#2 Benefit
The annual gala occasionally moves for special circumstances—such as last year’s off-site event at Marina del Rey to accommodate a grand send-off for the last surviving flight-qualified space shuttle external tank ET-94—but it is typically held at the California Science Center museum. Science Center vice president of food and event services Christina Sion helms the annual ball, now in its 19th year. This year’s event will take inspiration from the “Body Worlds: Pulse” exhibition. Next: May 19, 2017
#6 Benefit
Coming up on its 43rd year is this annual summer fund-raiser for the cancer nonprofit Concern Foundation. The big-scale event draws about 4,000 people and raises about $1.8 million toward a cancer cure. Next: July 2017
#7 Benefit
Last year, the opera celebrated the opening of its 31st season with a new production of Verdi’s Macbeth followed by the annual Opera Ball. The opera’s annual fund-raising gala this year will be tied to a Placido Domingo 50th anniversary concert (and it may not be called the Opera Ball as in the past, with details still pending). Proceeds from the event benefit L.A. Opera’s artistic productions and education and community engagement programs, which reach more than than 140,000 students and community members annually in L.A. Next: November 17, 2017
#1 Food, Wine & Hospitality Industry Event
Coastal Luxury Management owns and produces the culinary festival, presenting it with founding partners Food & Wine and Lexus. The event draws about 15,000 food and wine fans over the course of a late-summer weekend. Last year’s festivities for the sixth annual program ranged from strolling tasting events at the Santa Monica Barker Hangar’s Lexus Grand Tasting, to a private tour of the new Broad museum. Next: August 24-27, 2017
#9 Parade, Walk & Holiday Event
October’s event marked the 17th iteration of the popular festival at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which draws about 30,000 to celebrate Day of the Dead. With numbers swelling as the day turns to dark, the thick crowd packs into the cemetery’s sprawling paths and lawns to check out elaborate and brightly hued altars, plus performances on (and off) multiple stages. Next: October 29, 2017
#12 Trade Show, Convention & Conference
Roth Capital Partners hosts the conference, which just wrapped its 29th annual go. It is one of the biggest financial services events in the country, with close to 500 participating companies and more than 4,000 attendees. It includes presentations from public and private companies in a variety of sectors, plus heavily produced parties. Next: March 2018
#17 Entertainment Industry Event
Elle celebrated its 23rd annual Women in Hollywood awards at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills in October. The event honored Amy Adams, Kathy Bates, Felicity Jones, Anna Kendrick, Aja Naomi King, Helen Mirren, Lupita Nyong’o, and Kristen Stewart, with Anthony Anderson as emcee. The event traditionally includes a minimalist look blanketing a hotel ballroom for the intimate, A-list seated dinner crowd. Next: October 16, 2017
#2 Art, Design & Fashion Event
About 700 international guests came to the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA last May to honor Ed Ruscha at the museum’s annual celebrity-studded gala. The 37th annual event raised more than $3 million, in keeping with the previous year’s Louis Vuitton-sponsored gala, which had represented an uptick in fund-raising. Next: Spring 2017
#4 Art, Design & Fashion Event
Last October, the Hammer Museum drew more than 600 cultural and civic leaders, artists, collectors, patrons of the arts, and entertainment-world names to its 14th annual gala. The benefit raised $2.5 million to support the museum’s exhibitions and programs, which are free to the public. Returning for the third year, Bottega Veneta partnered with the Hammer to present the gala. Next: October 14, 2017
