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Best Things to Do in SoCal and LA This Week: March 23-29, 2026

Every week, I highlight a few events across the SoCal region. This week, get zesty with citrus, explore queer futures, experience experimental films, and check out art in the desert.

Queer histories and futures

Mysticism meets spirituality at A Queer Arcana: Art, Magic, and Spirit at the Palm Springs Art Museum. An intergenerational exhibition that explores how queer artists have engaged with magic and spiritual practices as tools for connection, the ambitious show spans more than a century of work. Part of the museum’s Q+ Art initiative, the exhibit brings together 35 artists whose art explores Western occultism, witchcraft and goddess workshop, Christian mysticism, New Age beliefs, and shamanic traditions rooted in indigenous knowledge. It’s enlightenment without age.

A Queer Arcana
Palm Springs Art Museum
101 N Museum Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92262
Saturday, March 28, 10:00 AM
$25

Desert Dreams & Art Scenes

Head over to Joshua Tree for the High Desert Art Fair for a weekend of art, music, and desert life. Set against the cinematic backdrop of Pioneertown, this immersive experience transforms motel rooms into pop-up galleries, courtyards into installation spaces, and open skies into stages for artist talks and creative exchange. Come for the art, but stay for the desert and golden hour glow.

PioneertownMotel503.jpg
Pioneertown Motel
5240 Curtis Road
Pioneertown, CA 92268
Saturday, March 28, 10:00 AM
$17.85

Orange You Glad It’s Citrus Season?

The 4th Annual Citrus Festival at California Citrus State Historic Park is a zesty celebration of Riverside’s citrus legacy. From tastings and cooking demonstrations to live music and craft vendors, this festival offers a full day of fun under the sun. Bring the family for hands-on activities, educational booths, games, and story time in the dedicated kid’s corner. It’s sweet and sour all the way to golden hour.

4th Annual Citrus Festival
CA Citrus State Historic Park
9400 Dufferin Ave
Riverside, CA 92503
Saturday, March 28, 11:00 AM
Free

Sonification of light and cinema

Acclaimed artist duo Gibson + Recoder present the Los Angeles premiere of The Changeover System: A Projection Performance Installation at REDCAT. Developed in collaboration with sound artist Richard Garet, it’s equal parts performance, cinema, and soundtrack where the theater itself turns into an instrument. Using 35mm projectors in a “prepared projection” practice, they blend analog film and experimental sounds such as electromagnetic frequencies, hacked tape machines, and responsive circuitry into a conceptual immersive performance that expands the cinematic experience.

Gibson + Recoder projecting
REDCAT
631 W 2. Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Saturday, March 28, 8:00 PM
$12

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