Romance Along the Arroyo: A Valentine’s Day Event (Photo – Pasadena Museum of History)
Soak in the love this Valentine’s Day weekend with some surprising low-cost and free events alongside ticketed concerts and historic home tours, complete with custom poetry, art installations, and take-home paintings.
By Melanie Hooks
Click on highlighted event titles for more information.
Valentine Paint Social (Photo – freepik.com)
Friday, February 13, 2026
10:00 am – 11:00 am: Sierra Madre Senior Hawaiian & Polynesian Dance Class. Join instructor Barbara Dempsey as she leads you in the art of Hula. Bring a lei, flower skirt, or just your desire to dance. (@Memorial Park, Sierra Madre)
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Valentine Paint Social: Local artist/activist Joe (JT) Bruns leads a fun, free (and alas, full) workshop for anyone wanting to create a valentine-related piece of art to take home. (@Altadena Library, Bob Lucas Branch)
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Thrive Food Bank Free Farmer’s Market. Volunteer organization offers fresh locally sourced fruits and vegetables to food insecure populations. All welcome. (@Iglesia de Nazareth, Pasadena)
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Monrovia Street Fair and Market takes place every Friday evening in Old Town Monrovia! (@500 Block of Myrtle Ave. between Lemon Avenue and Colorado Boulevard)
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm: Odyssey Charter School – STEAM Night. Explore hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math! Highlights include Javabots robotics, Caltech nano science demonstrations, JPL/NASA craft activities, and the Art of Problem Solving Academy. (@Odyssey Charter School, Altadena)
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm: “ICE Out of Alhambra” Event. Weekly event taking place every Friday. (@the corner of Main Street and Garfield Avenue, Alhambra)
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Caltech Tai Chi Club. Learn and practice Hao-style tai chi chuan. Additional practice includes Yang-style tai chi, kung fu, and other bare-hand and weapon forms. Free event. (@Hameetman Center, Caltech, Pasadena)
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm: San Gabriel Valley Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance. Group support. (@600 S. Lake Ave., Suite 200 Pasadena)
Singer/Songwriter Jim Malcolm (Photo – Pasadena Folk Music Society)
Saturday, February 14, 2026
8:00 am – 10:00 am: Altadena Cars and Coffee. Cruise into the parking lot of Gelato and enjoy a morning of community around classic autos. (@Bulgarini Gelato, 749 East Altadena Drive, Altadena)
8:00 am – 9:30 am: February Run the Arroyo 5k + Walk Club. Run the 5K Arroyo Seco trail in good company beginning at 8:00 am, or walk 2 miles of it beginning at 8:30 am. Return at same time for coffee and treats at DAS GUD. (@Patagonia Pasadena)
8:00 am – 11:00 am: Free Monthly Compost Giveaway at Garvey Park. Bagged compost will be available at a first come, first serve basis. Recipients should bring their own containers. (Enter via Park’s west entrance nr 751 S. Alhambra Ave., Monterey Park)
9:00 am – 12:00 pm: Free Community Legal & Homelessness Prevention Clinic. Public Counsel and the City of Pasadena’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Dept. provide free legal services to low-income individuals and families. (@Jackie Robinson Community Center, Pasadena)
10:00 am – 4:00 pm: Free Dinosaur Kits for Kids. Enjoy a day out with a free kit that teaches history and helps find the oldest buried residents. Offered Tuesday – Saturdays during regular hours. (@The Gilb Museum of Arcadia History, Arcadia)
10:30 am: Workshop: “Eat the Culture: African Foodways & Traditions” with Chef Denà Brummer. Explore Black foodways from Africa to America and other stops worldwide in honor of Black History Month. Pre-registration required. (@Linda Vista Branch Library, Pasadena)
11:00 am – 2:00 pm: Pasadena Public Library Winter Book Sale. Friends of the Pasadena Public Library offer used books, DVDs, CDs, LPs and lots of children’s books for sale, as low as $5/bag. (@Patio of Friends Bookstore, 1500 E. Villa St. between Hill and Allen Avenues, Pasadena)
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Second Saturday Sketching. Pick up free art supplies in the Main Entrance Gallery and use the guided prompts to explore themes, genres and styles within the art collections as you sketch your own creation. (@Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena)
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Pasadena Museum of History’s Romance Along the Arroyo. Explore two landmark homes, the Craftsman-style Gamble House and Victorian Fenyes Mansion, and enjoy sparkling drinks, beautiful piano music, and composing a poem with local poet. (@Gamble House and Fenyes Mansion, Pasadena)
4:30 pm – 7:30 pm: Public Art Experience “Attune 1.0” at Loma Alta Park. Bring your own picnic and soak up free public art installations, family-friendly, sound- and light-based works, that rotate through the event. (@Loma Alta Park, Altadena)
5:00 pm: The Romantic Violin: Martin Chalifour. Chalifour became principal concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1995 and has since held the longest tenure in the orchestra’s history. In this recital evening, “The Romantic Violin,” audiences will hear Chalifour traverse a lyrical landscape of violin repertoire intimately rooted in the romantic tradition. (@Sierra Madre Playhouse, Sierra Madre)
7:30 pm: Scottish Musical Valentine’s Day With Singer/Songwriter Jim Malcolm. Award-winning traditional Scottish singer-songwriter Jim Malcom and the Pasadena Folk Music Society host a toe-tapping Valentine’s Day evening event unlike any other. (Knox Presbyterian Church, Pasadena)
The Romantic Violin with Martin Chalifour (Photo – Sierra Madre Playhouse)
Sunday, February 15, 2026
8:30 am – 1:00 pm: Alhambra Certified Farmers Market. Find a wide assortment of affordably priced fruits, vegetables, honey, herbs, bread & more from local growers and vendors. (@ 100 South Second Street, Alhambra)
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm: 1906 Fényes Mansion Tour. Tour the Beaux Arts-style Fényes Mansion and step back in time to Pasadena in the first decade of the 20th century. (@Fényes Mansion, Pasadena)
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm: The Art of Norton Simon. Narrated by the late Gregory Peck, the film recounts Norton Simon’s extraordinary success in business and his interest in art, both of which facilitated his becoming one of the world’s preeminent art collectors. (@Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena)
5:00 pm: The Romantic Violin: Martin Chalifour. Chalifour became principal concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1995 and has since held the longest tenure in the orchestra’s history. In this recital evening, “The Romantic Violin,” audiences will hear Chalifour traverse a lyrical landscape of violin repertoire intimately rooted in the romantic tradition. (@Sierra Madre Playhouse, Sierra Madre)
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