LA Design Festival 2025 is here, Long Beach.
From coverage by Architectural Digest to KTLA to the Los Angeles Times, the LA Design Festival—an annual event that, across its 15-year existence, first appeared in Long Beach in 2023—is a big event for the arts and creative world locally. It explores architecture, textile-making, street art, interior and landscape design, and more.
And the LA Design Festival 2025 returns to Long Beach yet again come June 26 through June 29. Long Beach is not just on the event’s map, but front and center as a driving force in the festival’s region-wide celebration of design, imagination, and community. From historic buildings reawakened through speculative installations to immersive experiences courtesy of Cal State Long Beach’s Design Department, the programming here taps directly into what makes this city special. Its grit. Its cultural depth. And its unapologetically grassroots approach to innovation.
This year’s theme, Design Futurism, isn’t about shiny tech or far-off fantasy; it’s about rethinking the systems and stories that shape our lives right now. It is design-as-a-tool for reconnection, rewriting narratives, and imagining better ways of living. Long Beach has always existed in the space between the possible and the personal, and in 2025, LADF gives that spirit the stage it deserves.
What is the LA Design Festival?
Essentially, it’s a festival that celebrates all things design and has a ton of worldwide events.
“This is our second time contributing to the Los Angeles Design Festival,” said Sinead Finnery-Pyne of Studio One Eleven. She also serves as the Board Vice President for the design festival. “And it’s been a meaningful opportunity to collaborate on this growing cultural platform. The energy and support from our partners and creative community have been incredible. We’re honored to help highlight the diversity and innovation that define design in this city.”
It also helps solidify Downtown Long Beach’s Design District as a formidable, workable space for such large-scale events.
So what events are happening at LA Design Festival 2025?
Aritst exhibitions. Symposiums.
June 26–29: Shifting Tides: Evolution of the Long Beach Waterfront
A visual and narrative exhibit by production designer Nathan Amondson, in collaboration with Studio One Eleven’s Shoreline Visioning project. Dive into Long Beach’s past, present, and imagined coastal identity through immersive storytelling. And yes, it includes a speculative take on the city’s oil islands.
📍 Studio One Eleven | ⏰ 11 AM–5 PM daily
June 26–29: “10 Degrees Cooler” Poster Exhibition
In partnership with Poster Territory, this outdoor exhibit brings together local and international designers to celebrate Long Beach’s creative energy through the power of posters.
📍 DTLB Design District | ⏰ On view daily
June 26–29: Design 間APPENING — The Future of Design is Happening. Come Unprepared.
An interactive, perception-based installation from CSULB’s Immersive Design Research Lab, exploring the Japanese concept of Ma—the in-between moments that shape how we engage with design.
📍 New CSULB Studio Space | ⏰ 11 AM–5 PM daily
June 26–29: “The Money Train: The Last Mile from Track to Table”
A speculative exhibition asking: what if commuter rail systems nourished cities with food as much as people. Curated by Kevin Sherrod (USC/Gensler) with immersive media, maps, and models.
📍 Acres of Books Building | ⏰ 11 AM–5 PM daily
June 27–28: Muse Apothecary Pop-Up
Kristen Flores brings her Long Beach-born scent lab to Studio One Eleven, featuring her signature “Essence of Community”—now the official fragrance of LA Design Festival.
📍 Promenade Entrance, Studio One Eleven | ⏰ 11 AM–5 PM daily
June 27–29: Greg Ito: Ascend
LA artist Greg Ito premieres his first animated piece—an expansion of his dreamlike visual world. With music by Dmitry Selipanov and animation by Andrew Eastman.
📍 LBMA Downtown | ⏰ 11 AM–5 PM daily
🎤 Artist Talk: Saturday, June 28 | 2–4 PM
June 26: Dumpling & Cocktail Class at Midnight Oil
Hands-on dumpling making and cocktail creation inspired by traditional Chinese apothecaries, plus a sneak peek into Hao Peng You, the new speakeasy-style space at Midnight Oil.
📍 Midnight Oil, DTLB | ⏰ 6:30 PM | Limited space
June 27: LA Design Festival 2025 Block Party in the DTLB Design District
The Mosaic Promenade goes live with DJs, vendors, AR installations, and kinetic sculpture. Featuring Metapunkz’s Love Kitties in Space and Nathan Amondson’s Rainbow Machine.
📍 Mosaic Promenade, DTLB | ⏰ 6–9 PM | Free & open to the public
June 27: The Vault & The Temple: Architectural Tour
A guided journey through the historic Farmers & Merchants Bank and The Altar Society (formerly the Masonic Temple), capped off with drinks and design talk.
📍 Tour begins at F&M Bank | ⏰ 4–5:30 PM
June 28: Cliff May Ranchos: Lecture & Home Tour
A lecture from scholar Katie Kaford Papineau followed by a self-guided tour through seven iconic postwar homes in East Long Beach.
📍 Lecture at Studio One Eleven | ⏰ Starts 10 AM | Limited capacity
June 28: From Art to Action: Creatives Revitalizing Urban Design
Hosted by 4K More Creative and Culture Cart. Starts with a discussion at Studio One Eleven, followed by a mobile tour of DTLB in pedicabs and golf carts—part design lab, part joyride.
📍 Studio One Eleven → DTLB streets | ⏰ 2 PM | Limited to 14 guests
June 28: Design Dinner: Utensil
A chef-driven tasting experience at Chez Bacchus exploring the design of dining through the form and function of utensils. Menu by Chef Danny Le and James Tir (LB Food Coma).
📍 Chez Bacchus | ⏰ 7 PM | Seating is limited
June 29: Pieces of Japan Pop-Up & Kintsugi Workshop
Hosted by Intertrend and POJ Studio, explore intentional Japanese craftsmanship and learn the art of golden repair in two intimate Kintsugi sessions.
📍 Psychic Temple | ⏰ Sessions at 11 AM & 3 PM | Limited space
June 29: Echoes of the Ancestors: A Two-Museum Guided Journey
Visit PIEAM and MoLAA in a guided tour through exhibitions on memory, migration, Indigenous resistance, and futurism—featuring Endless Spiral by Betsabeé Romero.
📍 Starts at PIEAM | ⏰ 11 AM | Space is limited
June 29: Tacoshop Poetry with Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
The taco shop as stage returns. Journalist and poet Adolfo Guzman-Lopez hosts a reading with live music, guest poets, and excerpts from his upcoming book California Southern.
📍 Sonoratown Courtyard (end of the alley) | ⏰ 3 PM
Greg Ito’s first animated piece premiered at his solo exhibition at Long Beach Museum of Art this past year. It is haunting and beautiful.