Friday, February 1st
Get your last bites of Restaurant Week, Champaign County, through Saturday, prices vary
Have you been following our Restaurant Week coverage? We’ve posted features and interviews with restaurant managers, chefs, and owners, as well as reviews of breakfast and dinner. Scroll through our Food & Drink section to read up on what we’ve shared. Visit Champaign County’s Restaurant Week continues through Saturday. (JH)
Get your lunch with a side of live music, First Fridays @Noon, University of Illinois School of Music, free
Thanks to these free lunchtime concerts courtesy of the students at the University of Illinois School of Music, you can step away from your sad desk salad and recharge your spirit with some live music. (DD)
Celebrate Watson’s, Watson’s Shack & Rail, food specials all day, music from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., prices vary
It’s hard to believe that Watson’s is turning 3, but here we are. To celebrate, the restaurant is offering $3 off adult slashes and entrees all day. Live music kicks off at 8 p.m. Here’s your chance to splurge on some drinks and fried chicken. This week has been hell with the cold, so treat yourself. (JH) Photo by Jessica Hammie
Experience Open Scene Showcase/Black Herstory Slam!, Independent Media Center, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., free
A labor of love courtesy of Imbibe Urbana’s Love for All Poetry Crawl, Open Scene Urbana, Urbana Public Arts and the IMC, this celebration of Black women’s history will feature poetry, spoken word, music, other forms of artistic expression “designed to promote community, creativity, and connection.” (DD) Photo from the Open Scene Showcase Facebook page.
Saturday, February 2nd
Help plan the direction of local arts and cultural events at the IMC’s first programming meeting of 2019, 11 a.m. to noon, free
If you’ve ever heard yourself saying “why aren’t there more [insert your favorite arts event here]?” now’s your chance to be part of the solution. Stop by the Independent Media Center’s 2019 programming meeting and pitch your ideas. (DD)
Watch women’s gymnastics, Huff Hall, 4 p.m., free
Sure there’s this big nationally televised sporting event happening Sunday where some dudes will pass and kick and tackle and stuff for lots of money, but on Saturday you can go see some amazing athletes right here in our community. U of I gymnastics meets are super fun and a great way to spend an afternoon. (JM) Photo from Facebook
Prevalence, Nibiru, Charm Regalia, NP0, Casa De Sasha, 8 p.m., $6-$8
Prevalence have been super active over the last year as far as shows go, and this house show might be of interest to you this weekend. Listen up on their Panic Button EP, which came out last year. Bring a few bucks and listen up — though you’ll have to find out where this is for yourself. (PS)
Primitive Lights, Of Course You Realize, Ant Hattie, The Iron Post, 9:30 p.m., $5
Alt-country outfit Primitive Lights headline this one on Saturday night at the Iron Post, so cozy up in one of the best live music waterin’ holes in Urbana for this trio of acts. Ant Hattie is a side project from members of Lonely Trailer, which I didn’t realize until earlier this week. This is a highlight of the weekend in C-U live music. (PS) Photo from Primitive Lights’ Facebook page
Sunday, February 3rd
Get some jerk wings, Caribbean Grill, noon to 4 p.m., $1/wing
Caribbean Grill is celebrating the stupid bowl — I mean Super Bowl— with $0.99 wings, while supplies last. CG’s food is fantastic, and those wings are amazing. They’re not always available, so get yourself to the restaurant early to get your game-day wings. (JH) Top photo by Jessica Hammie
Do some ice-skating, U of I Ice Arena, 1 to 4:30 p.m., prices vary
I always try to get over to the ice arena at least once a year. There’s just something about the skates blistering your feet, that ever-present sweaty foot smell, a concession stand hot chocolate, and satisfying feeling of watching the zamboni smooth over the grooved ice. It’s a delightfully awkward way to get some exercise. (JM)
Go out and get some fresh air, literally anywhere, probably midday, free
We’ve all been sucked up into the polar vortex for the better part of this week, when stepping outside could mean actually freezing your face off. However, it is going to be fifty-five whole degrees on Sunday. Yes. It’s going to be approximately one hundred degrees warmer than it was on Wednesday. Because Illinois. So go to the park — Champaign and Urbana have some great ones, do a stroll through a forest preserve, take your dog for an actual walk…around the block even! Enjoy it, because as we know, it will not last. (JM) Photo by Patrick Singer
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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.