52 Weekends

Weekend 1

JAN. 7-8

From his groundbreaking stand-up comedy to his enduring career in television to his recent social commentary on the black community, Bill Cosby seldom fails to engage. You can see the 68-year-old actor, comedian and philanthropist as he highlights the year’s first weekend of entertainment at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 8. www.cerritoscenter.com

Weekend 2

JAN. 14-15

The 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade, which commences at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 16 at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Normandie Avenue, and the festival that follows are only part of the holiday weekend observances for the late civil rights leader. This year, Yolanda King, his eldest daughter and the author of two books, will speak at the dedication of a new auditorium named for King at the Santa Monica Public Library. www.smc.edu

Weekend 3

JAN. 21-22

Calling all aesthetes. Hundreds of out-of-towners selling paintings, photos, sculptures and such will converge upon Santa Monica and L.A., staging galas, wearing black and using “privilege” as a verb. Art Week Plus is actually four separate events featuring exhibits, lectures and workshops spread out from Jan. 19 to 29. Photo L.A. and Art L.A., www.stephencohengallery.com; Los Angeles Art Show, www.laartshow.com; Los Angeles Print Fair, www.laprintfair.com.

Weekend 4

JAN. 28-29

The Getty Villa, closed for renovations for eight years, finally reopens to the public Jan. 28. With expanded new facilities that include an amphitheater and cafe, the villa, in Pacific Palisades, was reconceived as a museum for the Getty’s collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities. Expect a wait: Admission is free, but reservations are required, and many weeks are booked up. www.getty.edu/visit

Weekend 5

FEB. 4-5

Call it Lunar New Year, Spring Festival or Chinese New Year -- no matter the name, plenty of pot stickers, firecrackers and money-filled red envelopes will be involved. Though the Year of the Dog starts Jan. 29, Chinatown has the 107th installment of its Golden Dragon Parade on Feb. 4. The same day, Alhambra and San Gabriel hold their 15th annual Lunar New Year Parade along Valley Boulevard. www.lagoldendragonparade.com; www.lunarnewyearparade.com

ALSO: Stock up on the chips and salsa, because Super Bowl XL -- the 40th anniversary of the National Football League’s title tilt -- kicks off a bit after 3 p.m. Feb. 5 from sunny Detroit. We’re pretty sure a team from Los Angeles will not be involved, but the Rolling Stones are playing at halftime. www.superbowl.com

Weekend 6

FEB. 11-12

Just why was Alfred Hitchcock entranced with ice-cold blonds? The American premiere of British playwright Terry Johnson’s “Hitchcock Blonde” asks this question at South Coast Repertory, opening Feb. 10 and running through March 12. Meanwhile, Annette Bening and Alfred Molina hear the ax falling on “The Cherry Orchard” in Chekhov’s play at the Mark Taper Forum, Feb. 12 to March 19. www.scr.org; www.taperahmanson.org

Weekend 7

FEB. 18-19

The ballet supersession titled “Kings of Dance” at the Orange County Performing Arts Center brings together Angel Corella, Johan Kobborg, Ethan Stiefel and Nikolai Tsiskaridze to perform five world premieres. These monarchs of all they jete also take turns, night by night, partnering the wondrous Diana Vishneva in Roland Petit’s dance drama “Le Jeune Homme et la Mort.” www.ocpac.org

Weekend 8

FEB. 25-26

A good day for an art outing? Probably -- this is the first weekend to catch a major exhibition of 45 works by innovative 19th century painter Gustave Courbet. “Courbet and the Modern Landscape,” which runs at the J. Paul Getty Museum from Feb. 21 to May 14, places new focus on the artist’s profound influence on modernist painting. www.getty.edu

Weekend 9

MARCH 4-5

We expect you’ll be tuned in to the Academy Awards on March 5. Perhaps you’ll watch the arrivals and wish you’d scored one of the limited viewing spots outside the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. But the day before, there’s a better chance to see some of the stars at the Independent Spirit Awards, indie film’s answer to the Oscars, right on the beach in Santa Monica. The guest list won’t be confirmed for a while, but some of the nominees for acting -- Heath Ledger, Jeff Daniels, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Felicity Huffman and Laura Linney, among them -- are bound to show. If you can’t stand sand in the shower, the ceremony will air live on the Independent Film Channel at 2 p.m. and will be edited for rebroadcast on AMC at 7 p.m. www.filmindependent.org

