From a free, family-friendly circus to a look at life in space and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, there are a lot of great shows to catch this weekend in the Bay Area.

Here is a partial rundown.

The Circus is back in town

When David Hunt and Abigail Munn founded Circus Bella in 2007, they were hoping to re-create the kind of family-friendly fun that the famed Pickle Family Circus was known for.

Mission accomplished.

Today, the performance troupe is known and loved for its lively, heartfelt productions that appeal equally to kids and adults. And you have several opportunities to see the troupe at its high-flying best, since Circus Bella has embarked on its annual summer tour. This year’s production is titled “Ah Ha!,” and, no it has nothing to do with that Norwegian pop band. It’s a 60-minute, fast-paced, wink-filled one-ring circus show full of juggling, acrobatics, aerial stunts, and clowns — lots of clowns — and music. As is Circus Bella’s tradition, every show by the 10-person troupe is backed by the Circus Bella All Star Band.

And, another Circus Bella tradition, every show on the tour is free.

Details: Circus Bella performs noon on June 26 and noon and 2:15 June 27 at Yerba Buena Gardens, on Mission Street, between 3rd and 4th streets, San Francisco, as part of the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival (ybgfestival.org) The troupe also has upcoming shows July 4 at Burgess Park in Menlo Park and July 9 at Lincoln Square Park in Oakland; find the complete schedule and more information at www.circusbella.org.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

A look at life in space

Ever want to feel what it’s like to be in outer space? Not the fun stuff — waving down at your antlike neighbors, chatting up green alien dudes — but the dicey stuff like zero gravity and sound and communication distortions?

The Exploratorium has you covered with a new exhibit titled “Life in Space.” Running through the summer, the show explores the science of how living things (human or otherwise) might breathe, eat and work in extreme conditions beyond Earth.

“As renewed global interest in space exploration accelerates — fueled by missions like Artemis II — ‘Life in Space’ arrives at a pivotal moment,” the museum writes. “Humanity stands on the brink of a new era in space exploration, and this exhibition asks a timely question: What will it actually take to live there?”

Visitors can admire detailed space-suit replicas and learn how scientists search for exoplanets and extraterrestrial intelligence. A section called “Can I Survive This?” plays with the senses to replicate audio changes on far-off worlds, and another called “Oops — There Goes Gravity” features a disorienting puzzle game that mimics weightlessness. With more than 50 exhibits in the show, it’s bound to be a far-out adventure.

Details: Through Sept. 13; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday (open until 10 p.m. Thursdays for ages 18 and up); Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green St.), San Francisco; $40 general-admission adult tickets include “Life in Space” and are available at exploratorium.edu.

— John Metcalfe, Staff

Classical picks: Merola Opera, SFO Pride concert, OIGS

The summer music scene presents romance, pride, and faith in three of this month’s top events.  Here are the highlights.

‘Gotta have “Faith”: Here’s an event sure to please: Terrance Kelly and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir returns to Livermore on June 27 for one of its high-energy, from-the-heart programs designed to bring smiles to all. Performed in the Bankhead Theater, the show runs approximately 90 minutes, ideal for young audiences.

Details: 8 p.m.; Bankhead Theater, Livermore; $25-$35; livermorearts.org.

The choir also performs as openers for Tower of Power July 2 at the Alameda County Fair. The concert starts at 8 p.m.; tickets are $48.50. Go to annual.alamedacountyfair.com.

Go With “Pride”: As the San Francisco Opera finishes its excellent summer offerings and looks forward to the fall season, the company has one more treat: the annual “Pride Concert” returns June 26 with exhibits, a very happy Happy Hour, pre-show Dance Party, and more. The show, with Sapphira Cristál as host, includes soloists Nikola Printz and Melody Moore; Robert Mollicone conducts.

Details: 8 p.m. June 26; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; $30-$229; sfopera.com.

Romance in Naples: San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program is set to launch its 2026 Summer Festival with “L’Anima Napoletana,” a recital concert featuring 23 works filled with the musical traditions of Naples and performed by 12 of this year’s Merola artists. Love, longing, humor and nostalgia tell the story in gorgeously sung compositions.

Details: 7 p.m. June 25; San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco; $25-$55; merola.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

Metallica retools a classic

Metallica has reloaded “ReLoad.”

And the result should absolutely thrill fans of the biggest Bay Area band of all time.

