Weekend Docket: 8/24/12

If there's just one place to be this weekend it's at the First Annual Fried Chicken Fest with awesome chefs like Ricardo Zarate (Picaa & Mo-Chica), Marcel Vigneron & Haru Kishi (The Coop), David LeFevre (MB Post) and Josef Centeno (Baco Mercat) just to name a few!  Hope you got your tickets early because I'm pretty sure this event's already got a waitlist a mile long...

And if there's a second place to make an appearance?  It's at the infamously awesome PUNKY's DIY invite birthday paaarty!  Happy Birthday love!

If you want to wish the lovely sometimes nicknamed Dougie birthday girl a happy one, leave it in the comments below :)

And remember, if you want to connect, you can always follow me on twitter @nicolemiizuka or find me on Facebook!

Saturday, 8/25

Echo Park Rising
1pm - 5pm
The fest that started as an impromptu response to last year’s canceled Sunset Junction Festival is back with more than 60 free performances (Fool’s Gold, The Blank Tapes, Youngblood Hawke) and deals at neighborhood venues. So why not spending your Saturday jamming out from brunch ’til last call. This event is going to be going on in various locations all over Echo Park and you can find out details including all the set times at www.echoparkrising.com

No Budget Film Fest
1pm - 5pm
Say goodbye to stiff festival panels and say hello to Bonus Features. Like any good entertainment extra in the Blu-Ray era, Bonus Features is a full day of engaging chats on all things media. Join us as the independent world’s most exciting personalities dish on everything from what programmers at major festivals are looking for to women’s role in media to the give-and-take between web content and more traditional entertainments. The event will take place in a beloved Los Angeles venue: The Last Bookstore. Housed in a gorgeous building in the heart of downtown, The Last Bookstore hosts many of LA’s most thought-provoking and provocative panels, making it a natural home for engaged film lovers like you. Before, after, and between panels there will be opportunities to mingle and interact with your fellow fest-goers and dynamic industry leaders alike. The Last Bookstore, Downtown LA http://nobudgetfilmfest.com/bonusfeatures.php

Hester Street Fair says Good Night, Hollywood
11am - 7pm
Hester is blowing things out this SATURDAY with one last fun summer bash! Come say goodbye to summer with special guest MC and DJ ANDREW W.K. and a lineup of some of the best indie LA bands from label Mexican Summer: PEAKING LIGHTS, BEACHWOOD SPARKS, REGAL DEGAL, PARTIME, BEACH PARTY + DJ SETS BY DUBLAB'S TURQOUISE WISDOM, BRENDAN HOLLOWAY and MATTHEWDAVID! All while shopping some of the best indie crafts out there. Cool down at our craft cocktail beer garden and get some good grub from one of the many food vendors. Hollywood Blvd. & Argyle Ave., Hollywood; hesterstreetfair.com/hollywood

80's Prom Party
9pm - 1am
Come dressed to impress with your best taffeta dress or ruffled shirt, as this promies to be the best 80s prom party you've ever attended. We'll be blasting Bon Jovi, Prince, Madonna and Journey with the help of Flashback Heart Attack as well as dj sets. The venue will play host to hundreds of partiers, and admission will include prom picture and plenty of good karma... 100% of proceeds will support local animal rescues. El Rey Theater 5515 Wilshire Boulevard. LA www.drinkeatplay.com

Sunday, 8/26

L.A. Fried Chicken Fest
4pm - 8pm
It's the First Annual fried chicken fest this weekend (so yep, that means it'll be happening all over again next year for those of you who were too slow to pull the trigger on buying those advanced tickets...) and it's shaping up to be a doozy of a zero calorie, deep fried goodness! What?  One can dream right?  Featuring bites from a ton of fantastic LA chefs like Ricardo Zarate (Picaa & Mo-Chica), Marcel Vigneron & Haru Kishi (The Coop), David LeFevre (MB Post) and Josef Centeno (Baco Mercat) with cocktails mixed up by Josh Goldman (Mess Hall), this lil inaugural event thrown by Helen Springut & Josh Lurie of Food GPS is sure to go down as one of the calendar musts for 2013!  The Coop 134 N. La Cienega Blvd.  http://www.lafriedchickenfest.com/

Los Angeles Epicurean Festival
7pm - 10pm
The Los Angeles Epicurean Festival brings together culinary specialties and extraordinary wines & spirits, under one roof in a fantastic historic LA venue. Attendees will be able to pair and compare, taste and take home their favorite selections. Live entertainment, mixology and food demonstrations will be offered by LA’s top chefs. Their oenologists will explain how to taste and recognize great wines, as well as a competition with top LA chefs! Discover over 500 boutique wines and spirits, cheeses, spices, coffee & teas, charcuterie, olive oils, mushrooms, organic chocolate, meat, fowl, fish, produce, and much more. There will be two delicious sessions: 3-6pm and 7-10pm to ignite your taste buds and arouse your love of wine. Tickets are $75. Vibiana - 210 South Main Street www.laepicureanfestival.com