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Around Berkeley
🦎 East Bay Regional Parks naturalists will give a presentation on the differences between reptiles and amphibians at the Berkeley Public Library’s downtown branch. You’ll even get to meet a reptile! The event is meant for kids ages 5 to 12. Thursday, Jan. 4, 1 p.m. Berkeley Public Library Central Branch. FREE
🔍 Rialto Cinemas Elmwood is hosting a free screening of W.S. Van Dyke’s The Thin Man (1934), a comedic murder mystery in which former detective Nick Charles (William Powell) and his wife Nora (Myrna Loy) investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it. Thursday, Jan. 4, 1 p.m. FREE
🧠 UC Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Kektner will read excerpts from his new book Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life. Thursday, Jan. 4, 7 p.m. Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore. FREE (RSVP required)
🕊️ The Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, directed by conductor Ming Luke, will perform Voices on War, a program pairing the Sir Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, which grew out of his horror at the events leading to the Holocaust, with living composer Sam Wu’s the wind blows full of sand, a work based on Li Po’s poetry. Friday-Sunday, Jan. 5-7. See website for details. Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley. FREE
🍷 The Gilman District Wine Block’s First Friday Block Party features wine, various pop-up chefs, and live music. First Friday, 3-8 p.m., Donkey & Goat Winery, Hammerling Wines and Broc Cellars. FREE
🧪 “Ooh” and “ahh” at the Lawrence Hall of Science’s kid-friendly, interactive Solids, Liquids and Gases Show. The event is included with museum admission. Friday, Jan. 5, showings at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
🎉 Feminist singer-songwriter Cris Williamson will be joined by a flight of guests — Barbara Higbie, Julie Wolf, Kofy Brown, Mia Pixley, Mary Watkins, Katie Cash, Shelley Doty, Mouths of Babes, Bitch! and the Sarah Bush Dancers — for her annual New Year’s Revolution show at Freight and Salvage. Masks are required. Friday, Jan. 5, 7 p.m. $45+
🍳 The Edible Schoolyard Project farm education manager Liesha Barnett is teaching a three-week cooking class meant for children and their caretakers. Together, you’ll learn how to cook a healthy, family-style meal. All adults hoping to participate must show up with a child in their care. Saturdays, Jan. 6, 13 and 20, 10 a.m. Berkeley Public Library North Branch. FREE (RSVP required)
🍃 Interdisciplinary artist Tara Ani Baghdassarian will hold a chlorophyll printing workshop at BAMPFA. Chlorophyll printing, a technique where images are transferred onto organic matter using sunlight, was pioneered by Binh Danh, a child of Vietnamese refugees who used the technique to transfer archival images of the Vietnam war and genocide victims onto leaves. Event is included with BAMPFA admission. Saturday, Jan. 6, 1 p.m.
👞 Join the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association on its “Rocky Berkeley” walk, which follows a path laid out in the “Berkeley Walks” guidebook. Tamara Gurin will bring participants on a four-mile walk through seven of Berkeley’s rock parks: Great Stoneface Park, Contra Costa Rock Park, Indian Rock Park, Mortar Rock Park, Grotto Rock Park, Cragmont Rock Park and Remillard Park. Well-supervised kids and leashed dogs are welcome, but you’ll want to be prepared for uneven stairs and an elevation gain of 817 feet. (By the way, if you haven’t yet, we highly recommend spending some time with our two-part series on Indian and Mortar rocks.) Sunday, Jan. 7, 8:30 a.m. The Alameda and Solano Avenue. FREE
🎻 The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra will perform an all-Mozart program in Berkeley to celebrate the great composer’s 268th birthday. Monday, Jan. 8, 7:30 p.m. Freight and Salvage. $9-$11
🧬 CRISPR pioneer Fyodor Urnov will give a talk on the gene-editing technology and its potential to revolutionize the treatment of many chronic and fatal diseases. Urnov was the co-developer of the “toolbox” used to edit the human genome and the epigenome, the chemical compounds that regulate genes. Masks encouraged. Wednesday, Jan. 10, 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club. $10 (RSVP required)
🧩 Crossword puzzle enthusiasts won’t want to miss New York Times crossword constructor and Oakland resident Juliana Tringali Golden’s conversation with cartoonist Briana Loewinsohn at Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore in celebration of her new book Easy Crosswords for Relaxation. Secrets of crossword puzzle creations will be revealed. Wednesday, Jan. 10, 7 p.m. Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore. FREE (RSVP required)
🚢 Marga Gomez’s Swimming With Lesbians, a solo comedy that takes place aboard a “notorious cruise ship,” opens at The Marsh Berkeley on Jan. 6. Through Jan. 28. $25-$100
Beyond Berkeley
📸 Visit photographer and Cal grad Andria Lo’s exhibition at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center and learn about the elders behind six legacy businesses in Oakland’s Chinatown: Cam Ahn Restaurant, Green Fish Market, Draline Tong Herbs, Yuen Hop Market, Imperial Soup, and the Great China. You might recognize Lo’s work from her heartwarming photo book, Chinatown Pretty, in which she photographed stylish seniors in San Francisco’s Chinatown. See OACC website for hours. Through Jan. 22. FREE
🎤 Oakland Youth Poet Laureates from years past will perform this Friday at Chapter 510, the youth writing, bookmaking, and publishing center in Old Oakland. The showcase coincides with the open-period application for the 2024 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. Friday, Jan. 5, 7 p.m. 546 9th Street, Oakland. FREE
🍸 Ruby Room, one of Oakland’s favorite dive bars, was scheduled to close for good with one last soiree on New Year’s Eve. However, the owners announced via social media that as they look for a new bar owner, the bar has to open at least once a week to keep its liquor license active. The state’s bureaucracy, in this case, is our gain. As of this week, Ruby Room will be open every Friday. Every Friday, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., 132 14th Street, Oakland.
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.
more to do in berkeley
Affordable things to do in Berkeley any day of the week
From farmers markets to trivia nights, we put together a roundup of events and activities held regularly in Berkeley.