“ReLoad Remastered Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set” is a huge collection of Metallica music, including remastered versions of all the tunes off the band’s quadruple-platinum-selling seventh studio album as well as live tracks, demos, rough mixes and plenty of other cool tidbits that provide even more insight into Metallica and the “ReLoad” album.

This thing is seriously massive, featuring way too many goodies to list in the space allotted here. Suffice it to say that this highly collectible set, which is a one-time numbered pressing, features several different vinyl components as well as 15 CDs and enough Metallica memorabilia (Rorschach Test cards, guitar/bass picks, lyric sheets, laminated tour passes, etc.) to delight even the hardest-to-please metalheads.

This oversized “ReLoad” bundle runs $249.98 (or $139.99-$159.99 for digital versions). But if that’s more than you are looking to pay then you can just grab the remastered “ReLoad” album itself, which is available on vinyl ($36.98), CD ($14.98-$24.98), cassette ($14.98) and digital download ($9.99-$37.99).

Details: The packages will be released on Friday via Metallica’s own Blackened Recordings. Visit metallica.com to purchase the sets and for more information.

— Jim Harrington, Staff

Fountain of blues in San Jose

We would be the last people in the world to suggest that blues music in and of itself can’t be a terrific form of entertainment. And this remains true whether we are talking about the electric or acoustic variety. HOWEVER … if someone insists on adding world-class brews, tasty delicacies and arts and crafts to the mix, who are we to raise an objection? That’s the case with one of San Jose’s favorite events – the Fountain Blues and Brews Festival, which returns this weekend to Plaza de Cesar Chavez.

Performers include Eric Gales, the guitarist and onetime child prodigy whose career received a much-deserved boost from the blues-and-blood infused film “Sinners”; Chicago stalwart Ronnie Baker Brooks; revered vocalist Ruthie Foster; and a Blues Explosion showcase featuring such stars as the Bay Area’s own Dynamic Miss Faye Carol and Fillmore Slim along with Lady Bianca, Alvon Johnson and more. True to the event’s title, there will be a wide selection of beers, as well as wine and non-alcoholic drink, plenty of barbecue and other culinary offerings, arts and crafts vendors, an instrument petting zoo and other fun stuff.

Details: The event runs from noon to 8 p.m. June 27-28 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose. Tickets and ticket packages run from $30-$200. Go to fountainblues.com.

— Bay City News Foundation

Last chance, Strauss fans

The word is out – San Francisco Opera’s current production of Richard Strauss’ thundering masterpiece “Elektra,” based on the ancient Greek myth of human sacrifice, murder and bloody revenge, is indeed electrifying. That word and “incendiary” both pop up in the reviews, and there remains only one more chance for you to enjoy (or endure) the hair-raising experience. The final performance of this revival of the acclaimed Keith Warner staging of the opera, which sets the action in a contemporary museum where the title character has been trapped overnight, takes place at 7:30 p.m. June 27 at War Memorial Opera House. It stars Russian soprano Elena Pankratova in her S.F. Opera debut, singing the demanding role she has excelled in many times before on stages all over Europe. Soprano Elza van den Heever stars as Elektra’s sister Chrysothemis; Michaela Schuster is their mother Clytemnestra, guilty of conspiring to put their sibling Iphigenia to death; and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelson is their brother Orest, architect of the final avenging act. Music director Eun Sun Kim leads the huge complement of musicians, an orchestral assemblage that required an expansion of the pit when the opera was first performed here in 1938.

Details: Find tickets, $29-$447, at sfopeera.com.

— Bay City News Foundation

All the pipes will be pumping

San Francisco Symphony’s mighty Ruffati organ, 8,264 pipes strong, takes the metaphoric center stage this weekend as guest conductor Stéphane Denève, music director of the St. Louis Symphony, leads our Bay Area orchestra through two separate pieces composed for the instrument. After opening the concerts with the first S.F. Symphony performances of Guillaume Connesson’s 2012 work “Flammenschrift,” Denève delves into Francis Poulenc’s 1938 Organ Concerto, with Olivier Latry on the bench as guest soloist. Also on the program is Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3, “Organ,” which was a huge hit when it premiered with the composer conducting it himself in 1886.

Details: Performance times are 2 p.m. June 25 and 7:30 p.m. June 26-27; tickets, $30-$189, are available at sfsymphony.org.

— Bay City News Foundation