Rhythmix Cultural Works: round the world dance, music, and art festival at Chochenyo Park of…read moreSaturday September 21, 2024 was totally awesome and it was a total blast to have a great turn out of the Alameda community and people from out of town to enjoy the festival dancing, listening and watching the live band musical entertainment, enjoying having lunch with family, relatives, and friends on a very hot and sunny weather Saturday weekend!:-)

The Asian and Pacific Islander art and music festival put on by Rhythmix. Cultural Works was an…read moreexcellent event. Incredible musicians and dancers performed.

We were here on a Saturday night for a friends improv stage production. It's less of a building and…read moremore of an open air space with a roof. Which, the claustrophobic side of me loves. There was a guy selling bbq at the door and they allowed us to bring our own drinks in. It's a bit of a follow the yellow brick road adventure, to find the restroom that doesn't lock but is very clean. I never had trouble hearing the actors and the stage is properly elevated. Liquor store is next door and Nicks down the block. What more could you ask for? Awesome, fun venue for smaller performances.

Firehouse East Bazaar had their inaugural day today, opening on the same day the juneteeth festival…read morewashappening in berkeley. the bazaar was at the firehouse art collective adeline studios. for some reason, i though it was associated with the festival so didn't find it till i remember the 3192 adeline address. featured vendors included fine art, metal works, jewelry, vintage, collectibles, paper works, artisan health and beauth products, ceramics, magic, photography, ..... and all kinds of food, the same kind you find at new taste marketplace and the underground market in s.f. so far, no admission fee. +1 food vendors included morph, berlyn's, frozen kustert, dandelion chocolates, gluttony catering, kombucha, chili palace, etc. it will be becoma a weekly bazaar every saturday, 10am -6 p.m. a night bazaar is in the works.

Geoffrey is historical when you walk in the building you realize from the photos of how much…read morehistory and the notable people that has crossed the threshold of this venue and the Soul food is wonderful now picture this you are about to be entertained by some of the bay area and world renowned jazz smooth classical R an B musicians !!! I recommend Geoffrey it's my go to Sunday evening relaxing with home cooking a very well mix of beautiful bay area people!!! My friends out of town guest visit we going to Geoffreys !!

Great live music. Great food. Geoffrey was very welcoming. Delma is such a sweetheart. First time…read morehere, definitely not the last. Great place to listen to music and hanging out with friends. Celebrated a birthday here and they were very nice to put the cake on a cake platter. Great vibes, friendly atmosphere.

I was in the area during lunchtime today and found out the OACC had an exhibit of a local bay area…read morecontemporary mixed-media artist, Nimisha Doongarwal, on exhibit and display until the end of this month (November 1, 2025). So I stopped in to view the pieces. The venue is clean and spacious with a main lobby/foyer that leads into their main auditorium for their community music performances and tai chi classes. In addition, they have several small meeting conference rooms for other events. OACC seems like a great non-profit organization that provides lots of social/cultural/health-related activities for the local Asian community and diaspora. They had brochures of upcoming events on-site and the people I spoke with were informative, kind, and helpful. Since they offer many programs and classses for free or a reasonable price and are non-profit, please consider donating/suppporting them for the culture, service, and education they provide to the Oakland and surrounding area. OACC is in the Pacific Renaissance building, on the 2nd floor above the Oakland library. Note: underground parking in the building garage is $2 per every half hour. More expensive than metered street parking but safer and it is patrolled.

I've heard about the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) for at least over a decade+ and didn't…read moreattend an in-person event until a few weeks ago for a book signing/film screening event. The author and director of American Born Chinese spent their Friday evening with guests sharing their inspiration behind it all. The OACC is located upstairs above the public library. There is an exhibit going on right now with great pictures and historical facts that line up along the perimeter of the inside. There's a main auditorium inside as well, where many awesome events (such as the one I attended) takes place. They also offer various courses from art to health and various topics in between. In the past during the peak of COVID, I attended some of their virtual events, which were also excellent. Thank you OACC for all the cultural awareness you bring to the community and beyond. I'll be attending another in-person event soon. #35/2023

Really love the concept! (wouldn't call it a museum though, but that's not what we came for, so all…read moreis good) We came here on a Saturday for a kid's birthday party and my kiddo had a lot of fun with the art and tinkering. The provided materials were plenty and well-organized. And like I said, I like the concept.... the staff however... I mean, if you don't want to sit in a room with a bunch of rowdy kids on a sunny Saturday, I hear you. But hey, tough luck. It's what you signed up for. The long-haired guy was downright rude on several occasions. Totally uncalled for.

Today was my first time visiting the mocha museum for children in Oakland and it was a positive…read moreexperience. In fairness, I visited during a private event so it wasn't open to the public and I can't speak to how it functions during normal business hours. What I can say is that the location is great as it's BART accessible, and is part of the CITY CENTER, which is surrounded by eateries and other shops. There is minimal street parking, so I would highly recommend public transit. The artwork was beautiful and the staff was kind. This is definitely a great place to visit.

