upcoming Oakland events

The big event this weekend is the Oakland Running Festival! If you're not running in it, come out and cheer on the runners. I'll be a course marshal near Lake Merritt and Grand Avenue. Let me know about other events by leaving a comment!

Wednesday

What I Hear, I Keep: Stories from Oakland's Griots - Wednesday-Saturday, 2:30-5:30pm. Visual and audio art installation at Peralta Hacienda based on African American stories of modern-day Oakland, with local residents telling about their lives and exploring their identities. (with $5 admission)

Vintage porcelain at the Pardee Home - Wednesdays, 2nd Saturdays, 2nd Sundays. View the historic Pardee Home and the collection of porcelain collected by the globe-trotting Mrs. Pardee. You can take the tour for $5 or have the tour and tea for $25. Read more at World of Mailman. Read about the tea service on the East Bay Express. ($5/$25)

Friday

Off the Grid at OMCA - Friday, 5-9pm. The Off the Grid food truck pod comes to the Oakland Museum for an evening of food and fun.

Saturday

celebrate parklets with WOBO - Saturday, March 23, 11am-2pm. Join Walk Oakland Bike Oakland and Manifesto Bicycles to celebrate parklets in Oakland! Food from El Taco Bike and Fist of Flour Pizza. (free)

Prescott Circus Showcase - Saturday, March 23, 11:30am and 2pm. The Prescott Circus Theatre Showcase features talented youth from 7 Oakland public elementary schools. This 1 hour performance will inspire and amaze as our students perform juggling, acrobatics, hip hop dance, stilt dancing, clowning, and more! (free)

Actual Cafe turns 3! - Saturday, March 23, 6-10pm. Join Sal and the crew to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Actual Cafe. Special beers from 21st Amendment, live music from Even Taylor, Kim Tillman, Genevieve Wolff, Arbielle and Lindee Hoshikawa. (free)

Paintings by Robert Akeley - A Retrospective - Saturdays, 11am-5pm. See an exhibition of paintings by long-time resident Robert Akeley at the Rise Above Gallery.

The Big Painting Show - Saturdays, 1-5pm. See paintings by 8 established Bay Area artists at the Gray Loft Gallery in Jingletown. The Big Painting Show: Layers of Abstraction features the work of Rick Arnitz, Mark Ashworth, Suzy Barnard, Jamie Brunson, Betty Jo Costanzo, Carol Lefkowitz, Simone Simon, and June Yokell. (free)

Sunday

Oakland Running Festival - Sunday, March 24. Whether you're a runner, a volunteer or a spectator, it's a great big blast of Oakland love. There's a 5K race, a 1/2 marathon and a full marathon.

ongoing events:

• Art Murmur (1st Friday)
• Saturday Art Stroll (Saturdays)
• Mt. View Cemetery Tours (2nd and 4th Saturdays)
• Piedmont Avenue Stroll (3rd Thursdays)
• Off the Grid at OMCA (Fridays)

looking further ahead:

Destiny Arts Center - groundbreaking party - Friday, March 29, 6-10pm. Demolition will start soon on our new building at 967 Stanford in Oakland and want to invite all of our friends, family, and community to celebrate Destiny style! Food from Tina Tamale available for purchase. ($25 suggested donation)

Takin' the Beets to the Streets! - Saturday, March 30, 6pm. Pay-what-you-can community dinner project between The People's Kitchen and the Phat Beets Produce. This family-style dinner will feature live music, performance, and a multi-course meal celebrating the food justice work of Phat Beets Produce, the history vibrant and radical history of North Oakland and the new kitchen incubation project with Crossroads Co-op Cafe! (pay what you can)

bike ride to Uptown Art Park opening - Friday, April 5, 5:30pm. The East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) and Bikes4Life will host a fun, 1.5 mile bike ride to the event. Riders of all ages are invited to gather at 5:30 p.m. at Bikes4Life, 1600 7th Street @ Willow in West Oakland (take BART to the West Oakland station). Free bike lights will be offered to participants courtesy of the City of Oakland (limited supply – arrive by 5:30 p.m.). Bike valet parking will be provided by Richmond Spokes. (free)

Uptown Art Park opening - Friday, April 5, 6:30-8:30pm. Come celebrate the opening of the Uptown Art Park. Nine Sculpture Art Pieces by Local Artists, plus music, tours and food trucks. (free)

Day of Peace 2013 - Saturday, April 13, 9am-noon. Join Project Peace East Bay for Day of Peace service projects around Oakland and Berkeley. (free)

OHA: Great Estates in April - Saturday, April 20. The Oakland Heritage Alliance house tour features Tudor and Mediterranean revival style homes Claremont Pines and Upper Rockridge, which emerged as suburban garden developments in the first decades of the 1900s.