Week 3, August 2010

This week’s highlighted local treasure is 

The Oakland Art and Soul Festival

From their website:

Art & Soul is delighted to have been recognized as Best Presenting Organization of the Year by the 2010 West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards. Art & Soul was honored with a Readers Choice award from Oakland magazine in the Where to Let It All Hang Out Once a Year category. Art & Soul has also been voted Best Annual Event by the East Bay Express in their 2010 Readers Poll.

With three main stages set up in the closed-off streets of downtown Oakland these streets with buildings towering over them become cathedrals of the groove.  For ten years the Art and Soul Festival has been bringing both local and internationally-acclaimed acts to town for a weekend of fun in sunny Oakland.  Probably the best ticket deal you’ll find west of the Mississippi, this two day show begins around noon on Saturday where if you buy tickets in advance the website says adults are $10, youths and seniors are $5, and kids under 12 are free!  I won’t list all the acts playing in this year’s show because there are just too many to list here.  I can tell you I have attended this event MANY times, and it really is a great time.  Check out the line-up yourself and come to downtown Oakland for a true taste of our diverse  local culture diggin’ the grooves.

So, let’s find some fun ’round the bay…

I Love Bugs Day At Habitot:  Friday in Berkeley.  From their website:  (For kids of all ages!)  Discover the wonderful world of bugs! A full day of activities devoted to those backyard wigglers, hoppers and crawlers from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Build a cricket home in a terrarium with dirt, leaves and sticks in our Art Studio.   Check out our worm box and learn how worms help plants grow.  Hear real crickets chirp and see all different kinds of bugs including hissing cockroaches, mealworms and more. Storytelling about bugs from 11:00 am and 1:00 pm.

First Annual West Coast Jug Band Jubilee at The Freight and Salvage:  Saturday in Berkeley.  From their website:  Come on out and jug till you can jug no more! This all-day all-jug band extravaganza features two separate concerts, workshops, and more hand-made, home-grown music than you can shake a gut-bucket at!  The afternoon show features Jugtown Pirates, Devine’s Jug Band, Skiffle Symphony with Kenny Hall, Lavay Smith & her Red Hot Jug Band, and Toshio Hirano.

Albany Streets:  Sunday in Albany.  From the East Bay Express:  It may not feel much like summer lately, but as long as you layer up, there’s plenty of fun in the sun (or fog) to be had. To that end, and following the success of a similar event in Oakland last month, Albany will block off one of its main streets to traffic on Sunday, Aug. 22, for dance classes, a block party, a water-balloon toss, and other family-friendly outdoor activities. The event takes place along Key Route Boulevard between Solano Ave. and Portland Ave. in Albany. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., free.

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Pic of the Week:

At the Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park