Downtown Oakland gets an influx of visitors to check out the monthly First Fridays festival, featuring food, clothing and craft vendors and live music lined up along Telegraph Avenue. An interesting vendor to look out for this month is an Oakland Astronomer pop-up activation where you can learn about what’s currently lighting up the sky using a telescope. For fans of visual art, there’s Art Murmur on 25th Street, a gallery and art studio crawl to showcase current exhibits, and visitors get the chance to meet artists as well. Also, the Bay Area Mural Program will be hosting a 10-block walk to explore some large-scale murals along Broadway. 

Have an event you’d like to see included here? We do our best to stay on top of what’s happening in our community, but we love a tip. Send us a note at azucena@oaklandside.org. You can also use the self-submission form on our events page to add it to our calendar for free.

Hot Ticket in The Town this week: BANDALOOP’S 35th anniversary gala

The West Oakland troupe that combines elements of aerial dancing and rock climbing is celebrating its 35th year with a gala that will benefit the artists, students and community members who help to co-create the company’s immersive and intricate choreography. The night’s programming will include an exclusive performance by the troupe’s founder Amelia Rudolph, legacy company dancer Rachael Lincoln, and current company members jose abad and Wailana Simcock with music from the Oakland-based contemporary vocal ensemble Collab Choir. 
Saturday, May 2, 6 to 10 p.m., $350 and $400, BANDALOOP Studios, 1601 18th St.

Betti Ono Foundation’s 15th anniversary documentary screening

The former Betti Ono Gallery on Broadway was, for a decade, a cultural hub for artists of color who might not otherwise have had access to a prime art space. After the gallery shuttered in 2021, the gallery’s founder, Anyka Howard, reinvented it as a nonprofit foundation that continues to support artists. That trajectory is the subject of a documentary “Art & Everyday People” by filmmaker and former culture reporter Ariana Proehl. Through archives and interviews, and set to an original score by Oakland-based musician Chanelle Ignant, Proehl tells the story of what Howard set out to achieve and what the foundation is focusing on next. There will be a post-screening Q&A with Howard and Proehl hosted by Jada Imani. Following the screening and the Q&A, there will be a gathering at the bar The Night Heron, at 1780 Telegraph Ave.
Wednesday, April 29, 7 p.m., free, RSVP online, The New Parkway Theater, 474 24th St.

Downtown Oakland Mural Tour

Join André Jahmora, aka Natty Rebel, the founder and executive director of the Bay Area Mural Program, a nonprofit dedicated to turning bare and blighted walls into colorful murals. Jahmora will guide attendees on a 10-block walk along Broadway to learn about large-scale murals like one of the San Francisco Valkyries by the Illuminaries, and one featuring Steph Curry by artists Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith, Timothy B., and Andre Jahmora.
Friday, May 1, 5:30 p.m., free, RSVP required, the tour will begin at 17th Street and Telegraph Ave.

The Oakland astronomer at First Fridays

Aaron Mccray-Goldsmith, the Oakland Astronomer, is a San Francisco teacher who calls himself “a guy with a radical vision for urban astronomy outreach.” This weekend, he’ll be at the corner of 23rd Street and Telegraph Avenue to teach First Friday attendees all about what’s currently shining on the sky. He is pretty popular, so expect long lines.
Friday, May 1, 5 p.m., free, on 23rd Street and Telegraph

Coming soon to The Town: K-pop band aespa at the Oakland Arena

The four-member Korean girl group known for hyperpop music and futuristic concepts that formed in 2020 is going on their “SYNK : COMPLæXITY” world tour. The group will stop in Oakland this October. Register online to get access to the presale. 
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 8 p.m., tickets go on sale May 6 at 3 p.m., Oakland Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way

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