Friday, September 30th
Photo from the Facebook event page.
See the final result of Healing Hearts Community Collage project, Museum of the Grand Prairie, 5:30 to 7 p.m., free
The wait is finally over. It’s time to see the completed community collage project featuring pandemic memories donated by community members and curated into its final form by mixed media artist Cindy Blair Sampson. Don’t miss this opportunity to reexamine the combined pandemics of recent years from so many perspectives. Hearts are more likely to heal when they’re not alone. (DD).
Photo from Uniting Pride website.
Celebrate Pride, all weekend, locations, times, and cost varies
C-U Pride Fest has been happening throughout the week, but things really heat up this weekend. Kick off the weekend with some drag, burlesque, and pole perfomances at Show Up and Show Out Pride Fest party at Canopy Club. Saturday brings the ever popular Pride parade and vendor fair, happening on the streets of Urbana, and Sunday you can support local affirming businesses during the Community Crawl. Find all Pride Fest details at the Unitng Pride website. (JM)
Saturday, October 1st
Shop the new Restore space, 1914 Glenn Park Drive, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., prices vary
Champaign County Restore has expanded to a larger space, in the former ValuCheck in Champaign. Take a few minutes to see the new space, and browse their extensive collection of items. You never know what you’ll find! (JM)
Watch the stars projected by a Carl Zeiss Model M1015, Parkland’s Staerkel Planetarium, 2 p.m., $2
Parkland’s Planetarium will present “Staerkel Unplugged: The Zeiss-Only Experience,” hosted by former planetarium director David Leake (who retired in 2019). The Zeiss projector is how the audience would view a planetarium show before digital projectors were installed in 2010. Pretty cool, huh? (JH)
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
Enjoy a coffee stout, Blind Pig Brewery, 3 p.m. to 2 a.m., $5
Blind Pig’s Columbia Street Coffee Stout is a great stout beer, and I wrote about it this week in my coffee sips + sweets article. Made with Columbia Street Roastery cold brew coffee, it has a great roasted coffee flavor with a nice bitter stout finish. Blind Pig’s patio is beautiful especially this time of year. Have a draft beer and then check out the last Toast to Taylor Street of the year. (AB)
Photo from the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts website.
Experience a remixed Hamlet, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m., tickets $10-$25
Krannert’s website describes Ravi Jain’s Why Not Theatre: Prince Hamlet as a “remixed, reimagined, and bilingual” take on the Shakespearean classic, featuring “a cross-cultural, gender-bent cast — challenging traditional ideas of who can tell this story.” By weaving together spoken text and American Sign Language, this production is accessible to both hearing and Deaf audiences. (DD)
Sunday, October 2nd
Go to a drag brunch, Holiday Inn, 10 a.m., $40
As part of 2022 C-U Pride Fest, there will be a drag brunch featuring seven performers in a show called Served, hosted by Just Sue at Holiday Inn. Tickets include general seating, a buffet brunch, and select beverages. There is a bottomless mimosa add on as well. Sounds super fun. Buy tickets here. (AB)
Attend the C-U Women’s March, Alma Mater statue to Champaign County Courthouse, 10:30 a.m., free
The 2022 Champaign-Urbana Women’s March will begin at the Alma Mater statue on the University of Illinois campus, and continue east to the Champaign County Courthouse. There will be speakers and interactive booths, as well as shirt sales for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. (JH)
Photo from WEFT’s Facebook page.
Celebrate 41 years of WEFT radio, Seven Saints, 2 p.m., free
C-U’s iconic radio station WEFT is celebrating 41 years on the air and will be hosting live music throughout the day at Seven Saints. Performers include Dr0psy, Rev Robert and the Rhumba Bums, and Ballet Folklorico Mitotiani. This is a great variety of music, so there is something for everyone. (SW)
Photo from the Virginia Theatre’s Facebook page.
Bring Pride weekend to a close with a bang, The Virginia Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $50
Not only does Melissa Etheridge write powerful songs, delivered with a striking, raspy, incredible voice — she is also an outspoken LGBTQ advocate, herself coming out as a lesbian in 1993. What better way to celebrate the closing of Pride weekend than by heading to the Virginia Theatre and listening to some great tunes. (SW)
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All event information is accurate to the best of our abilities, but sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes event information, times, prices, etc., change after we look them up. Whenever possible, we’ve provided a link to the original event page; you should always double-check the source before you make any firm plans. Thanks for your understanding.