On August 15 and 16, the City of Oakland will present the Ninth Annual Art & Soul Oakland.
Photo by Nate Jacobson
Published: August, 2009
Take the Soul Train to Oakland
On August 15 and 16, the City of Oakland will present the Ninth Annual Art & Soul Oakland. Thanks to guaranteed stellar lineups, abundant parking, easy BART access and the bargain price of just $10 per day, Art & Soul Oakland has been named the Bay Area’s “best annual cultural event” by Oakland Magazine and Best Festival by East Bay Express. The SF Weekly added, “Art & Soul is dialed in to practically everything that makes Oakland great.” Held in beautiful, re-energized downtown Oakland, the festival delivers several concert stages offering simultaneous talent and diversity featuring an eclectic all-star lineup of 40 national recording artists and hot Bay Area bands sure to please every musical taste. The acts continue the diverse and wonderful variety that has made Art & Soul the region’s most popular music festival. This year’s headliners on the Art & Soul Main Stage are Shawn Colvin and the DoDeans on Saturday with Will Downing and Bobby Caldwell on Sunday. Other stages include the new Yoshi’s Jazz Stage, the Plaza Stage, the Oakland R&B Reunion Stage, the Latin Stage and the Gospel Stage as well as the largest Family Fun Zone of any festival in the Bay Area. For more information, visit www.ArtandSoulOakland.com or call (510) 444-CITY.
Readers’ Theatre Takes on Moby Dick
The Sitdown Readers’ Theatre sponsors a monthly literary event at the North Beach Library. Often a play reading, this is a participatory event. Participants are provided with a script and may elect to read aloud a part for an act or two or more. Occasionally a play script is offered in French, for those who can read French. Sometimes, instead of a play, works of a great author are read. On Saturday, August 22, the reading will be from the works of Herman Melville, particularly from Moby Dick. Participants often adjourn to a North Beach café or restaurant afterwards. The event itself is free. Those who want to come and just watch and listen are also welcome. Books will be provided for all, but bring your own if you so choose. The event is from 2 to 4 p.m. at 2000 Mason Street in San Francisco. For more information, email pgoakland@aol.com or call Robert Carlson at (415) 274-0270.
Finders Keepers Street Art in Alameda
Autobody Fine Art gallery in Alameda is proud to present “Zeitgeist,” an exhibition curated by Zsuzsanna Laszlo showcasing the work of fourteen artists from August 21 through September 6 with a reception on the 21st from 6 to 10 p.m. The exhibited artworks describe these artists through their culture, emotions, diverse subject matter and imagination. Images range from the intimate to the epic and allow the viewer to perceive and interpret according to their own criteria. The art in this exhibition is available to multiple audiences on many different levels. With this in mind, the artists will leave artwork on the streets of Alameda in advance of the exhibition. In a gesture similar to the manifestoes of Dada and Arte Povera, these artworks are free to those who encounter and adopt them. The gallery is located at 1517 Park Street. For more information, visit www.autobodyfineart.com or call (510) 865-2608.
Indy Cars Roar into Sonoma
The fifth annual IRL (Indy Racing League) race will be held at Infineon Raceway on August 21-23. These open-wheeled racecars are best known for racing at the Indianapolis 500. The engines rev up to over 10,000 RPM, producing approximately 650 horsepower, and are capable of reaching speeds of over 200 mph. Last year the IRL merged with the former CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) league, bringing a slew of new drivers into the mix with extensive road course experience. Some of the drivers include Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Daro Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Dancing with the Stars winner Helio Castroneves (pictured above). For ticket prices and schedule information, visit www.infineonraceway.com.
Porsche Featured at Monterey Historic Automobile Races
It’s hard to say who will enjoy themselves more: the owners and drivers of over 450 extraordinary entries or the more than 30,000 spectators who will flock to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on August 14-16 for the 2009 edition of vintage auto racing’s number one spectacle. The finely-tuned tradition showcases the cars and people from the beginning of motorsports history to the present day, and this year honors Porsche as its featured marquee. Helping to celebrate Porsche’s storied racing heritage will be former Porsche factory drivers who drove Porsches to victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring as well as racing in the famed Porsche 917 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Of the 450 cars accepted, 150 or so are expected to be Porsches. Spectators at the Rolex Monterey Historic will be indulging in some of the world’s most exotic and historic racing machines charging down the main straight and negotiating the twists and turns of one of the country’s most challenging race circuits. Tickets are available online, with discounts offered for advance purchases as well as for multi-day packages. Kids 12 and under are free. For more information, visit www.montereyhistoric.com, email info@generalracing.com or contact General Racing, Ltd. at (805) 686-9292.
Sunday Streets of San Francisco
Enrique Penalosa, the former Mayor of Bogota, Colombia and internationally-renowned innovator in the fields of transportation, housing and land use for large cities, will speak at a public forum on Tuesday, July 7 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Koret Auditorium, Main Public Library (100 Larkin St.) in San Francisco. The event is free and valet bicycle parking is provided. The program—entitled “Sunday Streets to Great Streets”—is part of the public launch of the San Francisco Great Streets Project, a new campaign led by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) and the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association (SPUR). The SF Great Streets Project aims to catalyze the return of our city’s streets to the center of civic life by working with government, business and neighborhood leaders to test, analyze and institutionalize placemaking. Find out more about the new San Francisco Great Streets Project at sfgreatstreets.org.
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Photo by Kyle Burt
