Beakerhead (Until Sunday, Sept. 20)
There’s a lot to see at the city’s annual art and science fest. If you’re on a budget, the public art installations are a fun way to explore the city and get in on the fun. The glass-blowing collective Bee Kingdom have expanded their media to inflatables and you can see their towering installation Fabulist at St. Patrick’s Island this weekend. They talk and introduce their work on Friday at 6:30 p.m., with music provided by BassBus.
If you’re willing to drop some dough, there’s some cool culinary events during the fest, including The Gorgeous Libation, a tasting party featuring molecular cocktails and a limited edition Big Rock Beer, The Gorgeous Molecule. You won’t just be imbibing, either, as there’s interactive art by Calgarians Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett (of Cloud fame) and SoleNoid by Peter William Holden. See the website for the full schedule.
Warning: Explicit language
Wu Tang Clan at Grey Eagle Event Centre (Saturday, Sept. 19)
This is a fun game that a lot of people have been playing on the Facebook page in the last few weeks leading up to the show: which Wu members are going to show up? I e-mailed the promoters today and, unfortunately, they’ve been told not to release line-up details by Wu-Tang Clan’s management. But fans have been scouring social media to figure out who is going to show up.
Out? Ghostface Killah (Instagram post), Raekwon (who was in town for One Love earlier in the month and has prior engagements, according to Twitter), Cappadonna (unless he’s missing his birthday party in New York). In? RZA (Facebook link), Masta Killa (Twitter link). Maybe? GZA (who was in town for Beakerhead on Wednesday), Methodman, Inspectah Deck, U-God.
(Update: Union Events posted today on Facebook letting fans know what the lineup is: RZA, GZA, U-God, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna and DJ Mathematics.)
Calgary Artwalk (Saturday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 20)
Those looking to visit every gallery in the annual Artwalk on foot have an ambitious task ahead of them; the Christine Klassen Gallery is on 50th Ave. S.E. and Fortune Fine Art is on 39th Ave. N.E. If you keep yourself to areas in the beltline downtown, you can certainly hit a few clusters. But then, on the other hand, you’d be missing out on the opening reception of Colin Smith’s 76 Boler.
Lake Minnewanka Boler, edition of 4, archival fibre print 30.0 x 38.0 in
Smith, a photographer, turned his Boler trailer into a camera obscura to pay homage to the summer tradition of road tripping. He’s giving a talk and a demo at 2 p.m. Go to the website for a full list of participating galleries.
Oktoberfest at Wurst (Saturday, Sept. 19)
You don’t have to go all the way to Munich to get an authentic Oktoberfest experience. Calgary’s German beer hall Wurst is hosting a one-night party featuring plenty of German music, German food and Steam Whistle pilsner. $30 gets you in the door and a souvenir stein to fill.
All Star tribute to Bruce Springsteen at The Ironwood (Saturday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 20)
The local crew is a few days early (actual birthdate: Sept. 23, 1949) and a block north of his stomping grounds for this 9th Avenue birthday party. Still, they’re promising a Boss-sized band and are collecting non-perishable items for the food bank.
Bonus fake fact of the weekend
jomny sun (a.k.a. Jonathan Sun, writer, designer and MIT researcher) tweeted out this fake fact this week, which has been circulating the internet ever since — in case you needed another reminder that you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet.
