(List of Free Concerts & Links at bottom)
Embracing cultural diversity is a large part of my family’s ethos. It is part of the reason we left NC six years ago, where I had been working with 100 of Charlotte’s top CEO’s to increase social capital in a city that was financially thriving in a recession, but was ranked nationally as one of the lowest in regard to interracial trust. My husband and I are committed to raising our kids with excitement and pride in our planet’s diversity as we believe it is key to a peaceful future. We seek out venues, events and opportunities in LA that educate and celebrate cultural traditions as well as foster positive interaction. This blog offers a list of Cultural Concert links and unique tips to maximize the experience for your family. For a Calendar of Festivals and hotlinks- go to my blog – Brave the Crowd & Get Thee to a Festival. For a list of Concerts scroll to bottom of this page.
So how do you make Cultural Concerts more Fun?
1. Invite friends and make it a Picnic. Picnic or not make sure everyone has drinks and snack food. Cranky and hungry people have a hard time having fun no matter how good the music. Some venues attract food vendors, so maybe extra cash will keep the bellies full. Having extra food is a great way to make new friends in open forums.
2. Draw attention to the symbols or differences of costumes or instruments. Find out what relevance or traditional importance they have from the region the artist came from or descended from. If you have sketchbook or piece of paper, draw the new instruments, symbols or anything else that catches your children’s eyes.
3. Come up with questions about the musician…how long do you think that artist or musician has been playing music. Do you think that was their first instrument? What instrument would your child want to try out. What instrument would your child want to be REALLY good at playing? Are there words of a different language in the songs?
4
. And Then We DANCE, DANCE, DANCE. I don’t care how formal or how far away an artist or band has traveled – they all love to see their audience moving to their rhythms. Outdoor concerts are so wonderful for this. Get up and dance with your children. Let them see you moved by the music. My kids still are amazed when I sing the words at cover band shows.
5. Ask your family questions about the instruments…Have kids (and adults) close their eyes and try to guess instruments playing at that moment. How many strings are on that? What do you think that drum is made of? Does that instrument look different then ones you have seen? Do you think we could make something that looks
like that or makes that sound from our box of recyclables?
6. Go up to the artists after the show and thank them. Ask a few questions. Find out the burning questions from your children and accompany them or ask for them. Ask how they say “thank you” in their language and use it. Ask about any words in the songs you didn’t understand. Practice these new words on the way home.
…………7. And have your own instruments to play en route or afterward. Let their inspiration take form. You can handle the creative expression (sounds better than calling it noise). Look for the influence that concert had on their own musical expression.
How Do You Identify Your Culture?
In the process of learning about the history and unique elements of other cultures, do not forget to balance it out with insight and comparisons of your own culture. Sometimes this seems tricky, as you may or may not have a deep understanding of your culture beyond your religious heritage. Just by retelling stories of your childhood, your parents, grandparents and other relatives – elements of your culture bubble to the surface. You will be amazed at how intrigued children are to learn what life was like decades before they were born. This is an easy way to foster cultural pride in your own family.
Top 3 LA Venues that Celebrate/Educate/Foster Cultural Interaction
1st Place:
Ranking high on my list of venues that Celebrate/Educate/Foster Interaction is the Skirball Cultural Center located on 405 only two exits from 101, which deserves my highest rating for culturally sensitive and highly educational concerts for families. The Family Performances Summer Series, included with admission, started last weekend and runs through Sept 4th. You may have heard the Skirball before as it is the home of the uber-kid-fun-friendly Noah’s Ark permanent exhibit. They also have a World Music series of Summer Sunset Concerts every Thursday starting this week that run thru Aug 25th of World Music. Sunset concerts start at 8:00pm and are free but parking is $10. Join us at the opening concert with Maria De Barros from Cape Verde.
2nd Place:
My second favorite venue is World City the outdoor Amphitheater at Disney Music Hall (a great building to share with your kids). We have learned about Russian history and culture by Baryana, Tibetan history and meditation for healing the world by Tibetan Monks, Tawainese folktales and history with Chen Kuai Le Puppet Theater. Not only are they cultural sensitive, but they share things in a way that children can relate. The wonderfully attentive volunteers at the craft stations help embed strengths of the culture as the children create their own cultural artifacts. These are the only concerts on my list of links below that occur outside of the summer.
Authors Note *
The way in which cultural differences are conveyed to our children has been a hot topic amongst chat groups and parkdays after many families attended a Korean themed Summer Sounds Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. These concerts offer wonderful crafts for the families to create that help connect the children to the culture of the performance. For many of us looking for positive cultural influences for our children, we were a bit taken aback at certain insensitive elements, (not the spectacular Korean drumming and dancing sequences or the fabulous crafts done before or after the show). we witnessed a lot of confusing signals about bias & fear within communities and in sharing Korean words like Kim Chee with no explanation of its meaning (it is a favored Korean condiment made from fermented cabbage). I was personally taken aback with a scripted “white lie” that had no part in a show targeting kids 3-10. Many have written letters to help Summer 
Sounds get back on track. This feedback is imperative to keep programs thriving when so many events and festivals have been canceled in recent years due to lack of funding. We have two more Summer Sounds Concerts and Crafts left to attend and hope that they are more appropriate. Tix are still available for the Gospel & Irish shows. Some families are opting to go across the street to the Ford Theater’s Saturday morning Big!World!Fun! Family Concert series. We are doing both. We will be at the Vietnamese event on July 30th and the Zydeco concert (Esme’s favorite type of music) on August 27th.
3rd Place:
My 3rd shout out isn’t just one venue, but all the FREE lawn concerts that occur through out LA and the surrounding Valleys. My family can ride our bikes to the Warner Center’s Concerts on the Green where we have danced to Berlin, Henry Jones, Donna Summer, cover Beatles & 
ABBA bands and our favorite New Orleans Preservation Jazz Hall Band. In Pasadena, it would be an amazing roster of talent at the Levitt Pavillion every Wed through Sunday nights until August 28th. FREE Katie Herzig July 24 FREE Belle Brigade July 30 FREE Pancho Sanchez August 4th FREE Secret Sisters August 18th and more all FREE! or the Pershing Square Free Summer Concerts: July 23 the Romantics; July 30 10,000 Maniacs; Aug 13th Michelle Shocked & Stan Ridgway. Culver City and Santa Monica Pier host theirs on Thursday nights @ 7:00pm.
Some of these links occur above, but for your convenience here is a complete list which shouldn’t change much over the years.
All the Below are FREE! Unless noted.
and cooled off in a giant rainbow-making water mister. All in all a fun four hours at the 
If you have yet to take your kids to the 
And if this isn’t enough, for almost two months every summer the Skirball brings musical artists from around the globe to perform in their FREE 
