From High to Low (and Back)

All in one week: Allen Toussaint, the Renegade Craft Fair and Nordstrom’s Fall Fashion Preview.

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Image credit: Lee Crum; courtesy of the Stern Grove Festival A GROVE SITUATION Yes, we realize that going anywhere west of the Panhandle means braving the summertime gloom. But when we're sprawled out on (or under) a cozy blanket, wine in hand, listening to jazz beneath the redwoods of Stern Grove, well, nothing can dampen our spirits. We suggest packing a picnic and spending your Sunday afternoon with pianist and songwriter Allen Toussaint, who'll be bringing his New Orleans sound—along with opening act Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue—on July 6. Admission is free.

Image credit: courtesy of Live Nation BOSTON MARATHON If you doubted the enduring popularity of the band Boston, doubt no more: Due to overwhelming response, Saratoga's Mountain Winery added a second performance to the calendar, and the classic rockers will now tear it up on July 7 and 8. True fans will tell you that—32 years and 30 million albums sold later—they still put on a killer show, and that the band's 1976 breakthrough hit, "More than a Feeling," is just as catchy now as it was then.

Image credit: David Cannings-Bushell LORD OF THE FLEAS If you're in the mood for, say, some antique Christmas ornaments, or an elegant fox-fur-trimmed jacket from the '40s, or oddly compelling, oversize anatomy posters, then the Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire (better known as the Alameda Flea Market), held July 6 (the first Sunday of the month), is for you. The dealers here know what they've got (meaning you're not likely to have an Antiques Roadshow moment), but what they've got is good. The hard-core get to the former Naval Air Station early—the doors open at 6 a.m., when admission is $15; at 9 a.m., it's only $5. But we like to hit it midday: Start off strong, break for a hot dog from one of the on-site vendors, then try to catch some end-of-day deals.

Image credit: Drew Altizer FALLING FOR YOU Dip into the summer social swirl on July 9, when Nordstrom returns to Fort Mason Center's Herbst Pavilion with its ever-popular Fall Fashion Preview. There's no shortage of faux fashion shows in SF, but with cocktails, designer fashions and swag bags—and all ticket sales going toward local charity Raphael House—we can always count on Nordstrom to deliver the real deal. For tickets ($150–$250), call 415-345-7262.

Image credit: J Henry Fair FOLLOW THE MUSIC If you rarely make it past your annual obligatory driving-the-relatives- to-Wine Country day trip, do yourself a favor and linger a while to revel in ... the music? July 12 is only the first of nine straight days of classical concertizing and dining—aka the Festival del Sole—all over Napa Valley. For the opening gala, pianist Andre Watts and the Del Sole Festival Orchestra perform at Yountville's Lincoln Theater. Compound the favor with a massage: Stay either in Yountville at the Villagio Inn & Spa or in Napa at the Milliken Creek Inn and Spa. The latter puts you less than two miles from Ubuntu Restaurant and Yoga Studio, where you can work up an appetite doing sun salutations, then sit down for Manresa alum Jeremy Fox's fresh vegetarian fare. (The yoga, by the way, is optional.)

Image credit: courtesy of Renegade Craft Fair FAIR GAME Like Etsy on steroids, the first annual Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco on July 12 and 13 is a do-it-yourselfer's paradise. Stop by the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion for anything and everything handmade —from one-of-a-kind silk-screened journals to recycled-glass pendants.

Image credit: Waldemar Horwat TRAIL BLAZER Calling all pyromaniacs: Get fueled up at the Crucible's Fire Arts Festival, returning to Oakland July 9–12 with its giant open-air exhibition of interactive fire art, music and dance performances. The bonus? It'll warm your heart knowing that proceeds from the eighth annual spectacle benefit the nonprofit's arts-education programs for adults and kids.

Image credit: courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences FOG DAY EXTRA Almost any day this week, the Castro is a good bet: On July 8 and 9, the Jacques Tati classic Playtime plays, and the SF Silent Film Festival starts on July 11.