I've never had a business treat clients like this ever. Total waste of time. Owners kept harassing…read morepeople for years. Customer service is horrible. Absolutely would not recommend them.

Went there for an opening February and had a great time. Good art in Oakland, and a great space in…read morethe east bay. I will frequent this venue more often.

NARRATIVE Approaching and passing the West Oakland BART…read moreStation giants and giantesses constructed from metal begin to fill the skyline. As the sun sets, fire tongues lick and leap from metal sculptures. Robots lumber and throw flames. Leather pants, and fire tools abound to the marvel and disbelief of the attendees and to the satisfaction of the artists and performers. CONTACT INFORMATION The Crucible 1260 7th Street Oakland, CA 94607 Phone: 510-444-0919 Email: info@thecrucible.org HOURS Wednesday-Saturday, 2nd week in July 8 pm - midnight * Fire & Arts Soiree is held on Saturday. PRICE RANGE Luxurious (but worth it!) or ask to volunteer! SUMMARY After 7 years of watching this flaming spectacle from the freeway and that BART-way I finally decided to volunteer to get a grounds-eye view of the goings-on. From the gorgeous Serpent Mother to the stories upon stories of metal sculpture gods and goddesses surrounded by a flaming garden of spectacle, art, robotics, pyrotechnics, demonstration, and interactivity (DANCE DANCE IMMOLATION!), the entire site is alight with elements that entice and delight all ages. Last night I served as a youth escort and worked with another youth escort to introduce the little 5 years olds to the fire arts and explain how it all worked. Their eyes (as well as mine) opened wide at the wonder of so much fire, noise, music, performances, and characters that abounded on the grounds. The Fire Oddesey combines dance, theater, opera, live and recorded music, humor, acrobatics, aerobatics that filled the bleachers and held the audiences delight. All hail the Fire Arts Festival and the Crucible for an excellent event! SERVICE Awesome. Well organized from the layout to the volunteer experience and the participant logistics. RESTROOMS Port-o-potties with handwashing stations! (Always appreciated.) SUGGESTION More demonstrations of the how these pieces were created or perhaps a pre-festival gallery walk where we can ask the artists how these pieces were created!

So, there were some big improvements to the previous year's FAF. First, it is in a much larger…read morespace. You had to shuttle from Bart this year, but that looked very organized. I drove this year, and parking was very easy and the security for the event was on top of everything. Second, they do have a few new exhibits... not many, but the Pendulum of Fire, which I think is new, just rocked. On Saturday, it did full loops and it was amazing to photograph. Third, they did seem to improve the bathroom and food situations. Now, I'll speak from the photography side of things. First, I would recommend going on the earlier days as it is difficult to maneuver through the Saturday crowds. I love the ease of being able to get credentialed for the event, but you still have to battle people just walking in front of your shot. Since they paid the same price as you, you can't really get upset at it happening, but it did ruin some nice shots. Second, I did feel that I was repeating my shots from last year. The new exhibits were great, but after 2 hours of shooting I felt like I had exhausted my captures. Last, for some reason, I was not as impressed with the stage entertainment as I was last year. I can't really explain. Don't know if it was the acoustics or what, but it just seem to be off. I think I might be in the minority. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kicksaveandabeauty/sets/72157621569257643/

Part of San Leandro 2nd Fridays, the Neon Night Market took place in the downtown San Leandro Plaza…read moreparking lot this past weekend, near Fieldwork Brewing Company. There was a good range of food and drink vendors scattered throughout, offering boba, mini dounts, pastries, empanadas, seafood, creole dishes, and more. I enjoyed a cheesy bulgogi quesadilla from Korean Papi's Kitchen while there, and it was delish! The place was decorated with string lights and inflatable sculptures lit in various colors, courtesy of Astro Botanicals. Giant balloons with twinkling lights as well as kawaii stuffies were sold from mobile carts. The setup was a bit cheap-looking, but it was a good effort to fit the theme of this event. The petting zoo was a delight, the animal pen filled with cute creatures galore... not the kids chasing around the quick-moving geese (that's not cute), but adorable bunnies!!! I also saw one pig and a goat (strangely tied to a porta potty next to the pen). Two DJ's posted at opposite corners of the event, played mostly hip hop. The DJ near the main lot was really good. I think I've seen him before at a different bay area night market where I became a fan of his work. His mix included 90's hits as well as oldies like Have You Seen Her by the Chi-Lites and Love on a Two Way Street. An awesome slow jams playlist that he pulled off so well. I typically come for the food when I go to events like this. But it's the music that got me to stay during my recent visit to the Neon Night Market. A nice laid back atmosphere I could appreciate. I think it's great that Downtown San Leandro puts on these community festivals free of cost to the public.