Weekend 10

MARCH 11-12

He won’t be on Highway 61 but on Channel 40. This month Bob Dylan launches his XM Satellite Radio show, a weekly, hourlong program featuring music selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, plus commentary and interviews. www.xmradio.com

Weekend 11

MARCH 18-19

Maybe nowhere is the pop culture explosion more evident than at the traveling Wizard World conventions. Last year’s Southland stop drew more than 24,000 attendees; this year the show moves to the L.A. Convention Center and runs March 17 to 19, with a lineup including movie types Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes and comic creators Jeph Loeb (“Ultimates”), Joe Quesada (“Daredevil”), Mark Brooks (“X-Men”), Angel Medina (“Spider-Man”) and Mark Waid (“Hunter-Killer”). www.wizarduniverse.com

ALSO: Minimalism is an exciting, distinctly American style of music that took the world by storm in the early ‘70s. Check out its beginnings, its march through the U.S. and Europe and its changes along the way in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Minimalist Jukebox Festival,” March 18 to April 2, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. www.laphil.org

Weekend 12

MARCH 25-26

Filmmaker Spike Lee’s latest, “Inside Man,” is slated to open March 24. It stars Denzel Washington as a troubled NYPD detective facing off in a hostage drama against Clive Owen’s intelligent criminal, with the twists provided by Jodie Foster, an attorney with a hidden agenda.

Weekend 13

APRIL 1-2

You say you don’t yet have tickets to the L.A. Kings vs. the Dallas Stars at 7:30 p.m. April 1 at Staples? And you call yourself a hockey fan? Perhaps the only way to recover from a night of pucks on ice would be an afternoon with the Von Trapp family. Yes, the sounds of music will fill the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts at 3 p.m. April 2, when the great-grandchildren of Captain von Trapp appear in choral concert. If you hear someone singing “Doe, a deer, a female deer,” you’re probably in the right place. www.cerritoscenter.com

Weekend 14

APRIL 8-9

If fast cars and tight turns get your motor running, you can join about 75,000 racing fans for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, won last year by Sebastien Bourdais in a close battle with four-time winner Paul Tracy. www.longbeachgp.com

Weekend 15

APRIL 15-16

The Angels will have ignited the Southland’s spring fever the previous week, when the defending American League West champions open their home season (April 7) against the New York Yankees. The Dodgers, too, ratchet up the spring fever April 14 to 16 when their retooled lineup faces a test from the San Francisco Giants. Blue-bleeding fans should be especially fired up on April 15 -- that’s when the major leagues celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, marking the 1947 day when Pasadena-reared, UCLA-schooled Robinson broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers. www.laangels.com; www.ladodgers.com

Weekend 16

April 22-23

The Indian Film Festival rolls out an array of movies at the ArcLight that will send you scrambling for the sag paneer, vindaloo and samosas. www.indianfilmfestival.org

Weekend 17

APRIL 29-30

From its infancy as a celebration of and showcase for upstream -- as opposed to mainstream -- rock and pop, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has blossomed into one of the most anticipated gatherings in the world -- and a place for iconic acts to strut their stuff along with cutting-edge newbies. The seventh edition figures to continue the mix; Depeche Mode has already been identified as one headliner, and the rock world is buzzing with the names of acts that might be visiting the Empire Polo Field in Indio for the two-day party. www.coachella.com

Weekend 18

MAY 6-7

Where else to go but Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles to observe Cinco de Mayo -- the annual celebration of Mexico’s victory in 1862 over French forces in Puebla, Mexico? The festivities include entertainment, educational workshops and children’s activities. www.olvera-street.com

Weekend 19

MAY 13-14

For a week in May, our sleepy little town becomes the center of the video game universe when the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, comes to visit. A trade show where gaming companies try to get the press and store buyers excited about their upcoming releases, E3 is not open to the general public. But besides showing off their wares at the L.A. Convention Center, companies mount celebrity-studded parties in some of L.A.’s swankiest nightclubs -- and this is the weekend to wangle. www.e3expo.com

Weekend 20

MAY 20-21

See the work of an American original as “Robert Rauschenberg: Combines” comes to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Times art critic Christopher Knight called it “revelatory and immensely satisfying” when it opened at the Met in New York. Organized by MOCA’s chief curator, Paul Schimmel, the show promises to be bigger when it hits MOCA, home to the largest public collection of Rauschenberg’s painting- and sculpture-melding Combines. May 21 to Sept. 11, www.moca.org

ALSO: If your tastes run more Renaissance than Rauschenberg, the film version of “The Da Vinci Code” is slated to open May 19. Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen star for director Ron Howard.

