EATS, BEATS & BREWS The food, drink and dancing street party returns to Berkeley this Sunday, June 21, from 12-6 p.m. on Center Street in downtown Berkeley. Eats, Beats & Brews is held the third Sunday of the month throughout the summer, with this first event featuring Fito Reinoso y su Ritmo y Armonia. Ruth Caspary of Latin Connection Dance will be teaching a basic salsa lesson. Food trucks with a variety of cuisines will line the streets, and a beer garden courtesy of Drake’s Brewing Company will spring up along the sidewalk. Center Street’s Restaurant Row will showcase over 15 different international cuisines and even more options from food trucks such as Kenny’s Heart & Soul food truck. The spacious outdoor beer garden will feature Bay Area favorite Drakes Brewing Company, transforming the street into a pedestrian promenade in the heart of downtown.
JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL This year’s 29th Annual Berkeley Juneteenth Festival will be held on Sunday, June 21. The Juneteenth Festival, held in south Berkeley’s five-block Alcatraz-Adeline corridor, celebrates the anniversary of the arrival of the news to Galveston, Texas on June 19 (shortened to Juneteenth), 1865, of Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation. The festival, which is produced by Berkeley Juneteenth Association, Inc., a nonprofit organized in 1987, is part of a nationwide celebration of African-American culture and celebrations. The event will feature family entertainment between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., including music, spoken word, fashion, art, a basketball tournament, and more. Visit www.berkeleyjuneteenth.org to learn more.
HARDLY STRICTLY JAZZ LIVE “Ten-string instrumental duo of acoustic guitar and violin” Hardly Strictly Jazz performs live at Caffe Trieste. The duo plays “original compositions, stylized arrangements of standards, and fingerstyle interpretations of traditional and pop tunes — all infused with jazz/blues intervals and voicings on guitar and improvisational violin riffs.” Hardly Strictly Jazz will play at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Caffe Trieste is at 2500 San Pablo Ave. (at Dwight Way), Berkeley.
BERKELEY SAVES THE BAY Local historian, author and lecturer Charles Wollenberg will present the first half of “Berkeley Saves the Bay,” a two-part series, this Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Berkeley History Room on the second floor of the Central Library (2090 Kittredge St.). He will discuss Berkeley’s role in the formation of Save the Bay, an organization that preserves the San Francisco Bay from pollution and mis-use, in the 1950s and 60s. The second half of the series will occur at the same time and place on Saturday June 27. Learn more about Save the Bay.
FALSTAFF Actors Ensemble of Berkeley features six women in Falstaff, an adaption of Shakespeare’s Henry IV parts one and two, in its first free Show in the Park for 2015. The performance will run from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday in the John Hinkel Park Amphitheater, 41 Somerset Pl. Enter via Southampton/Somerset, accessible from Arlington. Wheelchair accessible: arrive early and park at the end of Somerset Pl. Limited number of reserved seats available for those with physical needs: call 510-649-5999 for reservations. Bring lawn chairs, pillows or pads for the stone steps of the amphitheater.
Also happening in Berkeley this weekend:
Urban Air Market hops the bay, lands in Berkeley
Simons Hanes Friday, OMGG on Monday
Bites: Food-related happenings in the East Bay
Movies: ‘The Wolfpack’ is an amazing documentary
Check out Berkeleyside’s event calendar for many more events, and make sure to post your own community happenings.
-By Francesca Paris
