Memorial Day Celebrations to Honor the Fallen in OC

A day of remembrance. A day of respect. Memorial Day is just around the corner and there are various ways to observe the honorable holiday across Orange County. Memorial Day, not to be confused with Veterans Day (which falls in November), is a day to honor men and women who have sacrificed their lives to serve the country, and who’ve died doing so.

This year on May 31, remember the fallen by visiting a field of honor, attending a local memorial service or by participating in the national moment of remembrance.

On Harvey Milk Day, Rancho Santa Margarita Residents Rally to Join Other Orange County Cities Flying Pride Flag

This Harvey Milk Day, a group of Rancho Santa Margarita residents are memorializing the first openly-gay man elected to higher office in America by calling on their city to fly the LGBTQ+ Pride Flag at city hall.

Santa Ana became the first city in the county to fly the flag at city hall in 2015, followed by Anaheim, Irvine, Costa Mesa and Laguna Beach. Huntington Beach is the newest city to join the group this year after a 6-0 vote last month.

The Pride Flag has been a subject of controversy at the Orange County Fair & Event Center, where it has flown year-round since 2019, despite repeated calls by some people to take it down. Also since 2019, the flag also flies on the main flagpole of the State Capitol building in Sacramento during June.

However, smaller Orange County cities are following suit: Aliso Viejo flies the Pride Flag during June, and now, Rancho Santa Margarita is pushing toward the same goal.

Orange County has advanced to the Yellow Tier of the California Re-Opening Plan. This is an extraordinary achievement in public health, and means that many live, indoor events will be able to resume. In addition, the state remains on target for full re-opening on June 15th. Safety precautions and protocols will remain in place and should be heeded to protect the gains we've made; but Arts Orange County is proud to celebrate the return of gathering to enjoy the arts, and hopes you take advantage of the opportunity when you're ready! 

Alone Together - In Memory of George Floyd

A one-of-a-kind virtual collaboration between California orchestras, this new work commissioned by Pacific Symphony works to express the upheval of a year that combined unprecedented isolation with the ignition of a major social movement  DETAILS »

Sergio Assad, Clairce Assad with Third Coast Percussion

The return to in-person, indoor concerts continues with this celebration of world music backed by the Grammy-winning sounds of Third Coast Percussion, presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County at the Barclay Theatre  DETAILS »

100 Artists Look at COVID-19

Orange County Artists received grants from Community Engagement to create artwork reflecting their lives and struggles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, culminating in this free online exhibition  DETAILS »

Flights of Fantasy

The Laguna Playhouse Youth Theatre presents a pair of plays created by and for imaginative kids; both of them showing the power of myths, fairy tales, and fantasies  DETAILS »

Butterfly Project in DTSA

You can be a part of a community artistic event, as Downtown Santa Ana invites people to turn masks they're ready to dispose of into butterflies to adorn the re-opening storefronts of the community  DETAILS »