Weekend 21

MAY 27-28

Grendel is the ravenous fiend of the Anglo-Saxon epic “Beowulf.” But composer Elliot Goldenthal and stage director Julie Taymor see his gentler side: a passionate thinker trapped in the body of a beast. Los Angeles Opera presents the world premiere performances of their opera “Grendel,” May 27 to June 17. www.laopera.com

Weekend 22

JUNE 3-4

On the day of the Academy Awards ceremony, a nominated actor wakes up in a strange bar. Confusion and introspection ensue in the West Coast premiere of “And the Winner Is ... “ at Laguna Playhouse. It’s a comedy by Mitch Albom, the writer who’s best known for spending his “Tuesdays With Morrie” and whose latest book is “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” www.lagunaplayhouse.org

Weekend 23

JUNE 10-11

Last year’s gay and lesbian pride celebrations in West Hollywood featured Paris Hilton and her mom, Kathy, as grand marshals of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade down Santa Monica Boulevard. Find out how they’ll top that at this year’s shindig, June 9 to 11. www.lapride.org

ALSO: The highly anticipated “Cars” rolls out of the Pixar Animation Studios showroom. Owen Wilson voices a cocky rookie race car driver headed for the big Piston Cup Championship in California, but ends up marooned in a tranquil little town off Route 66. The local eccentrics happen to be vehicles of varying stripes -- voiced by Bonnie Hunt (a sleek 2002 Porsche), Paul Newman (a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a shady past) and Larry the Cable Guy (a friendly, slightly beaten up tow truck). John Lasseter directs.

Weekend 24

JUNE 17-18

Even without the cachet of marquee-name headliners, the Playboy Jazz Festival continues to thrive thanks to a diverse lineup -- not to mention its backyard-party atmosphere. No headliners have been announced yet, but the 28th edition of the two-day festival figures to get devotees in the Hollywood Bowl-going habit.

Weekend 25

JUNE 24-25

The Los Angeles Film Festival moves its base of operation from Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights to Westwood Village for its annual celebration of indie and foreign films. Watch for the lineup at www.lafilmfest.com.

Weekend 26

JULY 1-2

Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder, close friends and collaborators, turned Flemish painting tradition on its ear with works they produced jointly between 1597 and 1625. A first-time exhibition of a dozen of these works, “Rubens and Brueghel: A Working Friendship,” at the J. Paul Getty Museum from July 5 to Sept. 24, explores this rare artistic collaboration. A complementary exhibition, “Rubens and His Printmakers,” runs concurrently. www.getty.edu

Weekend 27

JULY 8-9

Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate’s life for me! “Pirates of Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest” opens, bringing back original “Pirates” principals Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Shot simultaneously, a third tale of plunder is on tap for summer ’07.

Weekend 28

JULY 15-16

Outfest, the 24th annual Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, kicks off July 6 and ends this weekend with its usual exuberance. Make it a three-day weekend by attending the closing night film and gala July 17. Recent years have seen “The Dying Gaul” and “A Home at the End of the World” close the fest. www.outfest.org

Weekend 29

JULY 22-23

A head-clearing trip to Laguna Beach always hits the spot this time of summer -- and the coastal Orange County burg’s two big attractions will be in full swing. During the day, visitors can browse the Sawdust Art Festival (June 30 to Sept. 3) for its arts and crafts. Then, each evening, the Pageant of the Masters (July 7 to Sept. 1) brings paintings to life, with performers in vivid costumes accompanied by an orchestra. This year’s theme: “A Passion for Art.” www.sawdustartfestival.org; www.foapom.com

Weekend 30

JULY 29-30

Update yourself on the progress of the renovation of Griffith Observatory by visiting www.griffithobservatory.org. The landmark, closed since January 2002, is scheduled to reopen sometime in the fall of ‘06; the facility’s website has been documenting the work by posting photographs.

Weekend 31

AUG. 5-6

The high-flying, gravity-defying stars of such sports as BMX, motocross and skateboarding return to Staples Center and other Southland venues for the 12th edition of the X Games. Keep an eye on www.expn.comfor details.

