14 venues · 108 upcoming events
Things to do in Costa Mesa & Newport Beach: free events and every venue
Every place we list events for, grouped by neighbourhood. Each venue page shows what’s coming up (recurring shows on their next date), what we’ve listed there before, the address, parking and OCTA buses and what’s nearby — checked by a person, not a crawler.
Free in Costa Mesa & Newport Beach this week
1 free event in the next seven days, soonest first. Free means the venue prints it as free; a few still ask you to register.
Costa Mesa & Newport Beach
- ARTime Barro CM
ARTime Barro Costa Mesa10 upcomingCosta MesaThe Costa Mesa branch of ARTime Barro runs wheel and hand-building pottery classes plus themed one-night clay workshops such as kintsugi and planters.See what's on → - Centennial Farm
Centennial Farm – OC Fair & Event Center2 upcomingOC Fair & Event CenterThe working farm at the OC fairgrounds hosts low-cost garden, food-preserving and seasonal craft classes such as fresh winter wreaths.See what's on → - Chuck Jones CenterChuck Jones Center for Creativity0 pastAirport AreaA creativity nonprofit named for the Looney Tunes animator. It runs adult watercolor and acrylic classes, free drop-in drawing days and mending workshops at its own space and at Irvine community centers.See what's on →
- Costa Mesa Ceramics
Costa Mesa Ceramics12 upcomingWestside Costa MesaA Westside clay studio offering six-week wheel courses, one-off workshops, private lessons and hourly studio rental for experienced potters.See what's on → - Crystal Cove
Crystal Cove Conservancy13 upcomingCrystal Cove Historic DistrictThe nonprofit partner of Crystal Cove State Park. It leads ecology hikes and historic-cottage walking tours, holds monthly Stewardship Saturdays, and puts on a December tree lighting with a holiday market.See what's on → - French BucketsFrench Buckets – Lido Marina Village2 upcomingLido Marina VillageA flower shop in Lido Marina Village, with a second shop in Laguna Beach, that runs Sunday-morning floral design workshops such as dried wreaths and holiday centerpieces.See what's on →
- Inspired Art Wine
Inspired Art Wine12 upcomingAdams Avenue, Costa MesaA Costa Mesa studio, bar and gallery running guided paint-and-wine nights plus longer leveled watercolor and oil workshops.See what's on →
- Newport Bay ConservancyNewport Bay Conservancy0 pastUpper Newport Bay / Back BayThe Back Bay's friends group runs native-plant nursery mornings, invasive-weed pulls, monthly habitat-steward Saturdays and seasonal trash cleanups, along with free nature walks and kayak tours.See what's on →
- Newport Beach LibraryNewport Beach Public Library – Central Library9 upcomingNewport CenterThe city library system runs free story times, art-space afternoons, book clubs and read-to-a-dog sessions across its branches, plus the ticketed Witte Lecture series.See what's on →
- Sherman Gardens
Sherman Library & Gardens21 upcomingCorona del MarA botanical garden and research library on PCH. It runs a busy calendar of watercolor and botanical drawing classes, soap and floral workshops, evening talks, sound baths and a weekly children's story time.See what's on → - Sur La Table Costa Mesa
Sur La Table Cooking School – South Coast Plaza8 upcomingSouth Coast PlazaThe cookware chain's in-store teaching kitchen holds several hands-on classes a day, from knife skills and macarons to themed date nights. Classes start around $69.See what's on →
- The Pottery Studio
The Pottery Studio – Costa Mesa8 upcomingNorth Costa MesaA membership pottery studio running four-week wheel-throwing and hand-building courses, from first-time intro classes to intermediate wheel, with cone 10 gas reduction firing.See what's on → - Langson OCMA
UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art11 upcomingSegerstrom Center / South Coast MetroThe county's modern and contemporary art museum, now run by UC Irvine with the Langson California art collection. It is always free and runs weekly tours, artist talks, toddler art-and-play mornings and hands-on MAKE days.See what's on → - Urban WorkshopUrban Workshop0 pastNorth Costa MesaA large community makerspace where you can take one-night or multi-week classes in woodworking, welding, blacksmithing, stained glass, laser cutting and metalwork.See what's on →