There’s plenty of events going on this weekend, since it’s not only Pride Month but also Juneteenth, a commemoration related to the history of slavery in the United States.
Juneteenth:Celebrations provide chance for reflection, growth following difficult year
Each Thursday, The Dispatch rounds up a few suggestions for this to keep you busy this weekend.
A celebration of gay pride theater performance, Popcorn Pops returns on Friday night for kids and a wine and arts festival in Grove City are among events we recommend.
Weekend events:Here’s how Columbus is celebrating Juneteenth this weekend
Want to get away?:It’s time to have some fun! Here are things to do in Ohio this summer
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Evolution Theatre celebrates gay pride
Evolution Theatre Company celebrates Columbus Pride 2021 with a production of “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom,” Charles Busch’s long-running off-Broadway comedy about the bitter rivalry between two seductive vampiresses over 2,000 years from ancient Sodom through Hollywood’s silent-movie era to contemporary Las Vegas. Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (preview), 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and June 24, and 8 p.m. June 25-26 at MadLab Theatre, 227 N. 3rd St. Tickets cost $25, or $20 for senior citizens, $15 for students. Call 614-233-1124 or visit www.evolutiontheatre.org.
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Jazz program for Juneteenth
In commemoration of Juneteenth, the Jazz Arts Group will again make available the digital program “Jazz and the Struggle for Freedom” on its online platform, JAG TV. The program, which was first presented earlier in the year, consists of jazz, blues, R&B and gospel music played by Jazz Arts Group musicians, including pianist Bobby Floyd, drummer Reggie Jackson and trumpeter (and Columbus Jazz Orchestra Artistic Director) Byron Stripling. Also included is a conversation between Stripling and Michelle Alexander, the New York Times opinion writer and author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” The free program can be viewed starting Friday and continuing through July 4 at www.jag.tv.
Popcorn Pops returns
In the first family-friendly “Popcorn Pops” concert of the Picnic With the Pops season, the Columbus Symphony will perform music that looks to the stars in “Space Out & Step Out” at the John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons, East Rich and South High streets. The concert, led by symphony associate conductor Andres Lopera, will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday, but pre-concert activities — including interactive games and balloon art — get underway at 5:30 p.m. Tickets cost $12.60 for adults, including free admission for one child between the ages of 3 and 12. Additional tickets for children cost $5.25, and those age 2 and younger are admitted free. For more information, visit columbussymphony.com.
Going to the Pops?:Concert review: Picnic With the Pops opening was worth the wait
‘Bueller? Bueller?’
Any high school teachers still looking for the perpetually tardy and absent adolescent Ferris Bueller would do well to check the McCoy Center for the Arts in New Albany, where, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” will be shown in a free screening at the center, 100 W. Dublin-Granville Road, New Albany. The classic comedy, written and directed by John Hughes, stars Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara and Jennifer Grey. Reservations are required. For more information, visit mccoycenter.org.
Pop at the Pops with the Columbus Symphony
Pianist and vocalist Michael Cavanaugh is best-known for appearing in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Movin’ Out with the musical score by Billy Joel,” but these days, the performer is summoning the musical spirit of another icon of modern pop music. Backed by the Columbus Symphony, Cavanaugh will perform the program “The Music of Elton John” at 8 p.m. Saturday as part of Picnic With the Pops at the John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons, East Rich and South High streets. Expect a vivid orchestral version of “I’m Still Standing,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Your Song” and more. Lawn tickets cost $36.75, or $10.50 for ages 3 to 12, free for age 2 and younger. For more information, visit columbussymphony.com.
Going to the Pops?:Concert review: Picnic With the Pops opening was worth the wait
Nocturnal North Market
The North Market, 59 Spruce St., will open for its monthly open-air evening market, which takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. the third Friday of each month through October. Some of the regular market merchants will remain open, and outside, handmade and locally grown products will be for sale. Listen to live music, and grab a drink from The Barrel & Bottle. For more information, visit northmarket.org.
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Grove City Wine and Arts Festival
Check out an art fair and get to know more than 20 Ohio wineries at the Wine and Arts Festival, which runs from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday in Grove City’s Town Center. Tickets cost $25 for eight samples of wine. For more information, call 614-539-8762 or visit www.heartofgrovecity.org.
