Freebie(s) of the week: Two free festivals this weekend are celebrating Africa’s wide-ranging and exhilarating art and culture. Catch the African Arts Festival Saturday at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival for the Arts at Mission and Third streets in San Francisco from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is presented by the Duniya Dance and Drum Company, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival and the Museum of the African Diaspora. The festival will feature around 10 performances, from the hamboning, juggling comedian Unique Derique to Ethiopian dancer Mulu Senshaw and Oakland-based Zimbabwean performing arts group Chinyakare Ensemble. There will also be a variety of dance and drumming lessons, face-painting for the kids and a broad selection of arts, crafts and food and drink for sale. More information is at www.duniyadance.com. In Livermore, the 14th annual Taste of Africa festival is taking place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Bankhead Plaza. The free event is also hosting several dance and music performers representing more than a dozen African countries and cultures, including the Cheza Nami Ensemble, Maa Sidai Warriors, Gata Bantu and more. Attendees can choose from more than 20 vendors offering arts and crafts and culinary treats. More information is at tasteofafricafestival.com.
Another freebie: Flyaway Productions is a unique dance company based in San Francisco that incorporates items like chairs in its performances. The apparatus-based dance style brings a creativity that enriches the Bay Area arts scene. The company’s works are usually aerial performances and site-specific, with the location adding to the aesthetic and thematic concerns of the production. As the company puts it: “Our site-specific dances impact neighborhoods because they unfold at the very place where conflict lives.” On the next three Saturdays—Oct. 3, 10 and 17—Flyaway Productions is presenting its latest show, “Freedom Comes When One Walks Through It” at three San Francisco libraries. The work connects two seemingly disparate places — libraries and prison. The work, created by Flyaway Artistic Director Jo Kreiter with additional writing by April Harris, is based partly on the writings of incarcerated women dealing with everything from their frame of mind to the avenues and chances for freedom. Performances take place Saturday at Visitacion Valley Branch Library, 201 Leland Ave.; Oct. 10 at San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St.; and Oct. 17 at Ortega Branch Library, 3223 Ortega St. Performance times on each date are 1 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. The shows are free and run about 30 minutes. For more information, go to flyawayproductions.com
A neighborly affair: Porchfest is more than a creatively titled music event, it’s a national movement. And members of the public can catch a new chapter this weekend in Santa Cruz. The concept is simple—in a designated area, people volunteer their porches to act as stages where bands or musicians perform. Music fans walk from house to house, porch to porch, to catch the various acts that are performing. It’s a fun way for folks to enjoy a nice mix of music and provides an opportunity for music fans to mingle. The first Porchfest, according to reports, was staged in Ithaca, New York, in 2007. San Francisco began hosting one in 2015, with the event growing in size to 100 bands on 28 porches before being scaled back a tad. On Saturday, it’s Santa Cruz’s Porchfest premiere, running from noon to 6 p.m. at about 15 porches in downtown Santa Cruz with more than 50 performers. All kind of musical genres will be showcased such as folk, hip-hop, reggae, surf rock, mandolin-fueled classical Italian and much more. The event is free and no registration is necessary. For more information, go to santacruzporchfest.lovable.app
A happy convergence: Symphony San Jose, which is celebrating its 25th year of existence, is seizing the opportunity to open its new season by also observing the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding with “The New World,” a concert of music themed to the promise of America. Celebrated pianist Joyce Yang is the star soloist, performing the Bay Area premiere of composer Jonathan Leshnoff’s “Rhapsody on America.” A co-commission with Orchestra Lumos and two other organizations, the piece, a set of 15 variations, had its debut last November in Stamford, Connecticut, with Yang also at the keyboard. American composer Aaron Copland’s Western-themed “Billy the Kid” opens the concert, which also includes a performance of Antonin Dvoraks’ paean to our country, the beloved Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” written during the Czech composer’s sojourn in America. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the California Theatre in downtown San Jose. Find tickets, $35-$125, at symphonysanjose.org or call 408-286-2600.
Another milestone observed: Also celebrating an important anniversary, Livermore Valley Opera is opening its 35th season this weekend with a production of Giacomo Puccini’s one-act work, “Suor Angelica.” Set in a cloistered convent in the 17th century, the plot revolves around the title character, a young nun with a closely guarded secret from her past. Lyric soprano Ann Toomey takes the title role, with contralto Sara Couden singing as her aunt, La Principessa. La Badessa, the convent’s abbess, is sung by mezzo-soprano Alexandra Jerinic, and soprano Saori DeBruyn sings as Suor Genovieffa, another nun in the convent. Performances take place 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Additional shows are Oct.10 and 11 at 2 p.m. at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. Tickets, $25-$115, are available at livermorevalleyopera.com and 925-373-6800.