The It List: Five things to do in Berkeley this weekend

CAL DAY There are only 400 separate events to choose from at this year’s Cal Day. Many of them are specifically aimed at prospective students, but plenty provide Berkeleyans with a chance to dip into the variety of pursuits and interests to be found on the UC Berkeley campus. At Wurster Hall, for example, the College of Environmental Design will be displaying their extensive collection of artist and pop-up books. If you want to get more hands on, they’re also hosting a “Build a Box City!” event for kids. Rather get to grips with this year’s presidential election? At LeConte Hall professors Paul Pierson, Gabriel Lenz and Eric Schickler will help you make sense of what’s going on. There’s also a men’s tennis match (Cal vs. Stanford!), music of every description (Cal Band to John Cage to African drumming to Chopin to carillon), tech talks, and a closing Cal Day concert by indie band Built to Spill in Memorial Glad from 4-7 p.m. Cal Day, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., throughout the UC Berkeley campus, Saturday, April 16. 

BERKELEY BAY FESTIVAL The first Berkeley Bay Festival was in 1937, to celebrate the opening of the Berkeley Marina. On Saturday, the free Bay Festival will showcase activities and environmental education with music and wonderful food from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Among the activities this year is a mobile freshwater fish exhibit from the East Bay Regional Park District, showing fish found locally in the delta and nearby lakes. Also you’ll find paddling lessons in a dragon boat and free sailboat rides. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 16, Shorebird Park, 160 University Ave.

GILMAN ZINE FEST 928 Gilman hosts its free Zine Fest on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. There will be stations for kids and teens to make their own zines, and plenty of comix for both adults and kids. Scores of zine publishers will have tables at the fest: fanzines, identity-based zines, intersectional feminism, political, and children’s zines. Soul food from Kenny’s Heart and Soul Food Truck, vegan Filipino food from No Worries and drinks from Black Spring Coffee. There are readings, workshops and panels for every age. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday, April 17, 928 Gilman.

MURRAY PERAHIA In a career of over 40 years, pianist Murray Perahia has established himself as one of the most intelligent and refined interpreters of the core piano repertoire. In a Cal Performances recital at Zellerbach Hall on Sunday afternoon, he’ll play Haydn, Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven. The recital opens with Haydn’s Variations in F minor, followed by Mozart’s Sonata in A minor, K. 310. Perahia will follow those Classical works with a shift to the Romantic: five late Brahms works, from Op. 116, 118 and 119. The recital ends with the titanic Beethoven Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 106, Hammerklavier. 3 p.m., Sunday, April 17, Zellerbach Hall.

BOOM TIC BOOM Alison Miller is a drummer, composer and leader of the band Boom Tic Boom, which plays the Freight & Salvage on Saturday night. Her style? Try a “genre-busting organic mash up of Bach, clave, klezmer, and the Jazz Messengers.” The New Yorker said, “Her craftiness as a percussionist is met by her ingenuity as a composer and group conceptualist.” The band just released its new album, “Otis Was a Polar Bear,” which has 10 original compositions. In addition to Miller on drums and mallet percussion, Boom Tic Boom includes violinist Jenny Scheinman, cornet player Kirk Knuffke, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, upright bassist Todd Sickafoose, and pianist Myra Melford. 8 p.m., Saturday, April 16, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison St.

Don’t miss these other events featured on Berkeleyside:

Big Screen Berkeley: ‘Sold’
Do you know what it means to miss Port Au Prince? Emeline Michel plays Zellerbach
Exotic flowers bring startling color to UC Botanic Garden

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.