Events in Long Beach Highlights
- Long Beach offers a vibrant Memorial Day weekend with events like the 4th Annual Long Beach BBQ Festival, featuring food, music, and fun.
- Join The Connection Social for singles, an in-person mixer for adults 25+, offering a relaxed environment to meet new people.
- Experience Trip Out 2026, a curated music and arts event at Roxanne’s, showcasing local talent and creative vibes.
- Participate in the Lighthouse Half Marathon for scenic views along the waterfront and a community-focused running experience.
- Attend Cocina del Barrio for a hands-on culinary workshop celebrating traditional Mexican cooking and cultural heritage.
Look, I don’t make the rules — but whoever decided we needed a three-day weekend right at the start of summer absolutely deserves a monument. Memorial Day weekend in Long Beach means we take a moment to honor the people who sacrificed, and it also means three days of warm weather, zero guilt about day drinking, and a city that genuinely goes all out. We’ve got waterfront BBQ, a singles social for the fabulous, live music and art, a half marathon for the overachievers among us, and a psychedelic music experience. Whether you’re rolling solo, dragging all your friends along, or just looking for an excuse to be outside with a drink in hand, the LBC is delivering this weekend. Here’s where to be.
4th Annual Long Beach BBQ Festival
Saturday, May 23 – Sunday, May 24, 2026 General Admission: Noon – 9 PM both days | VIP Entry: 11 AM Rainbow Lagoon Park, 400 E Shoreline Dr, Long Beach, CA 90802 General Admission from ~$17 | Kids ~$7 | VIP packages available Tickets: longbeachbbqfest.com
If you need a reason to be outside at Rainbow Lagoon this weekend, here it is — and it smells incredible. The 4th Annual Long Beach BBQ Festival is back for two full days of smoked meats, waterfront vibes, live music, and the kind of food coma you’ll brag about on Tuesday.
Hosted by Axiom Kitchen in partnership with Noah’s Arc Foundation, this isn’t just a festival — it’s California’s biggest BBQ event, and it’s right here in our backyard. We’re talking 30+ pitmasters, 20+ food vendors, whole hog and whole steer cooks, whiskey tastings, craft beer from ISM Brewing, live fire cooking demos, and live music running all weekend long. The lineup hits ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and basically everything your cardiologist doesn’t want to talk about on a Monday.
VIP gets you in an hour early with exclusive tastings, a swag bag, and one free beer (21+). General admission is genuinely a great deal for the waterfront experience alone. Kids tickets are around $7, which makes this a solid family option — come for the food, stay for the view.
A portion of proceeds benefits Noah’s Arc Foundation and their mission to support local families. So yes, you’re basically doing charity work by eating ribs. You’re welcome.
The Connection Social: Singles Edition (Ages 25+ | Straight)
Saturday, May 23, 2026 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM Steady Brewing, 2950 Clark Ave, Long Beach, CA 90815 Ticketed — first drink included | Light snacks provided Tickets: Eventbrite
Okay, singles. Put down the phone. Step away from the app. This one’s for you.
The Connection Social is an open-format singles event for adults 25 and up, hosted by The Connection Strategist™ — and it is not speed dating. No rotations, no buzzers, no awkward forced small talk with someone checking their watch. Just a room full of actual single people, a curated social vibe, good music, and the radical concept of meeting someone in person.
When you arrive, you’ll get a colored wristband that signals what you’re open to: open to meeting people, open to dating, looking for something serious, or here for friendship and connection. No guessing games. Just honesty and a craft beer at Steady Brewing, which — let’s be real — is a great place to be on a Saturday evening.
Your ticket includes your first drink and light snacks. Spots are limited and this one tends to sell out, so if you’ve been waiting for a sign to try something new this summer, consider this it. Ages 25+, valid ID required for drink ticket. This is a straight singles event.
Trip Out 2026
Sunday, May 24, 2026 3:00 PM Roxanne’s, 1115 E Wardlow Rd, Long Beach, CA 90807 From $25 Tickets: DICE
If your Memorial Day Sunday needs to be a little more… dimensional… Trip Out is your move.
This monthly music and arts event at Roxanne’s is exactly what it sounds like — a curated experience where music meets art and everything in between. The series has been bringing in some genuinely compelling talent, including psychedelic pop acts that are the kind of thing you can’t really explain to someone who wasn’t there. You just had to be there.
And Roxanne’s, if you haven’t been, is worth the trip on its own. This California Heights gem is a multi-concept venue with a craft cocktail bar, a hidden speakeasy (password required, just so you know), a tropical tiki bar called Marie’s Tek Tec, and an on-site distillery. It’s the kind of place Long Beach locals love precisely because it doesn’t feel like anything else in the city. Tickets start at $25 and are available through DICE.
