Los Angeles Beach City Holds One Of Its Top Annual Events Each October
If you are visiting Los Angeles the first weekend of October, head to the beach town of Manhattan Beach, which just south of LAX.
That is when the city holds its annual Old Hometown Fair and it’s not exactly the kind of event you might expect for an upscale beach town on the Southern California coast.
For starters, it’s not on the beach. It’s not by the beach, either.
There’s no volleyball, no surfing, no band on the sand.
Instead, it’s an old-time, old-fashioned small-town festival. And it’s one of the highlights of the year not only in Manhattan Beach, but in the entire South Bay area that includes the neighboring towns of Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach.
So what it it? Well, it’s part street festival with several blocks of arts and crafts booths.
It’s also part county fair with food booths and silly activities like a sledge hammer slam machine.
There’s even a 10K in the morning.
But what it’s most known for is its legendary beer garden. Locals flock to it and have a beer in hand by 1 o’clock. Then they keep having beers in their hands until they are told to leave at 6 o’clock.
It’s such a popular event that several people who used to live in the Beach Cities come back to town for it every year. So it’s like an annual reunion of friends.
There’s nothing much to the beer garden except the people. There’s a band but it’s in the distance and you can’t hear it above the roar of the crowd.
The beer garden peaks from 3-close and while it’s open both Saturday and Sunday, it is at its best on Saturday afternoon.
And it’s free. Well, except for the beers. No tickets are needed to get into it so just show up and then buy beer tickets.
I’ve always said that when traveling, it’s a good idea to check out what’s going on in the places you visit. Local festivals are one such event and the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair is most definitely one of those events.
Cheers!
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