These are a few of my favorite things: raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, and the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long at the Hollywood Bowl. Where else do you get to work your inner Julie Andrews under the stars?

One of The Bowl’s most popular annual events, the screening features a preshow costume parade starting at 6:30pm, in which families dressed as everything from edelweiss to the lonely goatherd get to strut their stuff across the world famous stage. The screening itself (8pm) has a lot in common with Rocky Horror, with goody bags handed out at the door to encourage audience participation – including party poppers for the moment when Maria and Captain Von Trapp finally kiss in the gazebo.

The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long can be a great first trip to the Hollywood Bowl; it’s a family-friendly event at which no one is expected to sit quietly. It is a long evening, between the pre-show and a long film with intermission, but the pay-off of seeing the Salzburg Festival scene – with its enormous audience singing along in a hillside amphitheater, from an enormous audience singing along in a hillside amphitheater – is really worth the wait. And the fun of cheering on Maria and booing the baroness with so much company is priceless.

As always at The Bowl, picnics are welcome, and warm clothes are advisable. Costumes are highly encouraged, too.