CORE Los Angeles at State Historic Park

CORE started as a stage at Tomorrowland and has grown into its own touring festival. Its first US edition took over Los Angeles State Historic Park on May 2 and 3, 2026, in partnership with Insomniac. CORE's site says Los Angeles will return in 2027, with no date posted when this page was written. The park doesn't need a festival to be worth the trip, though, and that's the part you can do any day.

What's Worth Seeing

For that weekend, the lawn held three stages, according to one review, with the downtown skyline in view. That review describes a main stage with a split-head design, and the photos here show a stage built around two giant hands crossed at the wrists. The lineup ran to 26 artists, including Four Tet, Eric Prydz and Nina Kraviz.

The park is 32 acres of paths and open lawn next to Chinatown. Trains used to arrive here: this was Southern Pacific's River Station, from the 1870s. Corn leaking from rail cars sprouted along the tracks, and that's where the old nickname, the Cornfield, came from. In 2005, an art project called Not a Cornfield planted the site with real corn for a season.

The site goes back further than the railroad. A section of the Zanja Madre irrigation canal was uncovered here in 2001, and the raised Metro tracks on the south side follow the line of a water system from the early 1800s. The Capitol Milling building (1883) and the Flat Iron Building (1890) are within walking distance. The park also sits on the Pacific Flyway, so bring binoculars if you watch birds.

Picnic spots are first come, first served. Dogs are welcome on a leash, but grills and drones aren't allowed. On concert days, the event host sets what you can bring in.

How to Get There

The park is at 1245 N Spring St. From the 101, exit at Alameda Street and turn right. Alameda becomes North Spring Street, and the park is on your left. From I-5, exit at Broadway, head west and stay in the left lane, then take North Spring Street to the left where Broadway splits.

The main lot, at 1501 N Spring St, is paid. There's free street parking nearby, but watch for no-parking and anti-gridlock zones. Metro's Chinatown station is next door, and Union Station is about a mile away. The state park page has hours and fees, and our venue page lists shows.

Nearby

• Chinatown is right beside the park, with its restaurants and shops around N Broadway.
• Union Station is about a mile away, and it calls itself the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western US.
• El Pueblo and Olvera Street are also downtown, with the Avila Adobe from 1818, described as the oldest surviving house in Los Angeles.