This past weekend, Vulture kicked off their very first Los Angeles Vulture Festival, an event which they themselves dubbed as a “pop culture extravaganza.” If you were to take a look at the festival’s website, check out their lineup, or even spend sixty seconds inside the Hollywood Roosevelt’s lobby during this weekend, you would understand why that was the perfect descriptor.

Vulture, which has held Vulture Fest in New York City for the past four years, finally opened up a Los Angeles fest, which feels like the perfect spot, due to its high conglomeration of entertainment-industry creators and influencers. Among the featured panels included the likes of Natalie Portman, the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, James and Dave Franco, Ed Helms and Owen Wilson, among many more.

After an electric opening night party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s Rooftop, which boasted Ali Shaheed Muhammad spinning the whole night, the festival kicked off with a master, private tour of The Broad, for those willing to wake up at 8:30 am. At the main HQ, The Roosevelt, the first panel, which featured the cast of Scandal, served as an official welcoming to the events of the weekend. From there, a continuous overlapping of panels, talks, and screenings took place – enough to make your head spin glancing around all of the hotel’s venues, which we mean in the best way possible.

One of the most interesting aspects to the festival was the rooms these panels were held in. The AT&T Studio, for instance, which held Natalie Portman, the cast of Scandal, Damon Lindelof and Mike Schur, as well as many other big names, seemed more like a ballroom, with enough space to hold a huge crowd. However, other spaces, like the Jetblue Studio, definitely packed in less than 100, making for incredibly intimate experiences with speakers such as James and Dave Franco, Tig Notaro, Ryan Coogler and Ava Duvernay. This allowed the panels to boast an inviting, open, honest feeling, a special touch that made everything feel incredibly worthwhile.

After each event, guests were welcome to head out to the pool at the AT&T Lounge, where they could receive food, drink, and hang out with other festival goers and those staying at the hotel (which had plenty of overlap). Table tennis was offered, as well as several charging stations, which proved to be very popular amenities. Music was constantly being spun by several rotating DJ’s, and the environment continued to range from relaxed, to progressively more party-like as day turned into night. It may be an over-simplistic word to use, but the most accurate descriptor of the whole thing was just simply fun.

If Vulture decides to do another festival in the Los Angeles area again, it is absolutely something you do not want to miss out on. It’s filled with the opportunity to gain fantastic insight from some of your favorite entertainers, and a great chance to hang out in one of the most “California” places in California. As far as we’re concerned, we’ll be highly anticipating whatever Vulture has in store for next year.