Korean street fests, walking tours, clothing swaps, music in the park — there’s all this and more in Oakland this weekend…
Friday, September 18
Magic Jester Improv Show
High energy, funny, and full of heart—Magic Jester improv theater performances are entirely made up on the spot, inspired by suggestions from you, the audience; also featuring a blues guitarist.
8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
$12
Humanist Hall
390 27th Street (Uptown Oakland, between Telegraph and Broadway)
Saturday, September 19
Oakland’s Historic Town Squares Walking Tour
As part of the 10000 Steps Celebration, the Oakland Heritage Alliance is conducting a walking tour guided by Annalee Allen around Oakland’s historic town squares. You can read about 10000 Steps here.
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Meet at the corner of 9th & Jackson Streets
$15
The KoreaTown-Northgate Culture fest
The first annual KoreaTown-Northgate Festival will showcase the cultures and businesses that lie in between the better known neighborhoods of Uptown and Temescal. But this event, which features a BBQ contest, a Tae Kwon Do demonstration, an artists’ alley, a beverages garden, and two stages with performances by the Ong Dance Company, Mystic Man, Abby and the Pip Squeaks, TurfUnity, and many others, will certainly raise the profile of Oakland’s Koreatown.
11.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Telegraph Avenue, between 24th & 27th Streets (ride BART to the 19th Street Station)
Free
Swap, Not Shop
If you’ve been wanting to expand your wardrobe, and the economy’s been getting in the way, this one’s for you. Swap, not shop. At the risk of sounding preachy, we say that it’s good for the environment and for your pocket.
This Saturday, Homeygrown, a collective of artists and homies who make one-of-a-kind art wear using recycled materials and/or original, hand-screened designs, is having one of its biannual clothing swaps.
3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Soundwave Studios, 2200 Wood Street, Oakland CA
$1 drinks for 21+ (with id)
$5 admission with your bag of items
For more: homeygrown.blogspot.com/2009/08/919-swap-not-shop-fall-into-free-finds.html
Circus Arts Variety Show
Here’s a show for the family with juggling, comedy, aerial acts, unicycling and more. It’s in Berkeley, but that’s not too far out.
Frank Olivier, the well known juggler from Oakland, will be your host. You’ll get to see, amongst other things, world unicycle freestyle champion Ryan Woessner, comedian Michael Davis (SNL, Tonight Show, etc), aerial trapeze by Athletic Playground – all with live music.
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
King Middle School Auditorium, 1781 Rose Street
$10 – $20 sliding scale
Tickets are available at the door or on Friday and Saturday at the Berkeley Juggling Festival held at Berkeley High (9/18 and 9/19).
Sunday, September 20
Germanfest at the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate
Celebrate old-world German culture with music, dance, food and song as the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate and the United German-American Societies of the East Bay celebrate the Hellman family’s Bavarian heritage. Advance sale tickets are available for purchase on the website.
Noon to 7 p.m.
2960 Peralta Oaks Court, 510-562-0328
$10 in advance, $15 at the door, $5 Children
Buy tickets at dunsmuir.org/calendar.htm
Sundays in the Redwoods
The outdoor concert series brings to Oakland four-time Grammy nominee John Santos’s sextet, who is widely regarded as one of the leading Afro-Latin percussionists in the world today. Bay area favorites Dos Four Y Los Mios, Rankin Scroo, and Candidi Oye-Oba will also be performing.
2 p.m., Gates open at 1.30 p.m. Table reservations available at 510-238-4720
Woodminster Amphitheater, Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Road
Free. Parking $4
Questions: oaklandnet.com/parks/Sundays/
Book Reading: Who’s Your Mama?: The Unsung Voices of Women and Mothers
Local writers Kathy Briccetti, Meilan Carter, and Jasmine Dawson will talk about their work in the national anthology, Who’s Your Mama?: The Unsung Voices of Women and Mothers
3 p.m.
Diesel, A Bookstore, 5433 College Ave.
Bios of the writers from the Diesel website:
Kathy Briccetti has published essays, poetry, and criticism in literary and commercial magazines. She received a Pushcart Prize nomination for an essay excerpted from her forthcoming memoir, Blood Strangers, which will be published by Heyday Books in spring 2010. She lives in El Cerrito and works in Oakland.
Meilan Carter is interested in crossing literary genres, documenting family history, and challenging language. The beauty in death, magic, and the complexities of relationships, are some of the themes that appear in her work. A writer of both fiction and creative non-fiction, Meilan recently completed her MFA in Fiction at Mills College. She is currently working on a creative non-fiction novel about the loss of her father titled The Etiquette of Death. She lives in Oakland with her husband David and son Kamau.
Jasmine Dawson is an Oakland native and received her BA from San Francisco State University and MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She has written and published book reviews, essays, and research. She finished her novel and is currently working for the City of Oakland.
Folkin Blues Festival
The evening begins with an optional social hour and pot luck supper at 5 p.m,, followed by the show at 6 p.m., followed by an open jam at the end of the show at 10 p.m.
Humanist Hall, which claims to be the only solar-powered Blues space in the Bay Area, is hosting an evening of dancing, blues and folk this weekend. There will also be a fire in the backyard.
