Los Angeles Old Time Social Weekend Festival

Los Angeles Old Time Social is in Los Angeles this weekend for its 16th edition, with organizers spreading old-time fiddle and banjo programming across a Friday concert and a full Saturday schedule. The event opened on Friday, May 15, with a house concert in El Sereno and continued Saturday, May 16, at the Velaslavasay Panorama near USC, according to the festival site and ticketing pages. We Like L.A. listed the gathering as part of its May 15-17 weekend roundup and described it as a lead-in to Sunday’s Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival. ### What exactly is happening this weekend? The Los Angeles Old Time Social is a local festival focused on American old-time music, a string-band tradition centered on fiddle, banjo, singing and social dance, according to the event’s website. This year’s edition is billed as the “16th Ever,” with programming split between a Friday night concert and a larger Saturday gathering. Friday, May 15, featured a concert headlined by Ben Townsend, a fiddler and banjo player from West Virginia, with an opening set by Tula B. (losangelesoldtimesocial.com) Strong, who is described by organizers as a Liberian-American banjoist, choreographer and educator. The Friday event was promoted separately from the main Saturday program. ### Where are the events taking place? El Sereno was the setting for Friday’s opening concert, which We Like L.A. described as an intimate house show. (losangelesoldtimesocial.com) The festival website identifies that program as a Friday night concert presented through the Serenito Social Club. Saturday, May 16, shifted to the Velaslavasay Panorama at 1122 West 24th Street in Los Angeles. (losangelesoldtimesocial.com) Ticketing pages list the venue’s ZIP code as 90007 and set the main event hours from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific time. ### What does a Saturday ticket include? A $45 all-day ticket covers the full Saturday program from noon to 10 p.m., including workshops, the square dance and the evening program, according to the Ticket Tailor listing. (welikela.com) Organizers also listed a $20 student all-day ticket, a $30 workshops-and-jams option running from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and a $20 ticket for the square dance and evening program from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. (tickettailor.com) Saturday’s schedule includes workshops, jams and what organizers call “musical cakes.” We Like L.A. also highlighted a “musical cakes” walk and a square dance as part of the day’s programming. ### Who is on the program? Ben Townsend is the most prominently named guest on this year’s lineup. The festival website says he is this year’s special guest and that he appears both at Friday’s concert and during Saturday’s workshops, jams and dance events. (tickettailor.com) Additional names listed on event pages include Nick Bachman, Joe Wack, David Bragger, Chris Berry, Susan Platz, Afton Steps, David Elsenbroich, Andrea Tzvetkov and artist Sammy Lamb. (tickettailor.com) An event listing for the Velaslavasay program also names Happy Neighbor Club among the day’s music offerings. ### Is this tied to another festival on Sunday? (losangelesoldtimesocial.com) Sunday, May 17, is the date of the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival, which organizers and local listings describe as the next stop after the Los Angeles Old Time Social. The Ticket Tailor page calls Saturday’s event “the Saturday before the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest,” and We Like L.A. says the two-day Los Angeles gathering serves as a lead-up to Sunday’s event at King Gillette Ranch. (upcomingevents.com) King Gillette Ranch is the named Sunday venue in the We Like L.A. listing. For readers looking for remaining details, the festival website and ticketing pages carry schedule and admission information for the Los Angeles events. (welikela.com) (tickettailor.com)