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Around Berkeley
🎹 The New Century Chamber Orchestra will be joined by SF Conservatory professor of piano Awadagin Pratt for a concert featuring Jessie Montgomery’s Grammy-winning Rounds. The program will be closed with Leonard Bernstein’s deeply lyrical Serenade, based on Plato’s Symposium, featuring the violin, strings and percussion. If you miss their performance in Berkeley, you have two more chances to hear them play this program in the Bay Area; there will be repeat performances over the weekend at the Green Music Center in Rohnert Park and the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco. Thursday, May 2, 7:30 p.m. First Congregational Church. $30-$70
🚇 Still feeling sentimental after Bay Area Rapid Transit officially retired its original space-age train cars last weekend? Revel in the nostalgia and watch 60 minutes of historic BART footage at an event hosted by UC Berkeley’s Environmental Design Archives. The footage was curated by the Prelinger Archives, founded by UC Santa Cruz professor and American archivist-filmmaker Rick Prelinger. You’ll also hear from Jay Bolcik, a BART retiree and unofficial historian of the system. Thursday, April 25, 7 p.m., 112 Bauer Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley. FREE (RSVP)
🎷 Now that the rain is mostly gone, the California Jazz Conservatory has relaunched its hopping, faculty-led jam session on Wednesdays at Jupiter, a scene that can attract both accomplished and aspiring players. Wednesday, April 25, 7-10 p.m. Jupiter. FREE
🎶 National Sibling Day was April 10, but the East Bay’s Hogan Brothers keep the party going all year long, particularly via their final Friday residency at Jupiter, where Steve, Colin and Julian Hogan deliver a savory helping of funk, soul, Latin music and various combinations thereof. Friday, April 26, 7-10 p.m. Jupiter. FREE
🎻 The Berkeley Bluegrass Festival brings three packed triple+-bills to Freight & Salvage, featuring Appalachian Road Show, Never Come Down and Broken Compass Bluegrass playing Friday, the Kathy Kallick Band, Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, and Lewis and Kallick together on Saturday, and Kody Norris, the Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms Bluegrass Band, and Marin County Breakdown on Sunday (with acts playing the lobby each night at 6 p.m.). Friday-Sunday, April 26-28, 7 p.m. Freight & Salvage. $55/$60
🌈 Students from UC Berkeley’s Theater, Dance and Performance Studies program will perform the play The Wednesday Club, which was written and directed by theater department professor Joe Goode. The musical follows members of the Wednesday Club, a group of LGBTQ+ drama nerds and allies who meet each week to test their theatrical innovations in a church basement. Friday, April 26, through Sunday, April 28. Check the website for specific performance times. Zellerbach Playhouse. $10-$20 (RSVP)
💃🏿 Born and raised in Benin, steeped in the 1980s Parisian jazz scene and based in Brooklyn, West African superstar Angelique Kidjo continues a deep relationship with Cal Performances that’s encompassed the music of Talking Heads, Celia Cruz and her own ambitious songbook. Friday, April 26, 8 p.m. Zellerbach Hall. $42-$120
🧱 ACCI Gallery’s latest exhibit, Timeless Terrains, explores two mediums: paint and ceramics. The exhibit is open through May 19. An artists’ talk with Adriana Diaz and Kathy Kearns will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27. FREE
🐦 Learn about local nature at the Bay Nature Magazine’s City Nature Challenge Bioblitz. Download the iNaturalist app before you go. Experts will be available between 1 and 2 p.m. to help you identify plant and animal observations from earlier in the day. Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free Speech Bikeway (near the Valley Life Sciences Building), UC Berkeley. FREE (RSVP)
🪨 Berkeleyside reporter-rock-climber Ally Markovich will host a guided conversation about the history and significance of both Indian and Mortar Rocks. (Have you read her two-part series diving into the history of the rocks yet?) She’ll be joined by Corrina Gould, spokesperson and chair for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation, and climbers Kimbrough Moore, Grace O’Connell and Devlin Gandy. Parking is limited, so consider carpooling or taking public transit. The Line 18 AC Transit stop is roughly an 8-minute walk from the park. Saturday, April 27, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Indian Rock Park (east side). FREE (RSVP required)
📚 Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day by attending a book talk with children’s author Joanna Ho, who recently launched her new book We Who Produce Pearls: An Anthem for Asian America. The illustrated book features art by artist-activist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya. Saturday, April 27, 11 a.m. Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore. FREE
🚣 The family-friendly Berkeley Bay Festival, hosted by the city of Berkeley, will feature live music, interactive circus arts and exhibits from more than 30 environmental and wildlife conservation organizations around the Bay Area. Don’t miss the free boat rides. Featured food vendors include Royal Egyptian, Brown Cap Organic Soft Serve (read our stories) and many more. Saturday, April 27, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Shorebird Park. FREE
🎺 The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra’s All-Star Brass Quintet is coming to Berkeley for a 20-minute “Meet the Brass” concert, followed by hands-on musical activities. It’s a great chance to introduce young children to classical music in a friendly environment. Saturday, April 27, 11:30 a.m. Berkeley Public Library Central Branch (Children’s Room). FREE
