If you live downtown or were planning on attending an event in the vicinity last weekend, you were likely forced to change your plans due to the ever-changing power situation.
Last week’s nearly four-day power outage and resulting store closures meant retail losses of roughly $2.6 million in gross sales, and that’s excluding wage loss, product loss and hotel revenue. So this weekend, we encourage you to take advantage of the free parking, discounts and free events taking place downtown, in addition to happenings in the rest of Long Beach.
Starting today, the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) is teaming up with the City of Long Beach to launch Black(out) Friday, a promotional weekend designed to encourage residents to flock to downtown Long Beach after last weekend’s power outage. The city will offer free metered street parking in downtown Long Beach through midnight Sunday night.
The DLBA is also hosting its free Bicycle Drive-In, where residents are encouraged to bring their bikes and enjoy a screening of the Wizard of Oz with music and craft beer as part of its free Summer and Music Series (SAM).
The Hotel Maya (700 Queensway) and the Renaissance Hotel (111 East Ocean Boulevard) will also be offering specials over the weekend to attract visitors to the downtown area. Residents can nab a discounted rate for a room at the Renaissance with a locals-only discount of $119 Saturday night. At the Hotel Maya, locals will receive a 15 percent discount any of the weekend nights. If you want to help out after last weekend’s power outage, head downtown today.
Enjoy a rooftop hookah party tonight at The Reef Long Beach (880 Harbor Scenic Drive). SoCal Hookahs will provide the hookah pipes to patrons enjoying the view and the skills of DJ Madd, beginning at 7:00PM. With a history of bringing hookah magic to such places as the Hotel Maya and The Queen Mary, SoCal Hookahs excels in providing the comforts of hookah in an elegant beach atmosphere. What are you waiting for? Gather your friends for a night on the town.
Photo courtesy of SoCal Hookahs.
It’s time to help make this weekend’s Corgi Day the biggest and best yet. The largest corgi beach bash to date will take place in Long Beach for the first time, bringing hundreds of corgis and the people who love them to Rosie’s Dog Beach from 10:00AM to 2:00PM on Saturday.
At this upcoming corgi celebration, corgi lovers will have the chance to kiss their favorite corgi-lebrity at the Kissing Booth, of which the $1-a-ticket proceeds will go toward Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue. Corgis can strut their stuff wearing their best corgi-kini during the Corgi Costume Contest, bend forward and back during the popular Corgi Limbo Contest and, last but not least, shake what their mama gave them during the Best Momo, (momo meaning “Corgi Butt”) Contest, an all new addition to the festival. Food trucks, bathrooms and plenty of parking will be available. For every photo or video posted during the event tagged with #CorgiBeachDay and @BeyondPetFood on Instagram or Twitter, Purina Beyond will donate one pound of dog food (up to 500 pounds) to the event’s non-profit partner, Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue. So grab your corgi and go.
Tomorrow from 9:00AM to 1:00PM is one of a series of free riding classes for bicyclists. Long Beach residents and cycling advocates Kellie and Dave Morris will be teaching free basic and advanced bicycle skills classes this summer in North Long Beach, thanks to LA Metro’s sponsorship of a bicycle education series to take place throughout greater Los Angeles. Participants must register in advance by signing up here. For more information that can’t be found online, please call Kellie at 562.482.9525. Classes will be held at Councilman Richardson’s Field Office at 6509 Gundry Avenue.
While it’s the last weekend for SHOUT! The Mod Musical at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre, it’s also one of the notable weekends the Long Beach Playhouse is performing Jesus Christ Superstar. Showings are this Saturday at 8:00PM and Sunday at 2:00PM. Read more about the Long Beach Playhouse by reading Sander Rosco Wolff’s Q&A with Playhouse Director E.D. Andrew Vonderschmitt, and get tickets to Jesus Christ Superstar here.