SOLANO STROLL Forty-five years of strolling! The classic Solano Avenue street festival returns Sunday. As always, it’ll start off with a parade and culminate with, according to organizers, 50 food booths, 50 performers, and 150 community and city groups vying for your attention. Plus, “state of the art mechanical rides.” Co-sponsored by Berkeley and Albany, the Solano Stroll is a rare It List event that brings you outside of our city bounds. Sunday, Sept. 8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Solano Avenue.
APPLES & HOPS FESTIVAL OK, we know the technical end of summer is the 23rd, but the poetic end was last weekend. So it seems right to switch into an autumnal mood with the Botanical Garden’s Apples & Hops Garden Festival on Sunday. It’s actually two festivals in one: beer and cider tasting, plus apple tasting, live music, children’s craft activities and a taco truck from 2-5 p.m. Then the after-festival festival kicks off with a concert by Dustbowl Revival in the Redwood Grove (plus spirits tasting in Julia Morgan Hall). Sunday, Sept. 8, 2-5 p.m. (festival) and 5-7 p.m. (after-festival concert), Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr.
SOUTH BERKELEY HISTORY TOUR Start at Rumford, end at Reid’s. South Berkeley residents will get those references — and others can pick them up on Tina Jones Williams’ neighborhood history walking tour. Author Williams grew up in South Berkeley in the 1950s and 60s, when many African American families like hers were buying homes in the segregated neighborhood after World War II. Williams has documented some of that history in her Julia Street Series, and occasionally hosts walking tours where she guides participants through her old stomping grounds, pointing out notable historic sites. The tour is free, but email zach@twcmih.org or text 510-821-0821 to reserve a spot. Saturday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., William Byron Rumford sculpture, Sacramento and Julia streets.
GINA YASHERE Comedian Gina Yashere returns to the Freight & Salvage on Sunday. Yashere is currently based in Los Angeles where she is producing, writing and acting in the new television show Bob Hearts Abishola. Yashere was born and raised in London to Nigerian parents and worked as an elevator engineer before launching herself into comedy. The Hollywood Reporter named Yashere as one of the top 10 rising talents in the country. Sampson McCormick, Karinda Dobbins and Lis Geduldig will also be performing. Sunday, Sept. 8, 7 p.m., Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St.
THE REAL SARAHS According to The Back Room, The Real Sarahs are rising stars in the west coast Americana scene. The duo is playing on Saturday night, in a double bill with guitarist and singer David Starr. The Real Sarahs are master harmony singers and evocative songwriters. With their acoustic instruments, you’ll hear threads of folk, jazz, blues and country running through their songs. Saturday, Sept. 7, 8 p.m., The Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave.
Don’t miss these other events covered on Berkeley:
Shotgun Players’ brilliant ‘The Flick’ observes life in a movie theater
Big Screen Berkeley: ‘Tigers are not Afraid’ and ‘Becoming Nobody’
At BAMPFA, ‘The San Quentin Project’ rewrites the history of prison imagery
