Tonight, Thursday, October 29, both amphitheaters on the Hills' western slope are lit. Aerosmith & Friends opens a two-night run at the Hollywood Bowl at 7 p.m. Across the Cahuenga Pass, the Ford is hosting Ava DuVernay's 14TH at 8 p.m. as a free event. DuVernay is director, curator and host, and ARRAY is the producer. It is one of the last nights this year when both stages are running at once.
The two venues don't close together. The Ford's 2026 calendar ends Saturday. The Bowl keeps going into late November, with long dark stretches between shows. Then Griffith Park's winter programming starts, and it opens the night before the Bowl's last concert. On the east side of the Hills, evening events carry on through winter. On the western slope they stop until May.
Three Nights Left at the Ford
The Ford's final weekend is a run of film nights. Friday, October 30, brings From Dusk Till Dawn for its 30th anniversary, produced with Street Food Cinema. Saturday, October 31, is The Rocky Horror Picture Show featuring Sins O' The Flesh, a partnership between Street Food Cinema and One Institute's Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2026. Both start at 8 p.m.
After Halloween, the Ford's calendar has no listings until May 2027, when Agnes Obel is listed for May 18. That leaves more than six months with no Ford show traffic on the Pass.
On Ford nights, the venue's own guidance explains how it handles cars. On-site parking is limited and stacked, and a stacked car can't leave until the event ends. Off-site shuttles run from the Universal City/Studio City Metro station and from Ovation Hollywood. They start two hours before showtime, run about every 20 minutes, pause once the show begins, and resume afterward. That shuttle loop ends after Saturday.
Halloween Is the Busiest Night of the Wind-Down
Saturday, October 31, has more happening around the Hills than any other night this fall. Several events overlap:
- Hollywood Bowl: My Chemical Romance with Thrice, 7 p.m., the second of two nights after Friday's show with The Used.
- The Ford: Rocky Horror, 8 p.m., the Ford's last 2026 listing.
- West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval: free, 6 to 11 p.m., on Santa Monica Boulevard between Doheny Drive and La Cienega Boulevard.
- Boo at the L.A. Zoo: daytime in Griffith Park, on October 31 and November 1 as well as this past weekend. Time Out lists trick-or-treating, storytime and pumpkin feedings at 5333 Zoo Drive.
The Carnaval also changes how the Sunset Strip side of the Hills gets around that night. West Hollywood is closing Santa Monica Boulevard and nearby streets. Its regular PickUp and Cityline service is replaced by a free Halloween Ride, with selected trips to the Hollywood/Highland Metro station.
The Bowl's Halloween show runs straight into Aerosmith's second night on Sunday, November 1, closing out four Bowl nights in a row before the calendar starts to thin out.
The Bowl's Last Three Weeks Have More Dark Nights Than Show Nights
After November 1, the Bowl has five shows left, spread over three weeks:
- Saturday, November 7: Jimmy Eat World and guests
- Sunday, November 8: Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean
- Wednesday, November 18: Jonas Brothers
- Thursday, November 19: Jonas Brothers
- Saturday, November 21: Steve Lacy, 8 p.m.
Over those twenty days, from November 2 to November 21, the Bowl is dark on fifteen of them. The streets near the Bowl get more show-free evenings in that stretch than at any point since the season began. After Steve Lacy, the Bowl's calendar skips to Saturday, May 1, 2027, with Def Leppard, Goo Goo Dolls and The Struts.
On the show nights still to come, the Bowl's neighbor procedures stay in effect. On busier concert nights, the Bowl may close Milner Road and Camrose Drive to ease cut-through traffic. The closures begin about two hours before the published showtime and end about an hour after the show. For a 7 p.m. start, that means closures from about 5 p.m. until about an hour after the concert ends. For Steve Lacy's 8 p.m. finale, it means from about 6 p.m.
Before the season ends, it helps to know two tools from the Bowl's neighbors page. One is text alerts for closures and Bowl news. The other is a show-day line, 323-741-5999, for feedback or questions. That line is monitored only on show days, from about three hours before the show until about an hour after it breaks. After November 21, the line has no more show days to cover until May.
