Memorial Day Weekend 2023: Calabasas Remembrance, LA Fleet Week And More Events

CALABASAS, CA — The upcoming Memorial Day ceremony in Calabasas is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

The city will host a brief ceremony to observe Memorial Day on Friday at 9:30 a.m. at the Civic Center Veterans Garden. Mayor David Shapiro will preside.

The Los Angeles National Cemetery will also host a ceremony on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Also happening this weekend is LA Fleet Week in San Pedro, featuring live entertainment, aerial flyovers and free tours of active-duty U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships.

Fleet Week events are scheduled from Friday to Monday. The main venue is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily alongside the USS Iowa, 250 S. Harbor Blvd.

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit local cemeteries and leave flowers at the graves of family members, regardless of whether they served in the military.

Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial kickoff to summer in LA County. Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

• LA County Fair, Pomona, through May 29
• Fiesta Hermosa, Hermosa Beach, May 27-29
• Topanga Days Country Fair, Topanga Canyon, May 27-29
• Rooftop screenings at The Montalbán, Hollywood. "Top Gun," May 26. "Full Metal Jacket," May 27.

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.