Southern California Museums Go Free Sunday
Nearly 30 museums and cultural institutions in Southern California will offer free admission for Museums Free-for-All Day on Sunday. Organized by SoCal Museums, the event is designed to broaden access and encourage new audiences to explore the region's cultural riches.
- The "Museums Free-for-All" is an annual event that has been organized by SoCal Museums for over two decades to promote arts and culture. - This year's event on Sunday, February 22, 2026, includes institutions across a wide geographic area, from Santa Barbara and Palm Springs to Orange County. - Notable participants include the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Broad, and both the Getty Center and Getty Villa. - While general admission is free, this does not typically cover special ticketed exhibitions, and visitors should expect to pay for parking. - Many popular museums, such as LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, require advance timed-entry reservations, which can fill up quickly. - SoCal Museums, the event's organizer, is a professional organization of marketing and communications staff from various cultural institutions who work to increase museum visitation and collaboration. - Several prominent museums in the region offer free admission year-round or on specific days of the month, outside of this special event, including The Broad, the Getty Center, and the Fowler Museum at UCLA. - At the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, the free admission day offers a chance to see the "Global Threads: India's Textile Revolution" exhibition before it closes in April.