Concertgoers, meanwhile, are told not to park in the surrounding neighborhoods. Bowl parking is limited, stack-parked and allows no early exit. Lots A and D are for advance-purchase parking, Lot B mainly serves as a shuttle hub, and Lot C is for rideshare. Bowl shuttles run from four lots: Burbank Metrolink, the LA Zoo, Ovation Hollywood and Ventura Boulevard. Buses start leaving 2.5 hours before a concert, and the last one leaves at showtime.
This is also the Bowl campus's first off-season since the Terri and Jerry Kohl Artists Pavilion was due to open. The LA Phil announced the single-story, 7,500-square-foot building for a June 2026 opening. It was designed by RIOS, with interiors by Frederick Fisher and Partners, according to the LA Phil's groundbreaking announcement. The Bowl's 2026 season press kit said the pavilion would host artist gatherings and receptions, run as a public restaurant during LA Phil concerts, and be used for convenings in the off-season. So for the first time, the Bowl campus has a building meant for use when the amphitheater is dark.
November 20 and 21: The Handoff
The two calendars meet on one weekend. L.A. Zoo Lights opens Friday, November 20, and runs select evenings through January 10. It offers free parking, and tickets start at $19. The Zoo also advertises seasonal food, Santa photos, carolers on select nights, and a separately ticketed artificial skating rink. The Bowl's last concert of the year is the next night.
From then on, the nearest regular nighttime event to the Hills is in Griffith Park rather than at the Bowl. Here is how the winter calendar lines up:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Nov. 14 | Public star party, 2 to 9:45 p.m. | Griffith Observatory |
| Nov. 20 to Jan. 10, select evenings | L.A. Zoo Lights | L.A. Zoo, Griffith Park |
| Sunday, Nov. 29 | 94th Hollywood Christmas Parade | Hollywood Boulevard |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Polar Express event, members only | Travel Town |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | Docent tours of historic Pullman sleeping cars and a Santa Fe motorcar | Travel Town |
| Saturday, Dec. 19 | Public star party, 2 to 9:45 p.m. | Griffith Observatory |
The Griffith Observatory calendar lists both star parties, and the Travel Town dates come from its own calendar. The Hollywood Christmas Parade has confirmed Sunday, November 29, for its 94th year.
Parking near the Observatory gets tight. LA City Parks recommends the Griffith Observatory/DASH shuttle, which runs daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every 15 to 20 minutes. It runs on Mondays too, when the Observatory itself is closed.
The Flats Below Still Have a Busy November
Even with the amphitheaters winding down, Hollywood Boulevard has a full schedule. The Hollywood Partnership alerts page lists Boulevard closures for events from November 14 to 20. It also lists a street concert November 27 to 29 and the Christmas Parade on November 29. The parade's full road-closure timing is still marked TBD. For anyone who drives down through Highland or Cahuenga, those dates matter more after the Bowl closes than the Bowl's own calendar does.
Two newer restaurants on the flats are worth knowing for a pre-show dinner on one of the remaining Bowl nights. Gable, a live-fire restaurant at the Hollywood Roosevelt, 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, opened August 18. As of late August, it served dinner Tuesday through Saturday. The Infatuation lists 10/10 Burger at 1253 Vine Street among Hollywood's new openings this fall.
Closer to home, one local hike hasn't changed. Runyon Canyon, 2000 N. Fuller Avenue, is open, but the city lists its West Trail as closed until further notice, with no reopening date.
Putting the Dates on the Fridge
For the next three weeks, three dates shape show nights on the western slope. October 31 is the Ford's last show and the busiest night of the wind-down. November 1 is Aerosmith's second night. November 21 is the Bowl's finale. Milner and Camrose closures are possible only on the Bowl nights that remain, and the neighbor text line works only on those days. From November 22 until May 1, 2027, the amphitheater sits empty, and the winter events listed above are all at Griffith Park and on Hollywood Boulevard.
Calendars at all of these venues are live and can change, so check each listing the week of the event.
When the Bowl goes quiet, some homeowners use the off-season to reconsider the house itself, from a view deck that went unused all summer to a sale timed for spring. If you'd like a straightforward conversation about what owning in the Hills looks like between show seasons, Kati Cattaneo is glad to talk it through. Work With Kati.
