We can’t launch our events listing this weekend without reminding everyone that it’s the first weekend in Big Sunday’s Month of Big Sundays – a whole month of fun volunteer opportunities for folks of all ages.  To see the long list of specific MOBS events happening in our general area this weekend, see our story from earlier this week.  (We’ll be running these local Big Sunday lists every week throughout the month).
As for other things happening in the next two days, don’t worry – there are plenty!
First up on Saturday, a fun estate sale at 931 S. Mansfield Ave. , #104, runs from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, and both this weekend and next. Â The organizers promise vintage hats, china, cut glass and crystal, an Italian marble coffee table, 1950s punch bowl set, 1960s scarves and ties, designer handbags, women’s clothing (size sm & lg), preschool learning games, an Asian parchment credenza, wicker desk accessories, Seth Thomas 8-day mantle clock…”and LOTS MORE, all priced to sell.”
Next, you can celebrate the annual nationwide Free Comic Book Day, “founded on the belief that for every person out there, there’s a comic book that they’ll love.”  On the first Saturday in May, “the industry comes together to give away free comics and encourage fans, both old and new, to flock to the best place in the comic book community: local comic shops.”  So whether your preference is superheroes, popular film and television shows, beloved games or classics of all kinds, check out the events – and free comics! – at our local participating comic shops: Golden Apple and Mega City One on Melrose Ave.
If food is more your style, you can help downtown’s Grand Central Market celebrate its 100th Anniversary on Saturday, with a For the Love of Food festival from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the venue’s downstairs Food Lab.   The full-day schedule includes chefs’ demos, and hands-on workshops and tastings covering everything from breaking down an entire lamb with Belcampo, to plant-based cuisine with Ramen, and pickling and preserving workshops.  See the link above for the day’s full details and schedule…which contains far too many sessions to list here.
A bit closer to home, from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, check out the John C. Fremont Library’s monthly Friends of the Library book sale.  Offerings include new and used books, DVDs and CDs…at truly bargain prices. All proceeds benefit the library.
At 3 p.m. on Saturday, you could head over to the Craft and Folk Art Museum, for “Book of Lies: A Reading & Presentation by Corazón del Sol.” “Book of Lies” is a collaborative project led by the late Eugenia P. Butler and includes contributions by seventy-six artists. The three-volume book is made of other works of art that invites viewers into the intimate worlds of its creators, while considering universal questions of identity, reality, and existence. Corazón del Sol is Eugenia Butler’s daughter and collaborator, and she will provide an intimate afternoon of anecdotes, histories, and readings from this seminal work. Multiple copies of the Book of Lies will also be available to handle and explore. Please RSVP to [email protected].
On Sunday, while you’re on your weekly Sunday morning stroll up Larchmont Blvd.(because we all do that, right?), be sure to stop at the annual bake sale held at 148 N. Larchmont (rain or shine!) by Lilly Roth-Shapiro, Mason Maxam and Cynthia McKee, three now-14-year-old girls who have been conducting the event for about eight years in honor of their preschool friend Pablo Castelaz, who passed away from a rare childhood cancer at the age of six. The girls have raised about $12K to date for the Pablove Foundation, which was created by Pablo’s parents in his memory to help other children and their families who are going through cancer treatment. Goodies available at this year’s sale will include chocolate chip cookies, choc truffle cookies, pretzel-peanut-toffee cookies, Pablove-logo shortbread cookies and home baked brownies.
After that yummy sustenance, take the family over to LACMA for “Eye on African Art” at this week’s Andell Family Sundays event, starting at 12:30 p.m. This week, participants will see outstanding masks, sculptures, and textiles,  learn about the symbolism and importance of vision in African art in the exhibition The Inner Eye: Vision and Transcendence in African Arts…and then make their own art inspired by the exhibition. The event is free, with general admission, but children must be accompanied by an adult.
Moving from visual arts to dance, starting at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, check out choreographer Laurie Sefton’s afternoon of art, wine, food and a sneak peek at her newest work in progress…at the LaunchLA gallery, 170 S. La Brea.  Sefton lives and works in the Brookside neighborhood, and her pieces have been performed across the U.S.  This performance will preview an excerpt from Sefton and the Clairobscur dance company’s upcoming collaboration with local L.A. hip-hop artist/poet/activist Jason Chu. Attendees will also be able to view the current gallery show, Sweet Sticky Things, with works by artists Lili Bernard, Zeal Harris and Loren Holland. Tickets are $40 per person, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the dance company.
At 3 p.m., back at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, there will be a closing panel discussion for the museum’s Chapters exhibit.  The free event will feature exhibiting artists Joey Terrill and Darin Klein, with Rhea Tepp, co-director of LA Zine Fest, discussing the history of LGBTQ self-publishing. The discussion will be moderated by David Evans Frantz, curator at ONE National Archives.  Then, after the discussion, stay for the Queer Zine Party, a fun evening of drinks, dancing and shopping celebrating the diversity and strength of Los Angeles LGBTQ makers, self-publishers and zine artists. Space is limited, so please RSVP to [email protected].
Later, at 6 p.m., back at LACMA, the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, with Yuga Cohler, conductor, will perform Ravel: Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet, and String Quartet, Takemitsu: Rain Coming, and Schubert: Symphony No.8 in B minor, “Unfinished.” The Debut Orchestra is one of the oldest pre-professional training orchestras in the country. It includes approximately 70 talented musicians ages 15-25 from across the Los Angeles area, and hones the skills of students who are on the cusp of professional careers. Alumni of the orchestra perform today in virtually every major symphony orchestra in the country.  This performance is free and open to everyone.
Finally on Sunday, for some vintage film fun, the American Cinematheque celebrates Orson Welles’ birthday week at the Egyptian Theater in Hollwyood with a 7:30 p.m. double-feature screening of “Citizen Kane” and “F is for Fake.” Welles was only 25 when he directed “Kane,” his masterpiece, and it remains one of the most celebrated motion pictures ever made. Later, stepping out of fictional character, Welles appears as “himself” in “F is for Fake”…but which self? Master director? Magician? Media manipulator? The film is an essay on the nature of illusion, focusing on all types of fakery and fakers, including notorious art forger Elmyr de Hory and fraudulent Howard Hughes biographer Clifford Irving.
And, last but not least, as usual lately, a reminder about street closures for Metro subway work: Â beginning Friday, May 5 (today) at 8 p.m., and through Monday, May 8, at 6 a.m. there will be a full closure of the Wilshire/Fairfax intersection for street decking construction. The closure extends from 6th St. to 8th St. on Fairfax Ave. and from Crescent Heights Blvd. to Spaulding Ave. on Wilshire Blvd. Â See https://t.e2ma.net/click/f0gxy/rx2dgu/rxuj3h for full details and detours.
