{"id":87991,"date":"2026-01-07T13:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=87991"},"modified":"2026-01-07T13:02:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:02:50","slug":"things-to-do-in-long-beach-this-weekend-including-the-anime-convention-and-a-walk-against-human-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/do\/things-to-do-in-long-beach-this-weekend-including-the-anime-convention-and-a-walk-against-human-trafficking","title":{"rendered":"Things to do in Long Beach this weekend \u2014 including the anime convention and a walk against human trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Want a chance to be featured in our weekly events roundup? Add it to our\u00a0free community calendar at\u00a0lbpostevents.com<\/a><\/strong>. For a guaranteed placement, contact\u00a0frankie@lbpost.com<\/a>\u00a0to purchase a sponsored item.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anime convention (Thursday, Jan. 8 to Sunday, Jan. 11)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Anime fans gather outside the Long Beach Convention Center for the Anime Los Angeles convention. Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. Photo by Sarahi Apaez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Get ready for an influx of cosplayers. Anim\u00e9 Los Angeles is back at the Long Beach Convention Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smaller, more community-focused anime convention will feature concerts, cosplay masquerade, panels with industry figures, a fashion show, a massive exhibit hall and much more starting Thursday at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily tickets<\/a> start at $45 or $110 for the full weekend. You can buy them at the door. Find out all the details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go see a murder mystery (starting Saturday, Jan. 10)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Preview photo of Long Beach Playhouse’s “Go Back For Murder.” Photo courtesy of Long Beach Playhouse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Long Beach Playhouse is staging the Agatha Christie whodunnit \u201cGo Back for Murder.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to our theater reviewer, it’s worth seeing. It’s Christie’s adaptation of her 1942 book \u201cFive Little Pigs\u201d featuring detective Hercule Poirot, but in this version, a woman named Carla takes on the role of Poirot as she tries to clear her mother\u2019s name years after she was convicted of murdering her husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out the full preview here<\/a>. The play runs from Jan. 10 to Feb. 7 at the Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For tickets and information, visit\u00a0LBPlayhouse.org<\/a>\u00a0or call the box office at 562-494-1014.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stand against human trafficking (Saturday, Jan. 10)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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North Long Beach residents have been raising the alarm about a scourge of human trafficking and visible prostitution in their neighborhoods \u2014 something the City Council says it’s moving to address<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday from noon to 3 p.m., community members are taking things into their own hands as well. They’re planning a walk to show unity and spread resources starting at Long Beach Boulevard and Artesia Boulevard at noon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As organizers put it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The goal of this walk is to bring community awareness to ongoing concerns about human trafficking activity along Long Beach Boulevard. The community has been vocal about these issues for a long time, particularly due to the proximity to an elementary school. Residents and parents have expressed serious concerns about the exposure to children, neighborhood safety, and the wellbeing of trafficking victims<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You can get more info by calling 562-999-6606. Organizers are asking everyone to wear blue as a show of unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJs, vinyl shopping and good drinks (Sunday, Jan. 11)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Beachwood Brewing and Distilling in Bixby Knolls is hosting its first Vinyl Shop and Social from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Dig through crates from vinyl vendors, hang with fellow music lovers, and enjoy an afternoon soundtracked by live vinyl sets from host &\u00a0DJ Quatre Cinq<\/a>\u00a0(and other special DJ guests!),” organizers say. “Shop records, sip something good, chat with vendors, and settle into Sunday vibes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They promise local vinyl vendors like @RecordboxLB<\/em><\/a> <\/em>and @djdennisowens<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there are more vinyl Sundays coming up. Check out the schedule here<\/a>. Beachwood Brewing and Distilling is at 3630 Atlantic Ave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE WIZ at Segerstrom Center for the Arts (Tuesday, Jan. 13 to Thursday, Jan. 15)\u00a0– sponsored<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Tony\u00ae Award-winning Best Musical that took the world by storm is back!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE WIZ<\/em><\/strong> returns \u201chome\u201d to stages across America in an all-new tour, direct from Broadway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Baltimore Sun<\/em> raves \u201cPowerhouse performances. Stunning choreography. Visionary sets\u201d and the Chicago Sun-Times proclaims <\/em>THE WIZ<\/em><\/strong> is \u201cAn eye-popping and high-intensity revival!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This groundbreaking twist on\u00a0The Wizard of Oz<\/em>\u00a0changed the face of Broadway \u2014 from its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock, and 70s funk to its stirring tale of Dorothy\u2019s journey to find her place in a contemporary world.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With direction by Schele Williams (The Notebook, <\/em>revival of Disney\u2019s Aida<\/em>), choreography by JaQuel Knight (Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s \u201cSingle Ladies,\u201d Black Is King<\/em>) and additional material by Tony-nominated and Emmy-nominated writer and TV host Amber Ruffin (The Amber Ruffin Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers<\/em>), this dynamite infusion of ballet, jazz, and modern pop brings a whole new groove to easing on down the road.  Everybody rejoice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t miss the Wiz! Tickets and information here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve also got some suggestions for what to see on stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":84657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"hidden","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32367],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[31999],"class_list":["post-87991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-do","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87991"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88003,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87991\/revisions\/88003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87991"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=87991"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=87991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}