Pershing Square

Pershing Square is the oldest public square in Los Angeles, dedicated in 1866 as La Plaza Abaja and renamed for General John Pershing in 1918. The park you see now opened in 1994, designed by architect Ricardo Legorreta and landscape architect Laurie Olin, and it reads as a sunken plaza rather than a lawn: concrete terraces, colored towers, fountains and an elevated amphitheater facing a stage.

The city runs it as an outdoor concert and event center. The summer series is the main draw, and during that run the park closes to general use on Fridays through Mondays, with the north side along 5th Street shut for the whole series. Banda, R&B and Latin festivals share the calendar with food and drink events, so a Tuesday lunch hour and a Saturday night show feel like two different places. The Biltmore is across Grand Avenue, and the blocks around Olive and Hill are dense with restaurants and coffee.

Because this is a public park, there is no fixed door policy, no published capacity and no permanent seating plan. Bring a jacket for evening shows and expect to stand unless the listing says otherwise. The garage under the square is the simplest place to leave a car downtown. Playgrounds, chess tables and a pet area sit on the edges of the park, so a concert day closes off more of the square than the stage footprint suggests.