<<   |   Full Summer Calendar   |   July 13—July 19 >>

FOR MORE HAPPENINGS, SEE THIS WEEK'S CALENDAR OF EVENTS

<<

>>

Image credit: Lee Crum; courtesy of the Stern Grove Festival A GROVE SITUATION Yes, we realize that going anywhere west of the Panhandle means braving the summertime gloom. But when we're sprawled out on (or under) a cozy blanket, wine in hand, listening to jazz beneath the redwoods of Stern Grove, well, nothing can dampen our spirits. We suggest packing a picnic and spending your Sunday afternoon with pianist and songwriter Allen Toussaint, who'll be bringing his New Orleans sound—along with opening act Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue—on July 6. Admission is free.

Image credit: courtesy of Live Nation BOSTON MARATHON If you doubted the enduring popularity of the band Boston, doubt no more: Due to overwhelming response, Saratoga's Mountain Winery added a second performance to the calendar, and the classic rockers will now tear it up on July 7 and 8. True fans will tell you that—32 years and 30 million albums sold later—they still put on a killer show, and that the band's 1976 breakthrough hit, "More than a Feeling," is just as catchy now as it was then.

Image credit: David Cannings-Bushell LORD OF THE FLEAS If you're in the mood for, say, some antique Christmas ornaments, or an elegant fox-fur-trimmed jacket from the '40s, or oddly compelling, oversize anatomy posters, then the Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire (better known as the Alameda Flea Market), held July 6 (the first Sunday of the month), is for you. The dealers here know what they've got (meaning you're not likely to have an Antiques Roadshow moment), but what they've got is good. The hard-core get to the former Naval Air Station early—the doors open at 6 a.m., when admission is $15; at 9 a.m., it's only $5. But we like to hit it midday: Start off strong, break for a hot dog from one of the on-site vendors, then try to catch some end-of-day deals.

Image credit: Drew Altizer FALLING FOR YOU Dip into the summer social swirl on July 9, when Nordstrom returns to Fort Mason Center's Herbst Pavilion with its ever-popular Fall Fashion Preview. There's no shortage of faux fashion shows in SF, but with cocktails, designer fashions and swag bags—and all ticket sales going toward local charity Raphael House—we can always count on Nordstrom to deliver the real deal. For tickets ($150–$250), call 415-345-7262.

Image credit: J Henry Fair FOLLOW THE MUSIC If you rarely make it past your annual obligatory driving-the-relatives- to-Wine Country day trip, do yourself a favor and linger a while to revel in ... the music? July 12 is only the first of nine straight days of classical concertizing and dining—aka the Festival del Sole—all over Napa Valley. For the opening gala, pianist Andre Watts and the Del Sole Festival Orchestra perform at Yountville's Lincoln Theater. Compound the favor with a massage: Stay either in Yountville at the Villagio Inn & Spa or in Napa at the Milliken Creek Inn and Spa. The latter puts you less than two miles from Ubuntu Restaurant and Yoga Studio, where you can work up an appetite doing sun salutations, then sit down for Manresa alum Jeremy Fox's fresh vegetarian fare. (The yoga, by the way, is optional.)

Image credit: courtesy of Renegade Craft Fair FAIR GAME Like Etsy on steroids, the first annual Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco on July 12 and 13 is a do-it-yourselfer's paradise. Stop by the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion for anything and everything handmade —from one-of-a-kind silk-screened journals to recycled-glass pendants.

Image credit: Waldemar Horwat TRAIL BLAZER Calling all pyromaniacs: Get fueled up at the Crucible's Fire Arts Festival, returning to Oakland July 9–12 with its giant open-air exhibition of interactive fire art, music and dance performances. The bonus? It'll warm your heart knowing that proceeds from the eighth annual spectacle benefit the nonprofit's arts-education programs for adults and kids.

Image credit: courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences FOG DAY EXTRA Almost any day this week, the Castro is a good bet: On July 8 and 9, the Jacques Tati classic Playtime plays, and the SF Silent Film Festival starts on July 11.

<<   |   Full Summer Calendar   |   July 13—July 19 >>

FOR MORE HAPPENINGS, SEE THIS WEEK'S CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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