FRIDAY, April 28th
Samba Dance Workshop, UIUC Dance Department Nevada B, 907 1/2 W. Nevada, Urbana, 6 p.m., Free
Janete de Silva of the Silva Dance Company will be teaching a samba workshop open to all ages and levels. The workshop is part of 15th Annual International Capoeira Angola Conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Illinois State University, and is one of many events going on over the weekend. You can see the full schedule here. Step a little, okay maybe way out of your comfort zone and learn some new moves. (JEM)
Moses Nesh / Paul Kotheimer, Library House, 6:30 p.m., donations suggested for the touring artist
Who doesn’t love a Library House show? The family-friendly Urbana show house seldom hosts gigs nowadays, so you’ve got to catch one when they come around. This one features blues and folk artist Moses Nesh and local folk musician Paul Kotheimer with the assist. The forecast calls for rain, but it’ll be warm, and they’ve got a swell porch to help keep you dry if you’d like to chill outside. (JTM)
Fare Thee Well To The Accord, The Accord, 8 pm, free, 19+
Goodnight, sweet prince. We had a nice run. Come out to The Accord one last time this Friday as we say goodbye to another Champaign-Urbana venue that provides independent, local art with a much-needed space. Local music all night. Great drink specials. Let’s get it. One last time. Don’t tweak; come hang. (BH)
SATURDAY, April 29th
Annual Plant Sale, Common Ground Food Co-op, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., prices vary
Looking to plant some veggies and herbs in your garden? Common Ground is hosting a plant sale, where you can purchase some locally grown baby plants that will yield grown up adult plants. All proceeds support the Food For All program, which assists in the costs of making healthy food accessible. Don’t buy plants at the big box store garden center; these seedlings are bound to be more delicious, and you’ll have a better selection. Photo from Facebook. (JH)
Illinifest student film festival, 702 S. Wright St., free
Curated by students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinifest Student Film Festival is a celebration of student and professional short-filmmaking. Their mission is to make Illinifest an arena for diverse voices in short filmmaking. They will be screening 31 films from all over the world and campus. Films range from 1-20 minutes in length. (SL)
AsiaFest, Asian American Cultural Center, 1210 W. Nevada, Urbana, 1-4 p.m., Free
This is Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month, and the Asian American Cultural Center is celebrating with their annual AsiaFest. The event is family friendly and all activities and performances are free. Food tickets will be available for purchase at the event. And can we talk about the food? They’re featuring cuisines from China, Philippines, Malaysia, Bangledesh, Taiwan, and more. Seriously. Throw in some amazing dance performances and interactive booths and it sounds like a pretty great afternoon. (JEM)
International tabletop game day, Titan Games CU, 723 S. Neil St. Champaign, noon – 9 p.m., FREE
For this special day of “open gaming”, Titan is not just unpacking all their boxes. In addition to trying any demo version of any game they own, the store will be having active-led demos every hour from 1-5 p.m., and they’ll have promotional giveaways at 3 p.m. CUDO Plays will be there, showing off the best of their locally-created games, some of which are recently or about to be published and distributed. (RK)
Balinese Gamelan Concert, U – I Music Building (1114 W Nevada St), 2 p.m., free
Gamelan is traditional Indonesian music primarily made up of percussive instruments such as mallets and gongs. The thundering nature of these tools make for a striking multisensory experience. Gamelan has a sizable following in C-U, and this show will feature performances by the Student Performance Ensemble as well as the Community Gamelan, representing much of C-U’s Gamelan hobbyists at once. Come take in the music of another culture and give support to those who craft it. (JTM)
1st Annual Inaugural Mahomet Craft Beer Festival, Downtown Mahomet, 2 to 6p.m., $20 for 10 tickets
The greater C-U area has added yet another food and drink festival. Sponsored by JT Walker’s, this event will feature over twenty breweries, including locals Blind Pig, Destihl, Triptych, Riggs, White Oak, and obviously JT Walker’s, as well as two food trucks (Dragon Fire Pizza and Chester’s BBQ). The weather will be garbage, which is par for the course for food and drink events in Central Illinois, but the event will have tents, so you won’t be standing in the freezing cold rain pretending to have fun. Check SP next week for a review. Image from Facebook. (JH)
Glass Room Poets annual reading, 405 W. Illinois St., Urbana, 7-9 p.m., FREE
A low-key reading with high-quality poets will be held Saturday evening, with conversation and light refreshments to follow. Feel free to brings something edible or drinkable to share, kick back and hear the kind of poets who remind you why you ever went to poetry readings in the first place. Emily Kerlin, Elizabeth Majerus, Robert Manaster, Matthew Murrey, John Palen, Julie Price & Gale Walden are just the local voices to do that. (RK)
Sun Stereo w/ Trouble Chasin, New Souls and Black Mage, 8 pm, $10, 18+
Sun Stereo is certainly one of C-U’s most unique acts, and always provide quite a show. This time, they’re backed up by a trio of formidable opening acts for what is sure to be a raucous evening filled with (if memory serves correctly) hoola hoopers, hip-hop and everything in between. Excited to see what C-U can do on Saturday. (BH)
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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.