16th Ever LA Old Time Social

LAOTS-2026

16th Ever LA Old Time Social

Saturday May 16, 2026

Tickets: $20-45

Now in its SIXTEENTH year, The Los Angeles Old Time Social is a festival celebrating American old time fiddle and banjo music in Los Angeles at the Velaslavasay Panorama on Saturday, May 16th.

We will come together for a full day of workshops, musical cakes, and a big ol’ square dance! Workshops and jams are from 12pm-5pm, with a Square Dance and evening program 6:30pm-10pm. 

Enjoy a full day of music from: Happy Neighbor Club,  Fiddle Tunes from the Missouri Valley with Nick Bachman, LA Oldtime Tunes Jam with Joe Wack... & more!

Workshops include:

Moving Panorama and Cameraless Animation (Victorian Optical Toys) with Sammy Lamb

Sacred Harp Singing Led by David Elsenbroich and Andrea Tzvetkov

Old Time Guitar with Chris Berry

Old-Time Rare Banjo Tunes of Alonzo Janese with David Bragger

Yodeling with Susan Platz

Harmony Singing with Dee, Kelly, & Susan

West Virginia Fiddle tunes of Staggs and Welch Families with Ben Townsend

Flatfooting (an older style of foot percussion, in which your feet are the instrument ) with Afton Steps

& more! Visit the LAOTS website for the full lineup! All workshops are first-come first-served and subject to capactiy.

All-Day inclusive $45 (12 - 10pm)

Gets you access to the workshops, the Square Dance and the evening program! Only a limited quantity of all-day tickets are available, so grab 'em quick!

*Special Student All-Day Inclusive ticket $20*

Workshops & Jams $30 (12pm - 5pm)

Gets you access to just the workshops and the jams!

Square Dance & Evening Program $20 (6:30pm - 10pm)

Gets you access to just the square dance and the evening program including musical cakes!

For the 16th-ever LAOTS, the Velaslavasay Panorama hosts two workshops led by artist Sammy Lamb — a Moving Panorama workshop and a Cameraless Animation workshop of Victorian Optical Toys. 

Cameraless Animation: Victorian Optical Toys (12pm, 1pm)

The Velaslavasay Panorama is home to a hyperlocal air quality monitor, providing visitors and Old Time Social attendees detailed info on the air they breathe. Using this resource as a nexus of knowledge and information, participants will explore the magic of cameraless animation by creating Victorian Optical Toys: Thaumatropes, Zoetropes, and Phenakistoscopes. Artist Sammy Lamb will present a short introduction on animation history, technique & practice, and provide sources of inspiration from historical & contemporary animations. All skill levels welcome.

Moving Panorama: A Landscape in Atmosphere (3pm, 4pm)

Participants will collaboratively create a Moving Panorama, a linear painted scroll and a popular form of 19th-century entertainment. Sourcing inspiration from our Los Angeles landscapes and atmosphere via air quality data collected at the VP as part of grassroots networks providing low-income communities of color direct access to environmental health data, artist Sammy Lamb will present a short introduction on the workshop content and lead the group in collective creation. All skill levels welcome.

These visual workshops inform and engage with an air quality monitor installed in the garden of the VP in partnership with the Community and Environment Research Lab in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of California Irvine. This activity is part of the series In the Theater of the Garden, funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the Velaslavasay Panorama Enthusiast Society.  

For more information including the schedule and list of workshops visit the LAOTS website: https://losangelesoldtimesocial.com/

Email info@losangelesoldtimesocial.com to inquire.

The Velaslavasay Panorama's participation in the LA Old Time Social was made possible in part through support from the California Arts Council, a state agency, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and the Velaslavasay Panorama Enthusiast Society.

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