restrictions of Lent by using up their eggs, butter, milk and other dairy products by feasting on pancakes.

{ 1 comment }

Look for posts on FREE things to do across the U.S. in this space. Visit our City Guide pages for FREE fun in those specific metro areas.

{ 1 comment }