Bay Area virtual and in-person events
Just because you’re stuck at home during the COVID-19 shutdown doesn’t mean you can’t explore the greater world. Here’s a sampling of family-friendly shows, concerts, activities and more streaming (and occasionally in person again) over the next several weeks.
IN PERSON
Curiodyssey’s Outdoor Museum and Zoo: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, 1651 Coyote Point Drive, San Mateo. Outdoor exhibits include “Illusions” and “The Nature of Patterns”. Reserve tickets in advance. $13 to $16. https://curiodyssey.org/
Pleasanton Harvest Festival: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 23, 27; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 24; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 25, Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton. COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place. Last year the booths included original art, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, toys, home decor and more. $4 to $7; kids under 12 get in free. https://harvestfestival. com/pleasanton
San Francisco International Arts Festival: Oct. 24-25, Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., San Francisco. Live open air performances featuring music, dance, performance art, art installations and more. https:// bit.ly/34iuzds
VIRTUAL
All-star Storytime Series with Berkeley Symphony: 11 a.m. Fridays on Berkeley Public Library’s Facebook page. Each week, a Bay
Area celebrity will read a beloved children’s book with musical accompaniment by members of the Berkeley Symphony. www.facebook. com/berkeleypubliclibrary/
Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition: Now through Nov. 1. Featuring 170 pieces of artwork by 85 artists, plus music, poetry and more. Workshops, demonstrations, artist interviews and contests will be added throughout the month. www.emeryarts.org/
BATS Improv Online Shows: This San Franciscobased improv group will stream free shows each week to bring a little improv magic into homes via Zoom. At 7:30 p.m. on the night of each show, click the link next to the show you want to see to connect to the BATS virtual theater. www. improv.org/online-shows/
Bay Area Children’s Theatre Creativity Corner:
This virtual “playborhood” offers kids stories that unfold via video, plus followup activities they can do on their own, inspired by the make-believe they’ve seen. Parents can submit their children’s creations to BACT, which is planning to share examples online. https:// bactheatre.org
Beat the Lock Escape Room: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Solve a virtual escape room with your friends via an audio/video call and live feed that lets you play by instructing a game master to search for clues. $25. www. beatthelock.com
Bringing BADM to You:
Bay Area Discovery Museum offers a series of fun, engaging learning experiences to enjoy as a family. Explore three different themes — science and math, body and brain and talk and play — designed to develop skills for children to succeed in school and life. Within each theme, you’ll find both step-by-step videos and activities with writtenout instructions. https:// bayareadiscoverymuseum. org/bringing-badm-to-you
Broadcast Platform, Marshstream: 7:30 p.m. nightly. Programming varies by night with offerings including short performances, book/writer discussions, singalongs, storytelling, game nights and more. Find more information at: www. themarsh.org.
Coastal Artists Virtual
Pumpkin Festival: October through December. All coastal artists in San Mateo County, from Montara to Pescadero, will be featured for virtual sales. Categories include painters, photographers, jewelers, digital artists, potters, fiber arts/ textiles, food and more.
The main festival has been canceled due to COVID-19 closures. www.madeonthecoast.com
Comedy Oakland Online: 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 16-17. Featuring Seth Davis, Vik Pandya, Raj Sivaraman and Matt Curry and others. Free. www.comedyoakland.com/
18 Reasons Cooking School: Check out a slate of new online classes. You may not have everything listed in the equipment and shopping list, but instructors will give you guidance on how to adapt their recipes to what you have access to. Learn new recipes and techniques. https://18reasons.org/
Festival Napa Valley’s Remote Ensemble Project: This virtual performance of the “Va, Pensiero” chorus from Verdi’s opera “Nabucco” features instrumentalists and singers from 26 states, eight countries and five continents. They represent two dozen orchestras, ensembles, opera companies and music conservatories, such as the Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and San Francisco Opera Orchestra. The performance can be seen on Festival Napa Valley’s Youtube channel: https://youtu. be/jhv9wlvnyxa
Full Moon Fridays — Live Cabaret Series: 8 p.m. Fridays. Featuring live cabaret style performances. https://www.facebook. com/42ndstreetmoon/
