Top Tickets: April 22-28

Diablo's picks for the can't-miss events of the coming week: Sustainable Estate Walking Tours at Wente, Walnut Creek's Fine Arts Sidewalk Festival, Squeak Carnwath exhibit, The Kite Runner's Khaled Hosseini, Opening Day on the Bay, and the authors of I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper.

Happy Earth Day! Check your city’s website for Earth Day events happening near you today. After you’ve planted a tree or picked up trash, celebrate by attending an art exhibit, meeting a bestselling author, or taking a Bay cruise.  Here are this week’s Top Tickets…

April 22: Sustainable Estate Walking Tours
The Wente family celebrates Earth Day by launching sustainable walking tours. The Livermore wine-making family has planted, grown, and harvested fruit since 1883—and in 1990, created the Farming for the Future system supporting practices that produce the best quality wines with the least environmental impact. Says Christine Wente: “Sustainability is not a buzz word for us, it’s a passion that we want to share with our guests.” Wente Vineyards, 5050 Arroyo Rd., Livermore, Earth Day tours at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m., free, (925) 456-2400, wentevineyards.com.

April 24–26: Fine Arts Sidewalk Festival
Downtown Walnut Creek is the place to be this weekend when more than 175 professional artists showcase their paintings, sculpture, photography, and jewelry along the sidewalks of Cypress, Locust, and North Main streets. Enjoy the warm weather—and treat yourself to a unique gift. Downtown Walnut Creek, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. on Sunday, free, (925) 933-6778, pacificfinearts.com.

April 25–August 23: Squeak Carnwath
Experience the first major West Coast museum exhibition of one of California’s leading contemporary artists. Squeak Carnwath, an Oakland resident and UC Berkeley art professor, is known for her recurring motifs (numbers, rabbits, and lists) and layers of paint. She will discuss her work and sign books at the museum on May 3. Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak streets, Oakland, $5–$8, (510) 238-2200, museumca.org.

April 25: Khaled Hosseini
The author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns speaks in Lafayette to bring attention to the refugee crisis in Afghanistan and the UN Refugee Agency. He has pledged a matching grant up to $100,000 for funds raised at the event. Attendees will be able to meet the speaker and learn what they can do locally to help. Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian Church, 49 Knox Dr., Lafayette, 6 p.m., free with reservation, (925) 283-8722, lopc.org/newsandinfo.asp.

April 26: Opening Day on the Bay
The last Sunday in April is the official opening day of the Northern California boating season. If you want to be among the 300 boats on the Bay, check out two tours departing from Jack London Square. The USS Potomac offers a 3.5-hour cruise with a gourmet box lunch and non-alcoholic beverages for $85; Celebrations on the Bay’s cruise is 4.5 hours and includes a buffet lunch for $25–$60 and a cash bar. Jack London Square, Broadway at Embarcadero, Oakland, (866) 295-9853, jacklondonsquare.com.

April 28: Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth
You might recognize their names from a recent Oprah Show appearance (April 6). Bestselling authors Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth stop by Clayton Books to chat frankly about marriage and motherhood—and sign their latest release I’d Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper: Loving Your Marriage After the Baby Carriage. Clayton Books, 5433 Clayton Rd., Ste. D, Clayton, 7 p.m., free, (925) 673-3325, claytonbookshop.com.

For even more events happening this week, browse the complete listings on Diablo’s Community Calendar.
 

Posted at 09:34 AM in Best Of Editor Picks | Permalink