Family festivals offer a day of celebration and discovery inspired by exhibitions at the Getty Villa. Each unique festival features performances by local dance and music groups, storytelling, art-making workshops, and gallery activities.

The Villa Family Festival will return in December 2012. Check back on this page for updates.

Family Festival Celebrating Aphrodite and the Gods of Love
April 21, 2012
Visitors enjoyed a day celebrating the goddess of passion, beauty, and pleasure with a family festival inspired by the exhibition Aphrodite and the Gods of Love. There were enchanting performances by Helios Dance Company and tales of Aphrodite told by storyteller Carl Weintraub, who brought the goddess to life. Inspired by Aphrodite's connection to the sea, a quartet of musicians sounded ship bells to communicate across the Getty's spaces. Engaging workshops invited visitors to make a shell hand mirror, a pair of divine wearable wings, or offerings to build a shrine to Aphrodite and reimagine the goddess in the world of 21st-century Los Angeles.

Family Festival Celebrating The Art of Ancient Greek Theater
December 5, 2010
A family festival filled with learning, crafts, and performances, celebrating The Art of Ancient Greek Theater. Children and adults fashioned their own Greek theater masks, costumed themselves as ancient actors, applauded or joined in pint-sized versions of classical Greek comedies onstage, and enjoyed a special appearance by Herakles.

Family Festival Celebrating The Aztec Pantheon
May 22, 2010
Aztec art was at the heart of this family festival that explored the rich cultural traditions of Aztec and pre-Columbian Mexico. Performances included Aztec music and dance by In Tlanextli Tlacopan, sounds of ancient Mexico by Mexika, folk tales and songs from Veracruz by Conjunto Jardin and Aztec folk tales brought to life by the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. Art-making workshops offered children a chance to create masks, wings and headdresses inspired by the exhibition The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire.

Family Festival Exploring Archaeology and Conservation
May 31, 2009
A special day of hands-on activities and performances throughout Villa's celebrated gardens and grounds, inspired by the Villa exhibitions Reconstructing Identity, The Getty Commodus, and Fragment to Vase. Performances included Greek music and dance, Musicantica's Italian folk traditions, Fishtank's eclectic melodies from southeastern Europe, and Hercules' exploits reimagined by We Tell Stories.