the monthly BEAT: Silver Lake. Sunset Junction Street Fair cancelled.

Earlier this month, we told you about the annual Sunset Junction Street Fair that should have been this weekend in Silver Lake, but has now been cancelled.

Apparently the festival organizers owed the city a bunch of money from last year and had not come up with enough for this year.

It's a shame to see a tradition (since 1980) die. Check out Randy Lewis and Margaret Wappler's Los Angeles Times article about the community's mixed emotions about the news.

Have a look at past lineups here.

Alternate suggestions for weekend fun: see Our Idiot Brother at the ArcLight (who doesn't love Paul Rudd?), check out Seventy 7 Lounge (check Twitter for entry password), read a good book, if you still haven't seen Midnight in Paris, see that instead of Our Idiot Brother.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: Jonathan Leibson/FilmMagic via rollingstone.com

the monthly BEAT: Silver Lake. Sunset Junction 2011.

For August's edition of the monthly BEAT, we're focusing on Silver Lake, which actually just so happens to be my own new neighborhood. It's a land oft-known/ridiculed for its hipsterism, but that mainly just means there are a lot of newer, younger places popping up around town that, while carry a hype machine, could be worth your visit.

But there are also some institutions already in place, a la Malo, Intelligentsia, and of course, the Sunset Junction Music Festival and Street Fair. Taking place at the end of the month at -- where else? -- the Sunset Junction, the musical lineup includes bands and artists both local and not, both big and small. Think Bobby Womack, the Melvins, Hanson (yep), Art Brut, the Butthole Surfers, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Dum Dum Girls, alongside the Soft Pack, Lesands, Hands, Oh Darling and more. And then there's the market and food and fair stuff and general fun galore.

Tickets are only $20 per day, get them here.

The Sunset Junction Music Festival and Street Fair takes place Aug. 27-28 at Sunset Junction, located at 3700 to 4300 Sunset Blvd. (between Edgecliffe Dr. and Fountain Ave.) and 4000 to 4200 Santa Monica Blvd. (between Sanborn Ave. and Hoover St.).

-- Chau Tu

Advance Notice. Sunset Junction Street Fair.

The Sunset Junction Street Fair is one of L.A.'s premier local events, often featuring the coolest of indie and rock bands in the midst of a good ole fashioned street fair, and usually scheduled as a perfect last hurrah for summer.

This year's event is set to be the 30th anniversary, so big things are sure to be happening. Info is still trickling in slowly, but some of the bands have already been announced, including the ever-delightful Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, my favorite Mayer Hawthorne, Fitz and the Tantrums, the Deadly Syndrome, Red Cortez and more.

The excitement will be revving up quickly, so you may as well book August 21st and 22nd and get your tickets now, for the special pre-sale price of $15. At-door tickets will be $20 (but you probably won't want to risk a sell-out). It's an L.A. classic, and you won't want to miss out.

-- Chau Tu