🌍 The I-House will open its doors to the public for the International Cultural Festival, which aims to celebrate the diversity, unity and exchange of cultural traditions worldwide. Current residents will share their customs through music, art, dance and food. Saturday, April 27, 2-5 p.m. International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue. FREE (RSVP required)
🎻 The Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, California’s oldest youth orchestra, is having its penultimate concert in Berkeley for this season before heading onto its Japan tour. The program includes George Gershwin’s vibrant and jolly An American in Paris, Igor Stravinsky’s striking Ballet Suite from ‘The Firebird,” plus other chamber music. Saturday, April 27, 7:30 p.m. First Church Berkeley. $20 (RSVP)
🎻 The fearless Del Sol String Quartet performs new works by Mat Muntz, Aine Nakamura, Dion Nataraja, Nathan Corder, and Matthew Monaco in the acoustically rarified studio formerly known as 1750 Arch Street, an address that looms large in the history of new music. Saturday, April 27, 8-9:30 p.m. Center for New Music and Associated Technologies. FREE
💵 As part of the Lawrence Hall of Science’s efforts to increase access, Monday is Five Dollar Day, when all hands-on exhibitions are available for a five-spot, including the live animals in the recently renovated Animal Discovery Zone. Sunday, April 28, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Lawrence Hall of Science. $5
🎨 More than 120 vendors and artists will be participating in the second annual Gilman District Street Fair; highlights from the lineup include Fieldwork Brewing Co., Picante, Homeroom, and the Oakland-based Edith’s Pie, which happens to be the best key lime pie I’ve had in the Bay Area so far. Sunday, April 28, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Gilman and Fifth. FREE
🌎 Berkeley author and wildlife biologist Rebecca Kormos will talk about her new book Intertwined: Women, Nature, and Climate Justice, which argues that the greater inclusion of women in conservation and climate science is key to the planet’s future. (The book has already been praised by UN Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall for providing a “vivid and empowering portrait of a world where resilience and environmental stewardship converge.”) Rebecca will join a panel discussion with environmental and social change experts Annie Burke, Amira Diamond, Jennifer Norris and Kristine Zeigler. Tuesday, April 30, 7 p.m. Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore. FREE (RSVP required)
🌱 Plant lovers, plan ahead: 10 Berkeley native gardens — located in everything from people’s homes to traffic circles, parking strips and even the Hillside Club — will open their doors and gates to the public as part of the annual Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour. Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Various locations. FREE (RSVP required)
🎤 Berkeley’s poet laureates will give a poetry reading and discuss their work. Read our stories about author, activist and poet Aya De León and high schooler Julia Segrè, Berkeley’s first-ever youth poet laureate. Berkeley Vice Youth Poet Laureate Serena Griffin will join them. (Note: this event was initially scheduled for Monday, April 22, and appeared in last week’s edition of The Scene but has been rescheduled.) Monday, May 13, 6 p.m. Central Branch, Berkeley Public Library (5th Floor). FREE
Beyond Berkeley
🕷️ The Oakland Spiders, a professional ultimate frisbee team launched in 2021, continues gaining momentum as sports fans look for other teams to support after the A’s announced their move to Las Vegas. The Spiders’ president, Jackson Stearns, grew up attending city-funded summer and after-school programs, and he’s using ultimate frisbee to create similar opportunities for Oakland youth. The home opener takes place this weekend against the Los Angeles Aviators. The team’s home base is Fremont High School. Saturday, April 27, 4610 Foothill Boulevard, Oakland. $25 ($28 on gameday)
🇵🇸 For the fourth time since January, local cyclists are meeting for a peaceful and family-friendly five-and-a-half-mile bike ride in solidarity with the Gaza Sunbirds, a team of 20 para-cycling athletes based in the Gaza Strip. The bike ride is a call to action to bring attention to what is going on with the Palestinian people. It will also uplift the demands of Athletes for Palestine, including an immediate cease-fire, and raise funds for the Gaza Sunbirds. The ride will commence at the Ashby BART station in Berkeley and conclude at the Lake Merritt station in Oakland. Saturday, April 27. Riders will meet at 10 a.m., 3100 Adeline Street, Berkeley. FREE
🚢 The Port of Oakland is once again offering educational 90-minute narrated tours from May to October. Attendees will get behind-the-scenes information on how the port operates and Oakland Seaport activities, and they will sail alongside large container ships and the port’s marine terminals. Tickets will be released on the first Monday of every month starting April 29. Set a calendar reminder so you don’t miss out on this experience. Monday, April 29, the first tour takes place on Friday, May 10. Jack London Terminal, 10 Clay Street, Oakland. FREE (RSVP required)
If there’s an event you’d like us to consider for this roundup, email us at the-scene@berkeleyside.org. If there’s an event that you’d like to promote on our calendar, you can use the self-submission form on our events page.
The Oaklandside’s Arts and Community reporter Azucena Rasilla contributed reporting to this story.
more to do in berkeley
Affordable things to do in Berkeley any day of the week
From farmers markets to trivia nights, we put together a roundup of events and activities held regularly in Berkeley.