Funkmode Dance Studio Digital Workouts: Offering free dance videos, including breakdance, hip hop, youth dance party and more. Find the videos at https://www. youtube.com/user/funkmode
Lafayette Virtual Res run for Education: Oct. 16-31. Join one of four races: a
5K, 10K or 2-mile walk/ run along the same route as previous events, or the 2.7-mile Reservoir Run/
Walk along the paved trail of the Lafayette Reservoir. Event packets include a long sleeve T-shirt and race bib. Registration $25. https:// lafayettechamber.org/resrun/
Lamplighters Music Theatre Multimedia: Lamplighters brings their wit and musicality to the virtual stage with an inside look into the company and the rich history of Gilbert and Sullivan. The monthly assortment includes new interviews and video essays, alongside archival vignettes highlighting the best of the company’s 68-year performance history. Free. lmt. lamplighters.org/patreon
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble — Please Elaborate: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9. The concert includes “Nocturnal” for guitar and “Lachrymae” for viola and piano, along with “Oh Chaconne!” and “No Man’s Land Lullaby.” Free. Donations encouraged. www.leftcoastensemble.org/elaborate
Live From El Campanil — A New Streaming Concert Series: 7 p.m. Saturdays. Mads Tolling appears with special guest Mitch Polzak (Saturday) Plans are already in progress for additional shows. $10. www.elcampaniltheatre.com
Livermore Shakes Educates: A Shakespeare resource webpage for kids and parents, this is an extension of the company’s “So Wise So Young” program for second, third and fourth graders. http://livermoreshakes. org/educates/
Magical Bridge Foundation Virtual Concerts and Sing-a-longs: Enjoy free family-friendly, multigenerational and sensory-friendly shows at noon daily on the Magical Bridge Facebook page. https://www. facebook.com/pg/magicalBridge/events/
Moraga Art Gallery Virtual Tour: View the Moraga Art Gallery exhibit and hear artists talk about their work and what motivates them. Visit the Lamorinda Arts Alliance website for the link to the virtual tour: https:// laa4art.org
Mount Diablo Peace & Justice Center 2020 Art & Writing Challenge: Middle and high school students in Contra Costa County are invited to submit visual art (any medium), creative writing and essays on the topic of “Our Connected Planet.” No fee. http://tinyurl.com/ mdpjc-artandwriting2020
“Dichterliebe (‘A Poet’s Love’)” from Opera San Jose: Available for streaming. In addition to English supertitles, Opera San Jose has announced plans to offer its virtual performances with Spanish and Vietnamese translations. $15-$50. www.operasj.org
Pear Theatre, “Lysistrata”: Through Nov. 8. A comedy about women enacting a sex strike to convince their husbands to end a war. $30-$37. www.thepear.org/ season-19
Persian and Central
Asian Dance Classes:
Take daily classes on Zoom with teachers from all over the world including Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Xinxiang and more. $10 to $20. www.pomegranategardendance.com
Play! Write! Action!: 4 to 5 p.m. Oct. 17. An afternoon of inspired stories, musical performance with raffles, trivia and more benefits the Playwrights Foundation. http://playwrightsfoundation.org/play-write-action/
“Pride and Pre-existing Conditions or Holy Forking Murgatroyd, It’s the 2020 Gala”: 3 p.m. Oct.
25. Lamplighters Music
Theatre takes “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and a bit of “The Good Place” and adds “Pride and Prejudice” for a satirical musical based on pop culture and the music of Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. A silent auction starts Sunday; pay what you can. https://lamplighters.org/
School of Rock Remote Lessons: School of Rock is a performance-based music school for ages 5 to adult. Learn to play drums, guitar, keyboard, bass guitar and vocals by putting on seasonal rock shows. The school is offering a combination of one-on-one remote lessons and access to master classes on music theory, songwriting, instrument exploration and genre journeys. Cost varies. schoolofrock.com/sanramon
Second Saturday @ California Symphony: 7 p.m. solo and ensemble performances include “It’s a Cellobration!” on Nov. 14 with Joshua Roman; and “Season in Song” on Dec. 12 with vocalists Kelley O’connor and Nicholas Phan. Free. Go to californiasymphony.org/ tickets-events/calendar.
Shotgun Players, “Citizen Brain”: Oct. 16through Nov. 8. Intellectual comedian and troublemaker Josh Kornbluth is back with an all-new show. At the Global Brain Health Institute, Kornbluth submerged himself in the study of brain disease and wondered if our society was suffering from political dementia. $0-$40. https:// bit.ly/3mo2vvd
Smuin’s Virtual Classes: Dancer of all levels participate in Zoom-based drop-in lessons covering styles from ballet to contemporary, to hip-hop. All classes are “pay what you can”. https://bit. ly/smuinclasses
Square One Yoga: Stay fit and grounded practicing live, interactive yoga. Check out the schedule of classes available at bayareane. ws/2yfh3oc.