Los Angeles has thousands of things happening every weekend.

We’re not interested in listing them all.

The 10% is Wine Stop’s weekly look at the handful that seem genuinely worth your time: food, wine, music, art, culture, markets, neighborhood festivals, and the occasional thing we can’t quite categorize.

Five picks. One splurge. And one Worth the Drive.

After an extraordinary October heat wave that pushed Downtown LA above 100°F, the weekend finally brings relief. Friday should still be warm, but temperatures fall substantially Saturday and again Sunday. In other words: Los Angeles becomes pleasant to explore again (Los Angeles Times)

1. Los Angeles Archives Bazaar

Saturday, October 10 | 10 AM–3 PM
Cal State LA | FREE

Here’s an event you probably didn’t know you needed.

The 21st Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar brings dozens of archives, museums, historical societies, libraries, private collectors, and preservation organizations together in one room.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. The Angelus Matchcover Club. Moving-image archives. Photography collections. Neighborhood histories. Documents, objects, photographs, and stories from across Southern California.

It is basically one enormous rabbit hole devoted to Los Angeles.

Why it made The 10%: Because you can live here for decades and still discover another version of this city; this is LA history without the textbook.

Good to know: Admission is free. The event takes place in the Golden Eagle Ballroom at Cal State LA (LA as Subject).

2. Culver City Arts Festival

Saturday, October 10 | 11 AM–6 PM
Washington Boulevard, Culver City Arts District | FREE

For one day, the Culver City Arts District turns several blocks of Washington Boulevard into a pedestrian arts festival.

Expect artists and artisan vendors, three stages of live music, live mural painting, galleries, dance performances, food trucks, beer gardens, and plenty of opportunities simply to wander.

More than 15,000 visitors are expected, but because the event stretches through an actual arts neighborhood rather than a fenced festival ground, there’s still room to explore (Culver City Arts Festival).

Why it made The 10%: Art, food, music, neighborhood businesses, and no admission charge- that equation works.

Good to know: Parking will be difficult. Take the Metro E Line to Culver City Station, bike, or rideshare. Saturday should also be considerably cooler than the week leading into it (Discover Los Angeles).

3. Big Crown Records: 10th Anniversary

Saturday, October 10 | Doors 6:30 PM
The Bellwether, DTLA | Ticketed

This may be our music pick of the weekend.

Independent label Big Crown Records celebrates ten years with El Michels Affair, plus Brainstory, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, Thee Marloes, Thee Heart Tones, and special guests.

Big Crown has developed its own musical universe around soul, funk, psychedelia, international influences, and music that generally sounds as though actual humans made it.

There’s also a late-night anniversary after-party with DJ sets from El Michels Affair, Tommy Brenneck, Gaslamp Killer, and Danny Akalepse.

Why it made The 10%: This isn’t simply a collection of bands sharing a bill. It’s ten years of an independent musical point of view being celebrated in one room.

Good to know: Buy ahead. The anniversary show is exactly the sort of event that becomes much more interesting once everybody else realizes they should have gone.

4. Blonde Redhead

Friday, October 9 | 8 PM
The Bellwether, DTLA | Ticketed

Friday night belongs to Blonde Redhead.

The New York trio has spent more than three decades moving between experimental rock, art-pop, dreamlike atmosphere, and music that has never seemed particularly interested in fitting neatly into a category.

KCRW presents the show, with Emily Kokal opening. Doors are at 7 PM.

Why it made The 10%: Because distinctive music survives, Blonde Redhead has never sounded like a band assembled by an algorithm.

Good to know: This one is indoors, making Friday’s lingering warmth irrelevant once the music starts.

5. CicLAvia: Heart of LA

Sunday, October 11 | 9 AM–4 PM
DTLA → Chinatown → Little Tokyo → Arts District → Boyle Heights → Echo Park | FREE

For one Sunday, 6.5 miles of Los Angeles streets belong to people instead of cars.

Walk. Bike. Skate. Stop for tacos. Wander into a store you’ve driven past fifty times. Hear music. Cross neighborhoods without thinking about parking.

CicLAvia’s Heart of LA route connects Downtown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, Boyle Heights, and Echo Park (Time Out Worldwide).

Why it made The 10%: Los Angeles normally moves at 35 mph while we stare through a windshield. CicLAvia lets you experience the same city at walking speed.

Good to know: Take Metro to the route rather than attempting to park beside it. Sunday should be the coolest day of the weekend.

The Splurge

GiniFest — Armenian Wine & Spirits Festival

Sunday, October 11 | 3–9 PM
200 N. Orange Street, Glendale | $105

Now this is a Wine Stop kind of wine festival.

The ninth annual GiniFest brings Armenian wineries, small-batch spirits, food, music, and producers together for an afternoon devoted to one of the world’s oldest wine cultures.

Admission includes beverage tastings throughout the festival; food and merchandise are purchased separately (GiniFest).

Armenia is particularly interesting right now because ancient wine traditions and indigenous varieties are meeting a new generation of producers determined to show what Armenian wine can become.

Why it’s the Splurge: You’re not simply tasting thirty labels. You’re discovering a wine culture.

Good to know: GiniFest is an open-air street festival. Arrive early if wine discovery is the priority—you’ll have more time to actually talk with the people pouring.

Worth the Drive

Festa Italiana Los Angeles

Saturday, October 10 | 11 AM–10 PM
Little Italy, Downtown San Pedro | FREE

Yes, San Pedro.

Get in the car.

Festa Italiana takes over 6th Street in San Pedro’s Little Italy with Italian food, live music, performances, artisan vendors, a beer-and-wine garden, and plenty of Italian-American enthusiasm.

Live entertainment begins at 3 PM and continues into the evening. Admission is free; food, drinks, and merchandise are purchased individually (LILAA).

Why it’s Worth the Drive: Because Los Angeles doesn’t end when your navigation app says 45 minutes.

Angelenos drive. It’s part of the lifestyle.

And sometimes a neighborhood food-and-culture festival in San Pedro is considerably more interesting than something happening five minutes from home.

Good to know: The festival runs along 6th Street between S. Palos Verdes and S. Centre streets. A nearby parking garage offers a $10 flat festival rate (LILAA).

If We Were Choosing Three…

Friday: Blonde Redhead at The Bellwether.

Saturday: Los Angeles Archives Bazaar in the morning → Culver City Arts Festival in the afternoon.

Sunday: GiniFest. That gives you LA history, independent music, neighborhood art, food, and one afternoon discovering Armenian wine.

Pretty good use of a weekend.

Wine Stop
Weekend Wine

PRONTO Lambrusco Mantovano Secco — Italy

This weekend has Italy running through it, so we’re going with Lambrusco.

Not the sweet red fizzy wine many Americans still associate with the name.

PRONTO is Lambrusco Mantovano Secco: dry, red, lightly sparkling, refreshing, and built for food. Serve it chilled.

It’s particularly good with pizza, burgers, salumi, fried foods, barbecue—or whatever Italian food follows you home from San Pedro.

And at 11% alcohol, it understands something useful about weekends:

Sometimes you want a second glass.

The Weekend Wine: PRONTO Lambrusco.

Drink Better.

Did you enjoy reading The 10%? If you attended one of our weekend picks, leave a short review in the comments—or just say hello. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks for reading!