Lighthouse Half Marathon
Sunday, May 24, 2026 7:00 AM ShoreLine Aquatic Park, 200 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802 5K $30 | 10K $35 | 15K $40 | Half Marathon $45 (race day registration) Tickets: Elite Sports California | Also listed at Downtown Long Beach Alliance and RacePlace
For everyone who wants to earn their BBQ Festival entry on Sunday morning — this one’s for you, and I respect it deeply.
The Lighthouse Half Marathon rolls out along the stunning Long Beach waterfront at Shoreline Aquatic Park, with an out-and-back course on the beach path that gives you full-on views of the ocean and the Queen Mary the entire way. It’s walker-friendly, so you don’t have to be a hardcore runner to show up — all levels are welcome, and the vibe is relaxed, fun, and community-focused. There’s a 3:15 time limit for the half (and if you need an early start, just email them).
Race day registration is available in cash, Venmo, Zelle, Apple Pay, or PayPal. Aid stations are stocked with water, Gatorade, and Gu gels. Group discounts are available for 5 or more — email [email protected] for details.
Running a half marathon on Memorial Day weekend while overlooking the harbor is genuinely one of the most Long Beach things you can do. Start early, finish strong, and get to Rainbow Lagoon by noon.
Cocina del Barrio: Mexican Culinary Traditions
Sunday, May 24, 2026 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach, CA 90807 $25 | Discounts available for RLC members and volunteers Tickets: bit.ly/barrioamericano-food
This one is special, and it deserves your full attention.
Rancho Los Cerritos — one of Long Beach’s most beautiful and historically significant landmarks — is hosting an interactive culinary workshop centered on traditional Mexican flavors and culinary practices. Presented in partnership with Generous Earth, the event gathers participants around a community comal to cook, learn, and connect through food as a living form of cultural preservation.
This isn’t a cooking class. It’s a cultural experience. The workshop is part of Rancho Los Cerritos‘s Seeds of Resilience programming, which explores themes of community, identity, and the ways food carries history across generations. Through collective reflection and hands-on cooking, you’ll walk away with a deeper appreciation of Mexican culinary traditions and the communities that have kept them alive.
At $25 a ticket — with discounts for RLC members — this is one of the most meaningful and affordable ways to spend a Sunday afternoon in Long Beach. And honestly? It’s the kind of event that makes this city feel like a real place, not just a destination.
Go Enjoy Your Three-Day Weekend, Long Beach
That’s five events, three days, and zero excuses to sit inside and scroll. Long Beach is doing what it does best this Memorial Day weekend — bringing people together around food, music, community, and the kind of experiences you actually remember. Whether you’re licking BBQ sauce off your fingers at Rainbow Lagoon, finally putting your phone down and meeting someone real, earning your weekend at the waterfront, tripping out in California Heights, or learning something beautiful at Rancho Los Cerritos — this city has a spot for you.
Tag us in everything. We want to see it. @lbcvibe on Instagram | lbcvibe.com
Check the LBC Vibe Events Calendar for even more happening this weekend and all summer long.
FAQs
General admission starts at around $17 for adults and $7 for kids. VIP packages are available with early entry at 11 AM, exclusive tastings, a swag bag, and one free beer for guests 21+. Tickets are available at longbeachbbqfest.com.
The Connection Social: Singles Edition is an open-format singles event for straight adults ages 25+ hosted by The Connection Strategist™. It’s not speed dating — it’s a low-pressure social mixer where you move freely, meet people at your own pace, and receive a colored wristband indicating what you’re open to. It takes place Saturday, May 23 from 5–8 PM at Steady Brewing, 2950 Clark Ave. Your first drink is included with your ticket.
Trip Out is a monthly music and arts event at Roxanne’s in Long Beach’s California Heights neighborhood. It features curated live music and art experiences, with tickets from $25 available through DICE. The May 24 edition starts at 3 PM.
Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site is located in Bixby Knolls at 4298 Virginia Road, Long Beach, CA 90807. It’s one of Long Beach’s most significant historic landmarks and regularly hosts community and cultural programming.
Long Beach has a packed Memorial Day weekend with the 4th Annual BBQ Festival at Rainbow Lagoon, the Connection Social singles mixer at Steady Brewing, Trip Out at Roxanne’s, the Lighthouse Half Marathon at ShoreLine Aquatic Park, and Cocina del Barrio at Rancho Los Cerritos — plus plenty more on the LBC Vibe Events Calendar at lbcvibe.com.
