Things to Do in West LA This Weekend: The Other Art Fair, Oktoberfest & Brentwood Bash
Every so often the Westside calendar stacks up so well it feels intentional. This weekend — September 24 through 27 — is one of those weekends: a massive independent art fair lands at Barker Hangar, Oktoberfest season taps its first kegs in Venice and Santa Monica, a free outdoor music festival takes over Reed Park, and Brentwood throws its annual street party. Here’s the whole thing, planned out for you.
The Headliner: The Other Art Fair at Barker Hangar (Thu–Sun)
The Other Art Fair, presented by Saatchi Art, returns to Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport (3021 Airport Ave) with 160 independent artists from 14 countries selling directly — no galleries, no middlemen, just you talking to the person who made the thing. Prices run from genuinely affordable prints to serious collector pieces, and the fair leans into the party atmosphere: immersive installations, DJ sets, a bar, and this year’s delightfully unserious extras, including mini-golf and a Dolly Parton tribute.
Hours: Thursday 6–10pm, Friday 5–10pm, Saturday 11am–7pm, Sunday 11am–6pm. Kids under 12 are free, on-site parking runs $20, and the first 500 through the door on opening night get a drink token. Tickets at theotherartfair.com/la. Our advice: go Thursday or Friday evening — it’s a legitimately fun night out — and if you’re actually shopping, come back Saturday morning when you can see the work without the crowd. If the fair puts you in an art mood, keep it going with a free visit to the Hammer Museum in Westwood.
“No galleries, no middlemen — just you talking to the person who made the thing.”
Free Music: dublab Open Air at Reed Park (Thu–Fri)
LA’s beloved independent radio station dublab brings its Open Air festival to Reed Park in Santa Monica on Thursday and Friday — and it’s free. Expect the kind of expertly curated, genre-hopping lineup dublab is known for, in a park setting a few blocks from the beach. Bring a blanket, arrive early, and treat it as the warm-up act for whatever else your evening holds.
Oktoberfest, Westside Edition (Fri)
Oktoberfest season officially arrives on the Westside Friday, September 25, with two very different ways in. In Venice, the Penmar Sunset Session goes Bavarian with seasonal brews, food platters, and live music as the sun drops. In Santa Monica, Andrew’s Cheese Shop is running an Oktoberfest pairing that answers a question nobody asked but everybody wanted answered: what if specialty German beers, but with grilled cheese? (Mark your calendar too — the Fairmont Miramar hosts its own Oktoberfest October 8–10 if you miss this round.) Want to keep the night going after? Our guide to the best bars in Santa Monica has you covered.
Brentwood Bash (Sat)
Saturday, September 26, Brentwood closes down for its annual Bash — a street festival with local restaurants, live entertainment, and the neighborhood out in full force. It’s a rare chance to graze your way through Brentwood’s food scene in one afternoon. Make a day of it: start with a Reddi Chick basket at the Brentwood Country Mart, wander the Bash, and roll home happy.
Sunday: Football, the Market, and Recovery Mode
Sunday belongs to the classics. The farmers market for the morning, football for the afternoon — our game day snacks guide will sort out your spread — and the art fair’s final hours (11am–6pm) if you spent Saturday talking yourself into that painting. Fair warning from experience: the piece you keep thinking about will be gone if you wait until 5pm Sunday to commit.
The Westsider Game Plan
If we had to pick one path through it all: art fair Thursday night with the opening-crowd energy, dublab in the park Friday evening before an Oktoberfest nightcap, Brentwood Bash on Saturday afternoon, and a farmers-market-and-football Sunday with one last art fair pass if something’s still haunting you. That’s four days, five events, zero freeway driving. Weekends like this are why we live here.
