This is another of those great eclectic weekends in mid-town LA – we’ve got art, music, books, bread, architecture…and even karate. No excuse to be bored!
First up, running both Saturday and Sunday, June 3 and 4 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., is the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Bread Festival at downtown’s Grand Central Market. It’s a free, two-day “celebration of Southern California’s artisanal bread renaissance and an invitation to the public to experience the many expressions of L.A. bread at its best.” The centerpiece is a pop-up marketplace showcasing local bread bakers, as well as bread-centric workshops and demonstrations. You can also find ingredients and equipment to make and display your bread…along with an aerobic butter-making workshop, other bread-themed demos and workshops…and “an eclectic offering of special, one-time only bread menu offerings” from the Market’s resident vendors.
Starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, the West Adams Heritage Association hosts its annual Spring Homes and Architecture tour, this year featuring the Westmoreland Heights tract in the Harvard Heights neighborhood and HPOZ. The tour will spotlight a selection of pre-1910 historic Craftsman, Tudor/Craftsman and American Foursquare homes, plus a restored original barn adapted for home office/studio use, and one of Harvard Heights’ newest art venues, a recently-restored 1920s Streetcar Commercial style brick building that once was a root beer factory. See the links above for details and ticket information.
Shifting from architecture to martial arts, the Knowles Karate Academy, 4378 W. 3rd St., will celebrate its first anniversary with a celebration and potluck barbecue on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00. Everyone is welcome!
A bit further north, the John C. Fremont library, 6121 Melrose Ave., will be holding its monthly Friends of the Fremont Library book sale from 12 to 5 p.m. on Saturday. As usual, there will be new and used books, DVDs and CDs for sale, and all proceeds benefit the library.
Heading west to Miracle Mile, the Craft and Folk Art Museum will host an artist panel discussion and book launch event for Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The panel features LA-based fiber artists Diedrick Brackens, Ben Cuevas, Aubrey Longley-Cook, Maria Pineres, and Nathan Vincent, and will be moderated by John Quaich, editor and curator of Queer Threads. The event is free with museum admission, but space is limited so RSVPs are required at [email protected]
Just a bit later, and just across the street at Hancock Park, at 5 p.m. on Saturday, you can enjoy music from Dr. Bobby Rodriguez and his ensemble Latin Jazz. Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Latin legend and Grammy-nominated artist Rodriguez is a trumpeter, dynamic bandleader, charismatic performer/entertainer, gifted composer/arranger, and author. He has written and produced for a wide variety of artists, including Herb Alpert, Carlos Almaraz, and Chicano rocker Chan Romero, and is current director of Latin Jazz Music and Jazz Trumpet at UCLA, UCI and Pasadena City College. The concert is free and open to the public.
Finally on Saturday, if you prefer vocal music, the Angel City Chorale will present its Interactive concert at 7 p.m. at the Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Blvd. (SW corner of Wilshire and Plymouth Blvds.) The show is billed as “an engaging, one-of-a-kind event that rebels against the traditions of choral performance, fusing choir and cyberspace to break down the barriers between performer and audience, honoring the notion of connectivity in our modern world.” “This time we are out to break the choral mold entirely,” says ACC Founder-Artistic Director Sue Fink. “The music is breathtakingly varied, from Bach to R&B Gospel, but that’s just the beginning of the adventure. Traditional pieces will be reinvented with multidimensional tools. We will use apps, screens, and audience participation to break down the fourth wall and take our audience where no choir has ever gone before. We will have virtual guest performers from South Africa and visual artists interpreting our performance live, and more. I don’t want to give away all the surprises, but for once we are going to ask the audience to NOT turn their cell phones off!” See https://angelcitychorale.org/concerts-events/interactive-concert/ for tickets and more detials.
On Sunday, for the early risers, Race to Erase MS, an organization dedicated to the treatment and cure of Multiple Sclerosis is teaming with The Grove for the annual We Run the Grove, a 13.1 mile, 10k and 5k run. The race begins at 7 a.m. and all proceeds will benefit the Race to Erase MS. See http://www.erasems.org for details.
Starting at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning, the South Robertson neighborhood will hold its long-running SoRo Fest , an annual community festival started in 1997, which has drawn thousands of families from across the city to discover one of LA’s hidden gem neighborhoods. The event features a live music stage, tree adoption, and vendor booths highlighting neighborhood businesses, community information and a variety of merchandise. It also offers Camp SORO Kids Zone with attractions, a rock-climbing wall and free arts and crafts for children. The Oz-like theme of this year’s festival is “South Robertson: The Emerald Blvd.”— paying tribute to South Robertson Blvd.’s official designation as one of Los Angeles’s “Great Streets.”
Back in the Miracle Mile, the Craft and Folk Art Museum gets creative with Acid Colors: Acid Dye Workshop with Mimi Haddon, from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday. Participants will explore the basic techniques of working with extremely colorful acid dyes, layering colorful dyes on silk and dye-resist techniques such as shibori. Advanced registration required at [email protected] There is a fee of $80 ($70 for members), which includes all materials.
And lastly on Sunday, it’s back to LACMA’s Bing Theater for a concert of chamber music by Beethoven, Ligeti, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Dohnanyi by the UCLA Camarades at 6:00 p.m. The UCLA Camarades Ensemble is a versatile chamber music group ranging from duos to a full string orchestra, composed of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s acclaimed string faculty and its most gifted students. It’s free and open to the public.
Finally, our weekly Metro construction update: in addition to the previously-mentioned closure of westbound Wilshire Blvd. between Windsor and Crenshaw, Wilshire Blvd. will be fully closed from 8 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Monday between Fairfax Ave. and Crescent Heights Blvd. See https://www.metro.net/projects/notices/notice_purpleline_041917/ for full closoure and detour details.
Have a great weekend!
