Carlsbad Music Festival
Music
Three days of live, outdoor music in the Carlsbad Village area kicks off Friday afternoon. You can pick up a three-day pass, or just attend a single day. Proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test is required. Some highlights by day: On Friday, don't miss Charlie Arbeláez Afro-Cuban Sextet at 6 p.m. and indie pop duo Vákoum at 7 p.m.
Saturday you can catch Art of Elan at 4:30, the prolific percussionist Nathan Hubbard and his trio performing with Anastasya Korol at 5 p.m, and don't miss Systems Officer, a solo project of Pinback's Armistead Burwell Smith IV.
Sunday, acoustic duo Nathan & Jessie kick things off at 1 p.m., and a new addition to the line-up is experimental and contemporary trumpet composer Steph Richards with her "Power Vibe" group, performing at 4:30. The entire event closes with the mesmerizing music of New York-based, Pakistan-born vocalist Arooj Aftab.
Details: Event information. Friday from 4-10 p.m., Saturday from 3-10:30 p.m., Sunday from 1-7:30 p.m. Stages are situated at St. Michael's by-the-Sea, 2775 Carlsbad Blvd, and Magee Park, 258 Beech Ave., Carlsbad. $21 for single-day tickets, $59 for three-day passes or $229-259 for VIP passes.
LITVAKdance: 'Dancing Outdoors'
Dance, Visual Art, Music
So much to love in one single event. This Saturday, LITVAKdance will perform their first live shows since March 2020 in the garden pavilion at Lux Art Institute — soon to be reintroduced as the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego North Campus. The performance will include choreography from guest artists Joshua Manculich and Rebecca Margolick, as well as their own LITVAK dancers Ashley Akhavan and Emily Miller. There's a guest performance by Ballet Collective San Diego, too.
In addition to the dance, it's also a great opportunity to check out the Montalban Quintet, an eclectic group that infuses jazz, minimalism, post-punk and more. The quintet is Chris Prescott, Kenseth Thibideau, Carl Prescott, Julie Kitterman and Greg Friedman. Violinists Pete Polansky and Yale Strom will also accompany some of the works.
And then there's art! This is your chance to check out the work of the new artist in residence — the official first artist under the institution's new name. Christine Howard Sandoval's exhibition, "Coming Home" will be on view through Oct. 31, and it explores indigenous identity in California. Sandoval has created a series of imprints using adobe, masking tape and paper.
Details: Event information. Saturday, Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 1550 El Camino Real, Encinitas. $10-25
Jam Diego Silent Disco
Music
There's something wildly intimate and vulnerable about a silent disco: strangers gathered together, dancing, but a passerby might not hear a thing. Everyone dons headphones and tunes in to listen and dance to the same music — in Friday night's case, it's live music from Heaping Teaspoon and DJ battles between hip-hop, motown and dancehall afro beats, including this week's KPBS Summer Music Series star, DJ Artistic.
There's also live graffiti from Ms. Unique. Quartyard is an outdoor venue, and the show is 21+.
Details: Event information. Friday from 6-11:30 p.m. 131 Market St., Downtown. $5.
Janis Jones: 'Into The Current'
Visual Art
I know that we're all talking about the NY Times' absolute takedown of the cotton tote bag this week, so now is a good time to revisit why we were trying to escape single-use plastics in the first place. Janis Jones is an educator and mixed media artist who gathers trash and plastics from the oceans to construct beautiful — and troubling — artworks that raise awareness to where our plastic things go when we cast them aside. This is a solo show at The Hill Street Country Club, and Jones is taking over the walls and the floor, installing sculptural works that invoke pools, brimming with rainbow-colored trash. The exhibition will open with a virtual reception and talk at 1 p.m. on Zoom, followed by an in-person reception at the gallery at 5 p.m. The exhibition will then be on view during gallery hours and by appointment through Oct. 9.
Details: Exhibition information. Virtual artist talk: Saturday at 1 p.m. on Zoom. Opening reception: Saturday from 5-7 p.m. 530 S. Coast Hwy, Oceanside. Free.
More visual art: It's your last chance to check out 'And We Will Sing In The Tall Grass Again' during The Front's Saturday hours, 11-2 p.m. and 3-6 p.m. The powerful group show in San Ysidro closes on Wednesday. You can read the feature on this exhibition here: A New Generation Of Artists Imagines A Dismantled Future.
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