ALSO: The state’s southernmost rock fest plugs in when San Diego Street Scene (which had the Pixies, Killers and White Stripes in ‘05) convenes its 24th edition. www.street-scene.com

Weekend 32

AUG. 12-13

A month shy of five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Oliver Stone weighs in with his “World Trade Center” film. Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena star as Port Authority policemen trapped in the rubble after trying to help people escape

ALSO: Daniel Craig stakes his claim to the shaken martinis and cool gadgets as the new 007 in “Casino Royale.” Previously filmed in 1967 as a spoof with the likes of David Niven, Woody Allen and others as various incarnations of 007, this version presumably sticks more closely to the Ian Fleming novel.

Weekend 33

AUG. 19-20

Summer in the San Jacinto Mountains burg of Idyllwild offers a veritable feast of arts for young and old, including studies in theater, writing, dance, film and myriad visual arts in addition to its popular annual Family Week (July 1 to 7). But the Idyllwild Summer Arts Program comes to Los Angeles on Aug. 20, when young musicians who have been honing their skills in the mountains perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall. www.idyllwildarts.org

Weekend 34

AUG. 26-27

Part neighborhood party, part carnival and part music festival, the Sunset Junction Street Fair has become a sweltering summertime staple that draws Eastsiders of all stripes to Silver Lake. The multi-stage music lineup always offers a veteran act or three, but some of the most compelling rock and pop can be heard in the afternoons, when promising local acts hold forth. www.sunsetjunction.org

ALSO: For many Southern Californians, a trip to Yosemite National Park is a summertime tradition. A sprawling, two-part exhibition opening Aug. 27 at the Autry National Center would seem a perfect postscript to that trip. “Yosemite: Art of an American Icon,” including more than 140 artworks, examines the park through the eyes of its artists, from photographers to painters to native artisans. The first stage of the exhibition looks at Yosemite from 1855 to 1969; the second part (opening Sept. 24) encompasses 1970 through the present day. www.autrynationalcenter.org

Weekend 35

SEPT. 2-3

NASCAR drivers will be circling in search of a Nextel Cup title Labor Day Weekend at the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway in Fontana. The racetrack will be without an Indy Racing League event in 2006, but NASCAR will rev up two events, the first Feb. 24 to 26. www.nascar.com; www.californiaspeedway.com

Weekend 36

SEPT. 9-10

Sure, the L.A. County Fair will feature award-winning wines, and you’re likely to encounter an olive-oil competition and events that spotlight talented young chefs on the rise. But we know the real reason you’ll be checking out the fairgrounds in Pomona, from Sept. 8 to Oct. 1: monster onion rings and deep-fried avocado, blue-ribbon jams and cakes, prize-winning pigs and cows and a splendid Ferris wheel. Watch for details at www.lacountyfair.com.

Weekend 37

SEPT. 16-17

The Orange County Performing Arts Center’s 20th anniversary figures to be splashy -- scheduled to open this weekend is the 2,000-seat Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, as well as the 500-seat Samueli Theater and a new education center. One of the concert hall’s distinctions? Adjustable acoustical canopies. www.ocpac.org

Weekend 38

SEPT. 23-24

The work of international fashion designers and architects is the subject of “Skin and Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture,” exploring such themes as shelter, identity, deconstruction and minimalism. The show runs Sept. 24 through Jan. 8, 2007, at the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art. www.moca.org

Weekend 39

SEPT. 30-OCT. 1

The Orange County Museum of Art’s overview of recent work by contemporary young visual artists from across the state continues with the 2006 California Biennial. The exhibition is at the museum’s Newport Beach location and its auxiliary space, the Orange Lounge at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, from Sept. 30 to Jan. 7. www.ocma.net

Weekend 40

OCT. 7-8

The Kirov Opera will make music history when it brings its production of Wagner’s mighty “Ring of the Nibelung” to North America for the first time as part of the inaugural concerts surrounding the expansion of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Valery Gergiev will conduct “Das Rheingold” on Oct. 6; “Die Walkure,” Oct. 7, “Siegfried,” Oct. 9; and “Die Gotterdammerung,” Oct. 11. www.ocpac.org

Weekend 41

OCT. 14-15

Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Diane Arbus and Robert Heinecken are just a few of the photographers to be represented in “The Collectible Moment: Photography in the Norton Simon Museum,” opening Oct. 13 and running through Feb. 26, 2007. Featuring 130 works by historical and modern photographers, it is the museum’s first-ever comprehensive exhibition of its extensive photography collection. www.nortonsimon.org

Weekend 42

OCT. 21-22

If you’re exploring Culver City this weekend, it’s likely the crowds will look a little more well-heeled than usual. Los Angeles Fashion Week, scheduled every spring and fall, will bring some of the beautiful people (and clothes) to this Southern California city in mid-October. The runway shows are open to buyers and the press by invitation only, but parties, events and celebrities will undoubtedly spill over into public view.

