EATS BEATS & BREWS The Eats Beats & Brews salsa party returns to downtown Berkeley on Sunday, Sept. 20, noon to 6 p.m., with a packed program of fun events for all ages. Rumbaché will shake up the warm afternoon with live music and dancing, there’s an outdoor beer garden from Drakes Brewing, food from local restaurants, and fun games for all ages. Center Street’s Restaurant Row will showcase over 15 different international cuisines with special deals just for the event and combos perfect for al fresco eating. Games of Berkeley will be taking over part of the street for a Locally Grown Games Day where everyone can come meet game developers, try out new games and celebrate modern gaming.
COASTAL CLEANUP DAY Saturday Sept. 19 is Coastal Cleanup Day, a chance for Berkeleyans to celebrate our bay, creeks and wetlands. The annual volunteer event is the largest in the state. In 2014, nearly 67,000 participants removed more than 1,190,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from California’s beaches, lakes, and waterways. In Alameda County, volunteers can choose from a wide range of cleanup events throughout September, organized by public agencies and nonprofit groups. To view a calendar of local cleanup and restoration events visit the volunteer page of the Clean Water Program website.
AVENUE Q: KIDS’ PROGRAM INCLUDED Berkeley Playhouse’s new production, Avenue Q, opens this weekend. The premise of the award-winning play is imagining “Sesame Street” but written for adults. Instead of teaching about numbers and letters, the lessons are about finding your purpose in life, relationships, drinking, and… Internet porn? The show, which beat out Wicked for the award for Best Musical in 2004, is suitable for adults only. So the Playhouse is is putting on free youth enrichment programs in the studios behind the theatre during every performance of Avenue Q for ages 4-14. Drop your kids off (free with ticket purchase) and then go and enjoy a very funny (but very adult) comedy. Details and tickets at Berkeley Playhouse online.
JAZZ IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD Three long-time Bay Area musicians — Larry Ochs on saxophone, Darren Johnston, trumpet, and Gino Robair, percussion — get together in their newly formed trio on Friday, Sept. 18. The lengthily named Ochs-Johnston-Robair trio started in January when Ochs and Robair played with Thollem MacDonas, and then expanded when Ochs and Johnson toured with Chicago altoist Dave Rempis in May. The trio gave its first concert in June at the Center for New Music and plan a first recording session next year. Tickets $5-25 from Eventbrite or at the door, Friday, Sept. 18, 8 p.m., Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St.
SAMPLER CLASS The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre is holding a free Sunday Sampler – a fun opportunity to try out a selection of theatre classes – on Sept. 20 from 1-3 p.m. Kids can discover Superheroes (grades K-1), Spy Adventure (grades 2-3), and Performance Workshops (grades 3-5). Teens can explore Musical Theatre: Grease and Mary Poppins, Performance Lab, and Improv. Adults can experience Theatre of the Oppressed, Beginning Acting, Improv, and On-Camera Acting. No registration or experience necessary. Visit the Berkeley Rep school site or call (510) 647-2972 for more info.
Don’t miss these other events featured on Berkeleyside:
Scott Fitzwater: “Sketches in slate” at the Berkeley Institute of Mosaic Art
Guitarist George Cotsirilos: A nighthawk flies in Berkeley
Berkeley Rep’s new musical Amélie is entrancing
To find out what is going on in Berkeley and nearby, be sure to check out Berkeleyside’s Events Calendar. And submit your own events: it’s self-serve and free.
