This Weekend’s Best Bets
By Jon Whiten • Apr 30th, 2010 • Category: Arts, BlogFor full arts and entertainment listings, be sure to check out the Cultural Calendar.
TODAY
The Creative Grove Artist Market promises to be hopping today, with the nice weather bringing more people out and a special performance featuring dance, percussion, DJs and — yes — dog agility training — from Sirelo Entertainment (2-8 pm). You can also end your work week by sipping on some wines for a good cause at Grace Van Vorst Community Service‘s Annual Wine Tasting; the fundraiser, sponsored by Central Avenue Liquors, features over fifty wines from all around the world (7 pm). And the Attic Ensemble keeps the performances of Working: The Musical rolling all weekend, with shows tonight, Saturday night and a Sunday matinee.
SATURDAY
May is Historic Preservation Month, and the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy is getting it rolling with a restoration tour of the former Jersey City Medical Center, aka the Beacon, one of Jersey City’s Art Deco gems (11 am).
When it comes to evening activities, there are plenty of options tonight. The Hudson Pride Connections Gala 2010 fund-raising event is at Michael Anthony’s (7 pm), Downtown boutique DEEN celebrates its two-year anniversary with “Plaja,” a fashion show featuring a handful of local designers (7:30 pm), and the loose group of artsy non-Downtowners making a name for themselves as the Uptown Crew will hold their first “Uptown Jam” open mic (7:30 pm).
At the 58 Gallery, there’s a closing reception for “Vestige,” the exhibition featuring works Justine Reyes and Sonja Thomsen — the reception begins at 7 pm, and excellent local band SodaCan will perform at 9 pm. At the Lamp Post, another Jersey City band — the Modern Airs — will play a free show with North Bergen’s The Bad Parts (10 pm).
SUNDAY
Since last weekend’s Earth Day event at the Historic Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery was rained out, they’ll give it another shot today — and the weather looks much more promising. There will be a tree planting, followed by five local bands — The Old Man & His Po’ Buckra, Darren Deicide, Nathan Carpenter, The Torcher Chamber Ensemble and The Smoove Sailors — performing in the cemetery (planting is at 10 am, music starts at 2 pm). Also on the outdoors theme, the Friends of Liberty State Park‘s annual fund-raising luncheon, which this year will honor Maureen Ogden, Bill O’Dea, Jersey Cares, Ted Lai, Nikki Sirken and Iome Alexander, is at the Liberty House (12 pm). Kelly Saint Patrick will perform for brunch-goers at Made with Love (1 pm), while the Garden State Theatre Organ Society brings a concert, featuring David Peckham on the Bob Balfour Memorial Wonder Morton Organ backed by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, to the Loew’s (2 pm).
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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