The Autry Museum of the American West is turning back the clock on admission prices for its annual Block Party in Griffith Park this Saturday, September 26, charging visitors the same rates the museum charged when it opened its doors in 1988. Adult tickets will run just $4.75, seniors and students pay $3.50, and kids 12 and under get in for $2. The daylong event, themed “Love Letters to L.A.,” runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is built for all ages.
The rolled-back pricing, reported by Secret Los Angeles, is a nod to the museum's founding year: it opened in 1988 as the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, established by actor-musician Gene Autry, according to Wikipedia. Nearly four decades later, the institution has grown into a major research repository, holding a collection of more than 600,000 art pieces and historical artifacts, including one of the largest Native American materials collections in the country following its merger with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, per the Autry Museum of the American West.
A New Exhibit on Unratified Treaties Opens the Same Day
Saturday's festivities double as the official opening of “Promised Lands: California's Unratified Treaties and Native Resilience,” a new exhibition at the museum, according to the Autry Museum. Visitors can also tour the museum's major ongoing exhibition, “Life, Liberty, and Los Angeles,” on view through January 31, 2027, which traces two centuries of L.A. history through historical artifacts, contemporary art, and media, per the Musa Guide.
According to NBC Los Angeles, the block party's Dino Land experience features life-size dinosaurs surrounded by containment fencing, broken dinosaur eggs, weathered research crates, themed photo backdrops, and lush prehistoric foliage. The family zone features prehistoric obstacle challenges, games, crafts, and a live character meet-and-greet with Nature Cat from PBS Kids.
Music, a Car Show and a Renovated Theater
Beyond Dino Land, the outlet reports the day includes a carnival, a car show featuring vintage automobiles, film screenings, horse grooming demonstrations, and art activities. Urban Saddles is presenting a grooming workshop, while the California Art Club offers plein air painting on the grounds, per NBC Los Angeles. The museum's recently renovated theater will screen “Maara'yam: The Yuhaaviatam Story,” and its on-site cinema will present Steve Martin's “L.A. Story,” continuing the museum's Autry After Hours and outdoor film screening programming.
Live music throughout the day includes the Midnight Cowgirls, Las Chorizeras, and other artists, according to the same NBC Los Angeles report. The lineup also includes performances by The Volcanics, Holy Crow Jazz Band, Country Vision Band, the Wildhorse Singers and Dancers, Calpulli Xiuh Arte, and the Inglewood Guys and Dolls Square Dancers.
Saturday's celebration offers a reason for crowds to gather on the Griffith Park campus.
