I will be in L.A. from March 22-25, during the Academy Awards weekend. For those of you familiar with L.A., is the weekend any different than other weekends? Do restaurants or bars sponsor parties during the awards? Are there any events that are open to the public? In other words, does Oscar weekend create other types of events that visitors can partake or is it pretty much L.A. as usual? Any experiences you can share related to L.A. during Oscar weekend would be appreciated. Thanks.

I don't know of any events for the public. I'll repost if i find any. LA is typically very, very quiet on Oscar night - most people are home watching the show.

Other than right around the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and the big name restaurants, I don't think you'll find any special events. Most places are actually quite empty on that Sunday with most local residents home watching the awards.

I have been in L.A. several times over Oscar weekend. The luxury hotels are jammed and the best, as well as the trendier ones(and they may not be the same) are booked well in advance. As for special events, there are none that I know of that are open to the public at all. Even if you want to be around the Kodak Theatre, it will be very difficult due to extreme security and crowd control. The last Oscar weekend I was there we had my (then) 17 year old son with us and he accumulated a list of 37 star sightings in restaurants, hotels and just walking around Beverly Hills. If that's your thing book lunch at Grill in the Alley, Crustacean or The Ivy. Or just hang out at The Polo Lounge or the Peninsula Bar or Four Seasons Bar. Have fun.

I'm not aware of any events that the general public can attend. The luxury hotels in Beverly Hills are jammed and have parties along with some of the trendy restaurants in the area. Outside of the immediate area it's business as usual.

Randy,
If you want a nice QUIET evening out for dinner, go out Oscar night. Most restaurants are fairly empty. It's also a good day to any kind of late afternoon appointment as the traffic really dies down. People are home watching the show.

M.