The UC Aquatic Center is offering a full moon group kayak adventure at the Berkeley Marina on Wednesday, July 29. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
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🌕 Experience the Berkeley Marina at night by participating in a full moon group kayaking adventure. Make sure to wear layers! Wednesday, July 29, 7-9 p.m. UC Aquatic Center at the Berkeley Marina. $30 for UC Berkeley students, $60 for non-students
💃🏾 AileyCamp, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s long-running youth summer program run in conjunction with Cal Performances, presents a session-ending final performance, “The Time is Now,” showcasing the accomplishments of the dancers, ages 11-14. Thursday, July 23, Zellerbach Hall. FREE
🐈 Berkeley Playhouse presents their newest youth production of “Cats,” exploring the hijinks and heart of one magical night when a tribe of cats gathers for its annual ball to rejoice and decide which cat will be reborn. Show runs from July 23 to Aug. 1. $27
💃 Every Thursday in July and August, the YWCA Berkeley/Oakland branch hosts an Afro Dance with Karma, featuring the dance genres that Karma has studied including Afrobeats, West African, Afro-Brazilian and more. All levels are welcome to join. Next class is on Thursday, July 23, 6:30-7:30 p.m. 2600 Bancroft Way. FREE (RSVP)
❤️🔥 Berkeley poet Colleen Morton Busch will be having a conversation about her latest book, “Smolder” — the title of which is inspired by her husband’s diagnosis of the blood cancer smoldering multiple myeloma. “Smolder” features a collection of poems about the fires of grief, lust, loss, rage, uncertainty and acceptance in life. Thursday, July 23, 7-8:30 p.m. Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore. FREE (RSVP)
🎷 Ace bassist Aaron Germain is one of the Bay Area’s most versatile accompanists, but is making his Jupiter debut as a leader with a powerhouse quartet focusing on original compositions gleaned from his four albums (including his 2025 project “Opus” featuring trumpet great Randy Brecker) as well as some Brecker tunes. Friday, July 24, 7 p.m. Jupiter. FREE
🏵️ Join a cosy craft session where you can make colorful, beaded garden stakes — all materials are provided. Saturday, July 25, 11 a.m.-noon. Claremont Library. FREE
🥳 The annual North Shattuck Block Party is back with live music, wines and craft beers to sample, local artisan vendors, and games for the whole family. Saturday, July 25, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. North Shattuck and Rose Street. FREE
🍷 🍷 🍷 West Berkeley’s Donkey & Goat Winery hosts “Unfiltered: A Celebration of Wine on the Edge” with 60 of the region’s leading natural and low‑intervention winemakers, with panel discussions exploring the philosophies, challenges, and innovations shaping the future of wine, as well as tasty bites by local chefs, and many a popped cork. Saturday-Sunday, July 25-26, 1-5 p.m. Donkey & Goat Winery. $65 per day ($95 full weekend)
✂️ To celebrate International Zine Month, come make zines in community with other artists. Some materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. Saturday, July 25, 3-5 p.m. 2727 California St. FREE
🍵 Soak up the sun at Teance’s Midsummer Bazaar, featuring local makers, food and tea, DJ sets and mahjong tables to play on. Saturday, July 25, 3:30-7:30 p.m. FREE
🎭 Pearl Ong’s “Night Driver” revisits San Francisco’s free-spirited gay scene in the late 1970s from the vantage point of a Hong Kong-born cabbie with humor, rebellion, and cultural clashes, portraying one motorist who’s fiercely determined to defy expectations. Saturdays through Aug. 8, 5 p.m. The Marsh. $25-$100
🎸 Berkeley jazz guitarist George Cotsirilos has thrived since retiring from his day job at UC Berkeley School of Law, where he taught courses on criminal trial practice for two decades, and he celebrates the release of his passionately lyrical new album “In The Wee Hours” with his top-shelf quartet featuring pianist Keith Saunders, bassist Ravi Abcarian and drummer Ron Marabuto. Saturday, July 25, 8 p.m. The Back Room. $20
🎭 Directed by Michelle Talgarow, Shotgun Players presents their first one-person performance with Gary Owen’s monodrama, “Iphigenia in Splott,” a reimagining of the Euripides tragedy set in a boozy, promiscuous present tense. Preview performances start July 25 for a three-week run. Show runs from July 25 to Aug. 23. Ashby Stage. $8-$40 for pay-what-you-can previews in July, $23-$80 for August shows
🎤 Sing your heart out at Sacred Music Fellowship’s SingJam, an all-ages communal singing experience featuring rock, pop, folk, R&B, country, traditional music and more. Lyrics and chords are provided. Sunday, July 26, 10:30 a.m.-noon. 2727 California St. $15-$36
🇪🇸 In marking the first anniversary of Nina Menendez’s death a group of her friends and fellow artists gather to celebrate the beloved singer and impresario, who did so much to bring flamenco to Bay Area stages. Sunday, July 26, 6:30 p.m. La Peña Cultural Center. $25-$30
🎶 Not Loud Concerts presents the first of three Berkeley Summer Sessions with a blues-steeped double bill featuring Rebecca Roudman’s Dirty Cello and the harmonica-powered Delta Wires. Sunday, July 26, 7 p.m. Gilman Brewing. $20
📚 Novelist Chloe Lauter discusses her new queer vampire noir novel on Soft Skull Press, “The Flayed Man,” in conversation with Eirinie Carson, author of recent gothic novel “Bloodfire, Baby.” Tuesday, July 28, 7 p.m. Pegasus Books Downtown. FREE
🥡 The Jazzschool’s weekly Brown Bag Jazz Hangs continue with veteran music journalist and KPFA DJ Derk Richardson sharing insights about the groundbreaking career of bassist Charlie Haden, who gained notoriety anchoring Ornette Coleman’s epochal quartet in 1959 and went on to record dozens of albums as a leader, including the politically charged Liberation Music Orchestra. Wednesday, July 29, 12:30 p.m. The Freight. FREE
🗓️ See more things to do in Oakland and Richmond. And check out our big list of affordable things to do anytime in Berkeley. Sign up for our weekly arts and culture newsletter, The Scene.
If there’s an event you’d like us to consider for this roundup, email us at the-scene@berkeleyside.org. The deadline to submit events for Around Berkeley is end-of-day Monday. If there’s an event that you’d like to promote on our calendar, you can use the self-submission form on our events page.
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