Around Berkeley
🐉 BAMPFA is showing the original Japanese version of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, which follows 10-year-old Chihiro as she stumbles upon a magic kingdom and tries to save her parents, who have been turned into pigs. (There will be English subtitles.) Friday, Aug. 18, 7 p.m. $14
🎶 The Hillside Club’s Echoes music series opens with the great Brazilian guitarist/composer Alessandro Penezzi joining the Berkeley Choro Ensemble, featuring flutist Jane Lenoir, clarinetist Harvey Wainapel, Rio-born guitarist Ricardo Peixoto, and percussionist Brian Rice on pandeiro. Friday, Aug. 18, 7:30 p.m. $12-$25
🐠 Volunteer to clean up the Berkeley coastline. Meet at the Shorebird Park Nature Center at 160 University Ave. Saturday, Aug. 19, 9-11 a.m.
📚 Local librarian and historian Dorothy Lazard will read parts of her memoir, What You Don’t Know Will Make A Whole New World, and answer questions afterwards. Saturday, Aug. 19, 2 p.m. Berkeley Public Library, Tarea Hall Pittman South Branch. FREE
🎶 The Seattle-based band Foleada plays accordion-driven forró, the celebratory dance music of northeast of Brazil, and their rare Bay Area date will be preceded by a half-hour forró dance lesson. Saturday, Aug. 19, 8 p.m. Ashkenaz. $15-$20
🎓 BHS alums are reuniting for a Berkeley High All Class Party, which promises music, dancing, and plenty of reminiscing the glory days, with 15% of ticket sales going toward the Berkeley High School Mckinney Vento Homeless Education Program. Saturday, Aug. 26, 8 p.m. Drop 84. Ages 21+. $20-$25.
🎭 Lisa Morse will perform Mrs. Winchester, or, A Gun in the First Act at the Ashby Stage. The 70-minute live engagement performance by National Delivery explores the rifle heiress Sarah Winchester’s life and fascinating legacy. Saturday, Aug. 19, 8 p.m. $25
🪴Berkeley ceramic center The Potters’ Studio is having a parking lot pottery sale. Sunday, Aug. 20, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 1221 8th St. at Gilman.
🚌 Transit enthusiasts are celebrating the return of AC Transit Line 7 weekend service with a transit hike. They’ll be taking the bus from Downtown Berkeley BART to Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. Sunday, Aug. 20, 10:30 a.m. Meet at Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza. FREE
🛍 Cali Fest, a new family-friendly festival that features 170 vendors and includes performances by music students at UC Berkeley and a car show, is taking place at Civic Center Park. Sunday, Aug. 20, 1-7 p.m. FREE
🎶 An old-school R&B combo featuring Bill Muccular on lead vocals and rhythm guitar and Joe Rizzo on lead guitar and backing vocals, This Old Band turns the corner of Delaware and Fourth streets into an al fresco juke joint. Sunday, Aug. 20, 1-3 p.m. FREE
🖼️ The Berkeley Historical Society & Museum presents a talk by Steve Finacom about “150 Years of Berkeley Landscape.” It’s being held on the last day of an exhibition with works portraying the Cal campus by William Keith, Pedro Lemos, Dorothea Lange, Jules Mersfelder, Eugen Neuhaus, Chiura Obata, William Seltzer Rice and other artists obscure and famous. Sunday, Aug. 20, 2-4 p.m. UC Botanical Garden, Julia Morgan Hall. $25
🎻 Fiddler Michael Doucet’s legendary Cajun band Beausoleil, which spearheaded the Cajun cultural revival of the 1970s, returns to Ashkenaz for a stomping dance party. Sunday, Aug. 20, 6:30 p.m. $25-$30
🙌🏽 Rumi’s Caravan, a recurring spoken-word event celebrating the power of ecstatic verse, brings a host of skilled voices to recite spirit-touched works by a menagerie of poets, from Rumi and Hafez to Yeats, Rilke and Mary Oliver. Sunday, Aug. 20, 7:30 p.m. Freight & Salvage. $25-$30
🎨 If you’ve been looking to purchase some art for your home, now’s your chance: ACCI Gallery is holding its annual seconds sale this weekend. Aug. 18 to 20.
🎨 The Berkeley Art Center’s new exhibit, Rabbit Hole, examines the significance of space and the ways we engage with it every day. Artists featured include Fred Marque Dewitt, Mark Harris, danielle nanos-luz, Courtney Desiree Morris, Arleene Correa Valencia, and Connie Zheng. On view through Sept. 23
Beyond Berkeley
👩🍳 Alice Waters, the iconic Berkeley chef who founded Chez Panisse, will give a talk about the future of the slow food movement. The event is being hosted by KQED Live, and you’ll want to register in advance. Thursday, Aug. 24, 7 p.m. Herbst Theatre, San Francisco. $40
🪐 Oakland’s Chabot Space & Science Center is debuting a new series of laser shows this weekend. The theme of opening night is “Queens of Pop,” in honor of two of the world’s hottest superstars: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Ages 21+. Saturday, Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. $25
If there’s an event you’d like us to consider for this roundup, email us at the-scene@berkeleyside.org. If there’s an event that you’d like to promote on our calendar, you can use the self-submission form on our events page.
The Oaklandside’s Arts and Community reporter Azucena Rasilla contributed reporting to this story.