Weekend 43

OCT. 28-29

Costumed crazies will be everywhere on this weekend before Halloween, but one of the premier events will be Monster Massive at the L.A. Sports Arena, where prancin’ ghouls become dancin’ fools. The eighth annual event drew 18,000 in 2005, and promoters plan to add a fifth stage for the ninth edition. Watch for the lineup of DJs at www.monstermassive.com.

Weekend 44

NOV. 4-5

Former Disney mogul Peter Schneider will direct the stage musical version of a Disney movie hit, “Sister Act,” about a lounge singer who seeks refuge from her mobster boyfriend in a convent. Alan Menken of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Little Shop of Horrors” fame wrote the music. Nov. 3 to 26 at the Pasadena Playhouse. www.pasadenaplayhouse.org

Weekend 45

NOV. 11-12

Drag racing enjoys a long season -- but championships can be decided by 0.017 of a second. That was the margin John Force lost by in a critical race last year in the Auto Club of Southern California National Hot Rod Assn. Finals at Pomona Raceway, giving the funny-car title to Gary Scelzi. The ’06 NHRA season, which kicks off Feb. 9 with the Winternationals at Pomona, again climaxes on the same track, with top-fuel, funny-car, pro-stock and motorcycle competition. www.nhra.org

Weekend 46

NOV. 18-19

The second-most-famous parade in Pasadena aims for parody, not parity. The Doo Dah Parade, which gallivants down Colorado Boulevard the Sunday before Thanksgiving, lightheartedly skewers the New Year’s Day institution, making stars out of the BBQ & Hibachi Marching Grill Team, and the Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin. Watch for details at www.pasadenadoodahparade.com.

Weekend 47

NOV. 25-26

The beginning of the holiday season brings a slew of awards contenders and family fare to movie theaters. Some early faves appear to be a live-action / animated version of the children’s classic “Charlotte’s Web” with Dakota Fanning and the voice of Julia Roberts; “The Departed,” Martin Scorsese’s remake of the Hong Kong crime film “Infernal Affairs” that stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson; and the musical “Dreamgirls,” featuring a dream team of Jamie Foxx, Beyonce and Eddie Murphy.

Weekend 48

DEC. 2-3

Yes, USC defeated UCLA, 66-19, earlier this month in the great cross-town football rivalry. In 2004 the score was 29-24 in favor of the Trojans. In fact, the Trojans have prevailed in the last seven meetings, but in Westwood hope springs eternal, which is why the blue and gold will be well represented at the Rose Bowl on this Saturday, when the two teams meet again. Then again, there’s always basketball.

Weekend 49

DEC. 9-10

If someone utters the word “holiday” and you think “water,” you may very well find yourself driving to Marina del Rey on Dec. 9 to watch the Boat Parade and a fireworks display in the main channel. Fireworks will precede the parade, which runs from 6 to 8 p.m. (and there’s a preview parade on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.). Best viewing: Burton Chace Park and Fisherman’s Village.

Weekend 50

DEC. 16-17

A 40-foot Christmas tree, a million lights and displays dedicated to a host of Los Angeles icons -- must be time for the L.A. Department of Water and Power’s Holiday Light Festival (which starts Thanksgiving week each year) on a one-mile stretch of Crystal Springs Drive through Griffith Park. Ah, the splendor. Ah, the traffic at the south entrance to the park ...

Weekend 51

DEC. 23-24

In Southern California, a December day may be rendered summer-like with cloudless blue skies and temperatures of 85 degrees. Where to find winter? Yosemite is six hours away; Mammoth Lakes, five; Big Bear, two. For an afternoon romp in the snow, a trip to the Angeles National Forest may be just the ticket (as long as you remember to carry chains). If you need your dose of winter closer to home, there’s likely to be ice skating -- at Pershing Square downtown, for starters. And with luck, the L.A. Zoo will bring back the reindeer romp under the stars.

Weekend 52

DEC. 30-31

Better find a great way to ring in 2007 -- after all, according to Armageddon Online (link purposely omitted), 2007 is the year the war starts.

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Times staff writers Kevin Bronson, Alice Short, Kevin Crust, Don Shirley, Lynne Heffley, Chris Pasles, Scott Sandell and Christopher Reynolds contributed to this report.