Welcome, listeners, to Things to Do in Los Angeles with your globe-trotting sports nut pal, Oly Bennett! Today is December 21, 2025, and LA is serving up classic winter-in-sneakers vibes: cool, sunshiney, and smugly reminding the rest of the world that we don’t believe in real seasons.

The city’s energy today is peak holiday mash-up: twinkly lights, last-minute shoppers, and half the population in a hoodie and shorts. Downtown and Hollywood are buzzing with holiday shows, the Westside’s packed with beach walkers pretending 65 degrees is “crisp,” and every coffee shop has a line for something with nutmeg.

If you’re chasing culture, swing by Walt Disney Concert Hall this afternoon for Ellington’s Nutcracker and Tchaikovsky’s Winter Daydreams from the LA Phil, part of their Deck the Hall holiday series. For classic ballet fans, Los Angeles Ballet’s The Nutcracker is still pirouetting through the season at the Dolby Theatre, reinventing Christmas with a West Coast twist. Over in Torrance, the Let It Snow! holiday concert by Los Cancioneros Master Chorale is stacking carols and orchestral sparkle into a full-on festive sound bath tonight at the James R. Armstrong Theatre.

Want something more offbeat? Fork n’ Film is hosting immersive screenings of Elf around the city today, where your food is themed to the movie—yes, it's the closest you’ll get to competitive syrup chugging without going to the ER. For nightlife lovers, “LA POSADA: A Holiday Celebration, Estilo L.A.” takes over Bar Flores in Echo Park tonight, blending music, piñatas, prizes, and late-night dancing. If you need laughs, A Very Deadpan Christmas Comedy Show is bringing dark holiday humor to The Fox and Hounds, perfect if your spirit animal is a slightly cynical elf.

On the newsy side of things, local outlets like Secret Los Angeles have been spotlighting pop-up holiday markets, immersive light walks such as Astra Lumina at South Coast Botanic Garden, and seasonal night experiences across the region, plus ongoing buzz around the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants list—so expect some newly crowned hotspots to be booked solid. Metro has continued expanding late-night frequency on key lines for the holidays, so consider ditching the car for big downtown or Hollywood plans tonight to avoid parking purgatory.

If you’re plotting your personal game plan, I’d say: hit Griffith Observatory before sunset for those city-and-cosmos views, then roll to a holiday show or Elf experience, and cap the night with tacos from a beloved local stand. Hidden-gem move: explore a neighborhood light display like Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills or a smaller side-street setup—Angelenos turn front yards into full Olympic-level decor competitions.

Local tip from your roaming sports maniac: in LA, distance lies. Two miles on the map can be 30 minutes in a car. Stack your day by neighborhood—Hollywood with Los Feliz, DTLA with Chinatown or the Arts District, Echo Park with Silver Lake—so you spend more time doing things and less time auditioning for a traffic-themed soap opera.

Tomorrow, the holiday engine keeps roaring with more Nutcracker performances, light festivals, and last-minute markets, plus plenty of surprise pop-ups as the city sprints toward the new year. Tune in next time as we hunt down more quirky, sporty, and spectacular ways to conquer Los Angeles in a single day.

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