SoCal’s Top 8 Outdoor Venues for Summer 2017

Summer in SoCal is here. The weather is hotter, the days are longer, and camera-toting tourists are filling the streets.

The beginning of Summer here may be symbolic because Residents of SoCal are blessed with similar weather year-round, but this time of year is when the outdoor parties really start picking up.

Here are some of our favorite locations to dance the day away in the coming weeks.

1. Levitt Pavilion

This venue has been a staple of LA for decades, but it hosted its first dance music event back in May. UK house legend Jamie Jones brought his Paradise brand to Downtown Los Angeles for Paradise in the Park. For an afternoon, Jamie and some friends took over a section of MacArthur Park complete with beer, food trucks, and a green landscape. Hopefully after the success of this first event there will be more in the future.

2. Chinatown

No, a single event has not taken over the entirety of LA’s Chinatown, but for the last two years Guy Gerber hosted his infamous Ibiza party, Rumors, in Gin Ling Way. To those unfamiliar, Gin Ling Way is an outdoor plaza in the heart of historic Chinatown with a series of shops and restaurants. Obviously the shops aren’t open to the general public when the show is going on, but attendees were still able to enjoy them as well as go in and out of the party at their leisure. Up next is Lee Burridge’s All Day I Dream for 9 hours of dancing.

3. LA Historic Park

Native Angelenos will know L.A. Historic Park as the past home of HARD Events, with Day of the Dead 2013 being the last one. There is little chance HARD events will return, but the main reason they left initially was because the park was under construction. Now that construction is finished and events are already being scheduled. The first was Skyline back in May and in September, Interpol will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the earth-shattering ‘Turn on the Bright Lights’ with two sold-out dates at the park. This is the first summer in which the park will be open again so the city of LA will surely stack that place with plenty of great events.

4. Hollywood Bowl

Simply put, the Hollywood Bowl is one of the best venues on Earth. It’s been open for nearly 100 years all manner of legends from the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix have performed there. Beyond that, a concert at the Hollywood embodies everything great about a summer night in SoCal. For all open-minded fans of music, the Bowl is the perfect place to expand your tastes on a budget. Tickets can be as cheap as one dollar, and since Avicii performed there in 2013, electronic music has had more and more of a presence. You can check out the full summer schedule at the official website.

5. Standard Rooftop

Pool parties in Summer aren’t just a SoCal thing, but the LA version involves rooftops and world-class DJs. Several other pools around the city have just started their day-time series, but the Standard is known for serious bookings. The picture below is of Lee Foss‘s Repopulate Mars day party, and they just had their season-opener with Amtrac and Jesse Rose.

6. Oak Canyon Park

Festival veterans know that Oak Canyon Park is a classic choice for outdoor parties in SoCal. It’s not too big. It’s not too small, and the wide open grounds allow the possibility for camping which is a huge plus. Look out for Dirtybird Campout and High and Mighty festival if you’re thinking about a visit, and plenty more events will likely come through.

7. Greek Theater

The Greek Theater is like the Hollywood Bowl’s little brother. It’s a bit smaller, but that gives artists who aren’t big enough for the Bowl a chance to play in a similar outdoor setting. Like the Bowl, trees surround the Greek and it’s far enough from the city to be devoid of noise and light pollution. Not many DJs have played there, but electronic crossover acts like Little Dragon and Tycho have held sold-out shows. Tickets are available for the whole summer on their website.

8. Las Vegas

Obviously Las Vegas isn’t in SoCal, but resorts over there shell out top dollar to keep their residents from playing in LA. Diplo, RL Grime, Marshmello, Dillon Francis, and so many more heavy-hitters are commonplace in Vegas. Anyone can see these artists year-round in the clubs, but during summer they will be playing beside the pool.

Featured photo by Rukes