Weekend Events
May Days: Celebrations and festivals, as reliable a sign of spring as you could ask for, are starting to pop up like the dandelions in your yard. With the Tribeca film festival just in the rear view mirror, Jazz fest in New Orleans under way and the Kentucky Derby happening this weekend, the big thaw is really happening. The weather’s getting so clement in Denver, they’re taking off their pants in public. Elsewhere, things are on the move: Cuban culture is brashly making itself known in New York, a Dallas restaurateur is set to combine nightclub, restaurant and art gallery; and the Miami neighborhood of Overtown makes a bid to reclaim its nobler history. Wherever you are, here’s hoping you’re ready to make some joyful noise. After the winter just over … you’ve earned it
Leave your trousers at the door to celebrate National No Pants Day at the Ginn Mill in Denver. Yes, the first Friday in May is reserved to drop trou. Join a group of other equally exposed revelers for a goofy good time and make a donation of gently used dress pants or cash (you’ll have to figure out where to stow your wallet) to Denver Works.
Hands on Atlanta hosts a Latin-flavored fete, its 9th annual Taste of Volunteering event. This year’s focus on the city’s Latino population brings Hector Santiago, "Top Chef" contestant and owner of the Atlanta restaurants Pura Vida and Super Pan, as guest chef.
On Friday, starting at 7 p.m., ticket holders can expect a lively night complete with dancing entertainment from the local troupe Salamabo, tequila and sangria tastings, and an empanada demo by Chef Santiago. But the stars of the show will be the silent and live auctions, and the specialty menu to be offered during the event.
The Presidio defended San Francisco from naval attack during the Civil War, it was a site for people turned into refugees by the 1906 earthquake, and it's been a national park since 1996. The so-called Mothball Fleet of ships that defended the coast during World War II are now a disintegrating relic, shedding toxic paint and metal by the ton into the waters of Suisun Bay. With the fleet being (sometimes called the “Ghost Fleet”) slowly towed to Texas to be scrapped, the nonprofit public art organization Place in History and Workspace Limited, an artists’ group, will present a video slideshow of images from four photographers on Saturday night, mute but vibrant testaments to San Francisco's importance as a military port, narrated by the photographers themselves.
See images from the exhibit
Find more about the Mothball Fleet
Check out Postbox San Francisco
Video: San Francisco Hot Picks
After a successful New York City run last fall, the Architecture and Design Film Festival will host its spring gathering at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago from through Monday. The festival, which opened on Thursday, will showcase feature films, documentaries and shorts celebrating the relationship between film and design. Participate in discussions with influential filmmakers, architects and designers, including a reading of “The Glass House,” Kyle Bergman’s hit play inspired by Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, followed by an intimate discussion with the producer. Take in one of the 39 films (ranging from 2 to 93 minutes), including “Studio Gang Architects: Aqua Tower,” a 27-minute work exploring Chicago architect Jeanne Gang’s unlikely inspiration behind the structure that would redefine the city’s skyline and forever change the “Chicago School” of thought.
Cuban culture sashays into New York this month for Si, Cuba!, the city’s largest Cuban arts festival. Featuring everything from Afro-Cuban rhythmic drumming to classic ballet, from rhumba to rum, the festival will offer visitors the vibrant diversity of Cuban arts, music and film. The festival runs through June at various New York City venues, including BAM in Brooklyn. Click on the dancers for details.
The Taste of the North End started in 1993 as a benefit for Casa Monte Cassino. Originally held in the basement of St. John's School and featuring dishes from 15 of the Italian neighborhood's finest eateries, the Taste of the North End quickly gained interest and over the years has become a favorite Boston event.
This year, the food festival welcomes more than 25 restaurants, bakeries and distributors to DCR Steriti Memorial Rink. Tickets are $99, with proceeds going to benefit the North End Community Health Center, neighborhood schools, recreation centers , and seniors programs.
Today, Overtown is a struggling inner-city neighborhood of Miami fighting for business development and a brighter future. But back in the mid-20th century, the Miami enclave was called the “Harlem of the South,” for regularly hosting music legends like Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, Cab Calloway and Dizzy Gillespie.
The Overtown Music Project nonprofit remembers the magical period of the area on Saturday at a Gospel Brunch at the Bethel A.M.E. Church. The non-religious celebration, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., brings together civic leaders and some of the many musicians who performed at venues during Overtown’s heyday. Also planned are readings from the works of Langston Hughes and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Your mom deserves better than a last-minute, hastily-purchased gift for Mother's Day. For better and unique gift ideas, take a trip to Unique LA. Billed as the biggest independent design show in the country, Unique LA brings together more than 300 vendors, many of whom are not only L.A.-based, but who also start and finish the creation of their products in southern California. The Spring 2011 show is Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day at the California Market Center's Penthouse downtown.
If it can be bought, Unique LA will be selling it: women's and men's clothing, bath and beauty products, art prints, food and products for the home. In addition, there will be workshops on DIY craft-making, a host bar with wine and Izze fruit drinks, even free tote bags. No, you can't fill the tote bags with the free wine.
When it was announced that a celebrity chef would be leaving Loft 610 to helm the kitchen at another location, the former restaurant’s fate was in doubt. Loft 610 closed and in its place rose Social 121, something the likes of which Dallas had never seen before: a raucous hybrid of restaurant, nightclub and art gallery, the literal union of owner Scott Siers’ three passions: food, music and art. To celebrate Social 121’s opening, Siers has commissioned Chicago-based performance artist CHADWICK to paint through from Friday, to Saturday. Executive Chef Jason Skinner will dazzle patrons with the artistry of his food.
The legendary blues musician Robert Johnson ranks among the most important figures in the American music canon. Johnson -- just 27 when he died in 1938 under mysterious circumstances -- was a prodigiously talented guitar player and songwriter. His recordings and innovations influenced generations of musicians, including legends Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Robert Plant.
Johnson would have turned 100 on May 8, and the occasion is being marked by celebrations across the country. Few resonate as deeply as the one held in Greenwood, Miss. -- the small Mississippi Delta burg where Johnson died. Several days’ worth of events will be held in Johnson’s honor through Sunday.
Source:Specials
