Around Berkeley
🎥 BAMPFA is hosting an outdoor screening of Persepolis (2007), which follows the story of a young girl who comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. Ages 12+ recommended. Bring blankets and lawn chairs! Thursday, Aug. 31, 7 p.m. FREE
🎶 At Freight & Salvage, Oakland vocalist and composer Adrienne Shamszad celebrates the release of her second album, Wash It All Away, a sumptuously detailed sonic fabric weaving together folk, soul, rock, and her deep studies of classical Persian music with master Mahsa Vahdat. Thursday, Aug. 31, 8 p.m. $24
🍷 The Gilman District Wine Block’s First Friday Block Party features wine, live music, and an array of pop-up chefs including Edith’s Pie and Fish and Bonez. Friday, Sept. 1, 3-8 p.m., Donkey & Goat Winery, Hammerling Wines and Broc Cellars. FREE
🎶 Ashkenaz’s 50th anniversary celebration continues with Snap to Grid, an eclectic dance music series presented by Toro y Moi’s Chaz Bear and his Berkeley-based design practice Company Studio. The inaugural event features hard house and techno music by a roster of leading DJs, including Chaz Bear, Tony MF, Blink and Espurr. Friday, Sept. 1, 8 p.m.-1 a.m. $10-$20.
🎶 Powerhouse blues guitarist Rockin’ Johnny Burgin might be too much for the Monkey House to handle, but he’s headlining a Golden Gate Blues Society-sponsored double bill with Raag & Norton. Saturday, Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m. $30-$50 (reservations encouraged; email iramarlowe@gmail.com)
🇧🇷 BrasArte is hosting its annual Brazilian Day & Lavagem, which will highlight Brazilian culture and feature dance, live music, and craft and food vendors. Sunday, Sept. 3, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. San Pablo Ave. and Hearst St. FREE
🥑 The Bizerkeley Food Festival, which calls itself the largest vegan food fest in the Bay Area, is back for its third year, and features more than 75 vendors. Sunday, Sept. 3, Sports Basement, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. $9-$50
🎶 The Portland-based trio Flyover States plays an expansive range of contemporary folk music centering on rich vocal harmonies and memorable melodies steeped in traditional forms but not beholden to a curatorial impulse. Sunday Sept. 3, 2 p.m. The Back Room. $20
🎷Richard Leiter and friends continue the spoken word and music series Jazz Stories with Jazz and Pop! a session exploring the nebulous criteria that separate or encompass jazz standards and pop tunes. On keyboard, vocals and stories, Leiter will be joined by drum maestro David Rokeach, guitarist John Hoy and saxophonist Lincoln Adler. Tuesday Sept. 5, 7 p.m. Pegasus on Solano. FREE (registration required)
🎺 Presented by the California Jazz Conservatory, Berkeley’s best jam session takes place Wednesdays at Jupiter, where trumpeter and Berkeley High alum Erik Jekabson brings order to the chaos, shepherding a disparate array of veteran cats, prodigious students, and eager amateurs through staples like “Stella By Starlight” and “A Night In Tunisia.” Wednesdays through Oct. 25, 7-10 p.m. Jupiter. FREE
📚 Author and scholar Tony Platt will give two talks in Berkeley about his new book, The Scandal of Cal: Land Grabs, White Supremacy, and Mideducation at UC Berkeley, which we reviewed earlier this week. Tuesday, Sept. 5, 4 p.m., American Cultures Center and Thursday, Nov. 2, 12:50 p.m., Berkeley Law.
🌊 ACCI Gallery’s new group photography exhibition, Water is Sacred, explores the power of water in its various forms and how that power is manifested in the environment. On view through Oct. 8. Opening reception: Saturday, Sept. 9, 4-6 p.m. FREE
🧘 The city is offering yoga classes on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons at the West Berkeley Family Wellness Center. Spaces are limited, so we recommend reserving a spot by calling 510-9810-5350. Equipment will be provided. Begins Tuesday, Sept. 5. FREE
🐺 Shotgun Players’ Wolf Play is based on actual incidents where adopted parents posted online about their desire to “re-home” their unwanted adopted children. Read our preview. Through Oct. 1. Ashby Stage. $26-$46
🧚 The Actors Ensemble of Berkeley’s musical, Faeries of the Moonlight, follows the story of the rebellious teen Sunny, who crosses over into the fairy realm after a fight with her Celtic punk rocker mother. Read our review. On weekend afternoons through Monday, Sept. 4. John Hinkel Park. FREE
📷 “Black chicagoland is…” combines photography and house music to “thicken how we understand Black Chicagoness within and beyond the city’s iconic South Side.” The exhibit, located at UC Berkeley’s Worth Ryder Art Gallery, is curated by Leigh Raiford, the co-director of the Black Studies Collaboratory at Cal. On view through Sept. 21. Opening reception: Wednesday, Aug. 30, 5 p.m.
📷 The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art’s new exhibit, Cities and Wars, opened on Tuesday, Aug. 29. It features never before seen work by Russian-Jewish photographer Roman Vishniac. On view through Dec. 14. FREE
🏢 Learn about the origin of what is arguably UC Berkeley’s ugliest building (even the Daily Cal agrees). UC Berkeley has installed an exhibit telling the design history of Bauer Wurster Hall in the Environmental Design Library located in the building. On view through Oct. 8. FREE
🎨 The Berkeley Art Center’s 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
🐶 Donate $50 or more to the nonprofit Friends of Oakland Animal Services, which funds emergency and specialized medical care and pet adoption and fostering programs, and get a unique pet portrait made by a “marginally talented” artist. Through Thursday, Aug. 31.
🕯The HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County is hosting an event to bring awareness about overdose prevention and celebrate the many lives lost due to an overdose. The event will include free Narcan distribution and demos on administering it, HIV and HCV (hepatitis C) testing, and referrals for treatment. There will be free food, live music, and a candlelight vigil. Thursday, Aug. 31, 5-8 p.m., 100th Avenue and Pearmain Street, Oakland. FREE
🛍 This Saturday, Afrobeats will transform Snow Park into a vendor village with 40 merchants selling clothing, food and more, plus live music and dancing, all celebrating the African diaspora. AfroBeats Oakland was co-founded by DJ Juan G and model and event curator Asaba Kugonza in 2019. Enjoy the rhythms of Afro-pop and Afro-fusion while giving yourself a chance to support local vendors. Saturday, Sept. 2, 12-8 p.m., Snow Park, Lakeside Drive, Oakland. $10
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.
