Sunday’s Pride celebration was a huge success, but it’s not the last big outdoor festival happening in Oakland this year. Coming up, we still have the 21st annual Art & Soul Oakland festival, and this year the organizers are teaming up with AfroComicCon. The events will be taking over Frank Ogawa Plaza and City Hall next Sunday. We’re also highlighting an all-Native American comedian show at the Oakland Museum of California and much more.
If there’s an event you’d like me to consider for this roundup, email me at azucena@oaklandside.org. If there’s an event that you’d like to promote on our calendar, you can use the self-submission form on our events page.
Mac for Maui at Homeroom
It’s been a month since the deadliest wildfire in more than a century leveled the historic town of Lahaina on Maui. People near and far have since banded together to lend a helping hand, and Oakland is no exception. Homeroom, a mac n’ cheese-focused restaurant in North Oakland, is donating all proceeds from its delicious “Hawaiian Mac” to the Maui Food Bank to help victims.
Through Sept. 18, order in person or online, 4007 Webster St.
Candlelight Concerts in Oakland
The popular candlelight concert series is back at Chabot Space & Science Center. This unique event features a quartet on stage surrounded by LED candles, performing live renditions of various songs by famous artists. Upcoming concerts include tributes to ABBA and the composer and film-scorer Hans Zimmer. Later in the fall, the music of Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter Bad Bunny will celebrated. The series also includes Halloween and Christmas-themed nights.
Monthly, starting Sept. 14, $36-$39, 10000 Skyline Blvd.
Lincoln Summer Nights: Chuseok mid-autumn festival
Lincoln Summer Nights, a monthly cultural event at Lincoln Square Park in Chinatown, will have two more events before calling it a wrap for this season. On Thursday, community members will gather to listen and learn from Korean and Chinese elders during a special edition of Lincoln Summer Nights celebrating Chuseok, also known as Hangawi, a Korean harvest festival that takes place every autumn. There will be a charye table, or traditional Chuseok supper altar, an offering to elders past and present. Attendees can contribute memories and stories to the altar in exchange for mooncakes and songpyeon (half-moon-shaped rice cakes.)
Thursday, Sept. 14, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., free to attend, 261 11th St.
Good Medicine: A Night of Live Native Stand-Up
The stand-up comedy show, “Good Medicine,” which features Native American comedians, sold out last year at OMCA, and this year will be no exception. Comedians Siena East (HBO/Max), Marc Yaffee (Showtime), Tatanka Means (Killers of the Flower Moon), and host Jackie Keliiaa are on this year’s lineup. Guests can bring picnic blankets and food or buy goodies from one of the Off the Grid food trucks on-site the night of the event.
Saturday, Sept. 16, $1 (for EBT holders), $20-$25, 1000 Oak St.
Art & Soul Oakland/AfroComicCon 2023
Get ready for a full day of street festivities and an interactive comic convention in downtown Oakland. The Art & Soul festival will be centered in and around Frank Ogawa Plaza, with live music on three stages. The performers include Latyrx & Friends (hip-hop artists Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truthspeaker), 2023 Grammy winners Alphabet Rockers, and a star-studded Women in Hip Hop Revue. There will also be activities for kids and community booths.
At the same time, inside Oakland City Hall, AfroComicCon will feature a variety of panels, workshops, live tech demos, and more. Speakers at this year’s convention include Rodney Barnes, award-winning writer, producer, and comic book creator of The Boondocks, Winning Time, and Everybody Hates Chris, and Oakland twins Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs, creators of comics and graphic novels who’ve also written for television, film, and animation productions.
Sunday, Sept. 17, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., free to attend, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
