BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The Beverly Hills Art Show returns to Beverly Gardens Park twice a year, filling four garden blocks with work by roughly 250 artists.
The free event takes place on the third weekend of May and the third weekend of October. It has followed that rhythm for five decades. A one-block craft fair has grown into one of the region’s largest outdoor art gatherings.
A Fair That Started on One Block
The first version of the show opened in 1973. It carried the name “Affaire in the Gardens.” Artist and caricaturist Gil Borgos urged then-deputy director Michelle Marrell to start a small arts-and-crafts fair. The city gave the effort a single block of Beverly Gardens Park.
The event expanded from that modest start. Show organizers describe it today as a semiannual tradition. It has run every spring and fall since its founding year.
The city marked a milestone in 2023. Mayor Julian Gold called it a golden anniversary show. More than 230 artists took part that May, and nearly 85 of them were showing for the first time.
The show has carried several names over the years. “Affaire in the Gardens” lasted into the modern era. The city now promotes it simply as the Beverly Hills Art Show.
Applications come from well past the city line. Organizers select about 250 artists for each edition. Exhibitors travel from across California, from other states, and from other countries.
Four Blocks Along Santa Monica Boulevard
The modern show spans four garden blocks in the center of the city. The footprint runs from Rodeo Drive to Rexford Drive. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both weekend days.
Admission costs nothing. Organizers keep the gate open to everyone. The event goes on rain or shine.
Beverly Gardens Park provides the setting. The park opened in 1911 and stretches 1.9 miles along Santa Monica Boulevard. It covers 22 blocks and was designed by landscape architect Ralph D. Cornell.
The land rests on a portion of Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. Residents know the park for its two-mile jogging path and century-old cypress and ficus trees. A re-created Beverly Hills sign stands near the city center.
The spring and fall editions differ in tone. Spring arrives with the garden in bloom. Fall brings cooler air and shorter days.
Both editions keep the same free format. Visitors pay nothing to walk the blocks.
Getting there shapes the visit. The park sits along Santa Monica Boulevard, a main east-west route. The city publishes transit information for showgoers each season.
| First held | 1973 |
| Original name | Affaire in the Gardens |
| Location | Beverly Gardens Park, four blocks from Rodeo Drive to Rexford Drive |
| Schedule | Third weekend of May and third weekend of October |
| Artists | About 250 selected each edition |
| Admission | Free |
| Hours | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., both days |
| Next show | May 15 and 16, 2027 |
Everything From Painting to Printmaking
Artists display painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass, and jewelry. Photography, drawing, watercolor, mixed media, and printmaking fill out the range. Every piece is original work.
The artists represent their own pieces in person. Visitors meet the makers behind the booths. Work runs from the traditional to the contemporary.
The weekend offers more than a gallery walk. A wine and beer garden features live music. Demonstrating artists work in public view.
There’s no better place to experience immersive and innovative art than right here in our beautiful Beverly Gardens Park.
Mayor Julian Gold, 2023
Food trucks, children’s activities, and community exhibits round out the event. Several partners help stage it each year.
Visitors can buy directly from the artist who made the work. That direct sale model has long defined the fair. Buyers meet the maker, then take home the piece.
The medium list spans traditional and modern work. A watercolor landscape can share a block with a welded steel piece. That range keeps the walk unpredictable.
A Civic Calendar Anchored in the Park
The art show fits a broader pattern in Beverly Hills. The city leans on its public spaces for recurring civic events. Beverly Gardens Park carries much of that load.
The park holds a permanent public art collection as well. The Electric Fountain sits at Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards. Near Rodeo Drive stands a sculpture of psychedelic tulips by Yayoi Kusama called Hymn to Life.
Community partners support the art weekend. Sponsors have included the Los Angeles Art Association and the NoHo Arts District. The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce and the Beverly Hills Historical Society have backed the show.
The Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau also partners on the event. That mix ties the show to tourism and to local civic life at once.
Other backers bring food and family programming. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has supported the weekend. Blank Beverage and SALT Catering have supplied food and drink service.
The show predates many of the city’s current landmarks. It has outlasted several waves of change around it. That staying power is part of its civic value.
Why the Show Keeps Going
The formula has held for fifty years. Free entry draws a wide crowd. A juried artist pool keeps the standard high.
Attendance reaches well beyond the city. The 2023 edition drew more than 40,000 visitors across the weekend. Estimates for some editions have reached 50,000.
Beverly Hills is a small city with a large profile. The 2020 census counted 32,701 residents, and a 2024 estimate put the figure near 31,027. The city covers 5.71 square miles in Los Angeles County.
Its geography helps. Beverly Hills sits about 12.2 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Visitors from across the region reach the park in a short drive.
The city incorporated on January 28, 1914. The park opened three years earlier, and it anchors the town’s nickname, the Garden Spot of the World.
The free gate and the juried field set the show apart. Cities across the country stage art fairs each year. Few match this event’s mix of scale and access.
Repeat visits build the following. Some families return each spring and fall. The park’s central location makes that habit easy to keep.
The next show is set for May 15 and 16, 2027. The fall 2026 edition ran October 17 and 18. The same two weekends return each year, spring and fall, rain or shine.