Here we go, friends — the last hurrah. It’s Labor Day weekend, and I’ve gathered a massive mixed bouquet of events: the last of the summer crop, and the first fun of fall. Welcome to this week’s edition of 401 Fun.
‘ART NIGHT’ FINALE
In case you’re reading this Aug. 29… tonight is the last “Art Night” of the season. Bristol and Warren will pop to life. Organizers encourage walking, driving or bicycling at your own pace using the handbill of events as a guide to visit galleries, artist studios and local businesses. There will be live music, theater performances, dance, and artists talks and demonstrations. There’s also an Art Night Season After Party at arc{hive} book + snackery starting at 8 p.m., with a cash bar at 4 Market St., Warren. Details here.
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JUST ADD TWIZZLERS
Summer is for old movies at the drive-in — you can stream new releases all winter. Go out with old-school classics at Misquamicut Drive-In this Labor Day weekend. The Westerly open-air theater screens “Jaws” Aug. 29, “Top Gun: Maverick,” Aug. 30, “The Breakfast Club” Aug. 31, and, yes, “Jaws” again on Sept. 1. Bring your crew. $25 per carload. Gates 6:30 p.m., previews 7:30 p.m., movie 8:30 p.m. 316 Atlantic Ave. Details here.
EMMYLOU HARRIS, OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW, AND MORE
You know it’s Labor Day Weekend in Rhode Island when the stars descend on Charlestown. This year’s Rhythm and Roots Fest is jam-packed with A-listers: Emmylou Harris, Old Crow Medicine Show, Drive-By Truckers, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, and Shemekia Copeland are all major names playing this fest from Aug. 30-Sept. 1. This fest always brings big names — but these are the biggest names I’ve ever seen here. Plus food, beer, and wine. Single day passes from $71.13 with fee. Kids 12 and under free. Ninigret Park, 4890A Old Post Road. Details here.
GILDED ANIMALS
With a focus on Newport’s history, “Wild Imagination: Art and Animals in the Gilded Age,” opens Aug. 30 at Rosecliff mansion in Newport. The exhibit brings together some 100 items, animal-inspired paintings, sculptures, photographs and fashions, as well as fancy dog collars and sea creatures blown in glass, according to Newport Mansions.
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Catch it Friday through Jan. 12 when you get tickets to Rosecliff. Non-member adults $25, ages 6-12 $10, details here. 548 Bellevue Ave. Details here.
EMPANADA FEST
Empanada fans, don’t ask why, just go: Pawtucket hosts “Empanada fest” Aug. 31, 4-7 p.m. There will be live music in addition to different food vendors. Intersection of Main and Roosevelt. $20. Tickets are online only. Details here.
‘SHROOMS
Explore fungi in Smithfield as Audubon hosts “Wild Mushroom Workshop: Take the Mystery Out of Mushrooming” Aug. 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. You’ll learn how to identify mushroom groups and species that grow in the area through a presentation and woodland hike with an expert guide. You’ll have the chance to try some mushroom dishes afterward. For adults. $40. Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge, 12 Sanderson Road, Smithfield. Details here.
SOCCER TIME
Get your Ted Lasso on. The Ocean State has a pro men’s soccer team, Rhode Island FC, and this week they take on Birmingham Legion Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices vary. At Beirne Stadium at Bryant University. 1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield. Details here.
LAST BITES
Say arrivederci to PVD’s al fresco summer: Federal Hill, Rhody’s own Little Italy, hosts its final Al Fresco on the Hill Aug. 31 from 5 p.m. to midnight. Stroll the avenue and sample food from local restaurants and shop at retailers set up outside. There will also be live entertainment and artistic performances. Atwells Avenue. Details here.
WATERFIRE x DUNKIN
The most Rhody of collabs: WaterFire x Dunkin’. The WaterFire on Aug. 31 will feature ”Dunkin’ Music Festival Village” featuring local artists, live painting, and live T-shirt screen printing with a limited edition “WaterFire x Dunkin” tee. (I need it.) at Market Square from 6 to 10 p.m.
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You can also take part in creating a Dunkin’ themed mural, sample “new Dunkin’ products,” see some 100 Dunkin’ flags lining the river along with a photo booth on College Street Bridge, FIRED UP 50/50 Raffle — you might win cash prizes while supporting the event — and all the regular WaterFire fun. Lighting will begin at 7:36 p.m. and end at 11 p.m. Details here.
TASTE THE FIRST APPLES OF FALL
Let’s embrace the fall vibes. There are plenty of apple-picking spots opening soon, so start making plans now. One Rhody staple, Jaswell’s Farm, opens for PYO apples Labor Day weekend, according to their Instagram. 50 Swan Road, Smithfield.
Meanwhile, Steere Orchard in Greenville hosts a Peach Fest Sept. 1 and 2 according to their Instagram. Expect free hayrides, farmers market, live music, food trucks and more. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 150 Austin Ave. Details here and here.
Obviously, check online before you hit up any farms — Mother Nature is in charge here— but here’s a taste or two to get you in the fall mood.
MELVIN SEALS & JGB
Grateful Dead fans, rejoice: B-3 legend Melvin Seals, who played with Jerry Garcia in the Jerry Garcia Band for 18 years, brings the grooves and the JGB to The Met in Pawtucket Aug. 31. The music never stopped. $37.50 advance, $45 door. 1005 Main St. Learn more about the artists here. Details here.
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GOODBYE, GREAT ELEPHANTS
Catch this herd before they vamoose: some 100 life-size Indian elephant sculptures are in Newport, presented by Art&Newport through Sept. 2. The Great Elephant Migration is a global fundraiser to amplify indigenous knowledge and inspire the human race to share space, according to its website. The sculptures were made by a community of 200 indigenous Indian artisans according to their website. Learn more here and here.
…AND SPEAKING OF ELEPHANTS
The Breakers hosts “SEARCHERS (Act 3),” a contemporary art installation by Hadi Falapishi billed in a Newport Mansions press release as being “in conversation with The Great Elephant Migration” and in collaboration with Dodie Kazanjian and Art & Newport, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6.
Falapishi was born in Tehran in 1987, and now lives and works in New York. He created 100 paintings, sculptures and other fanciful objects that coexist with and comment on the 100-elephant herd that has landed in Newport, according to Newport Mansions. See it with admission to The Breakers, $29 per adult, $10 per youth (age 6 to 12). 44 Ochre Point. Details here.
MORE GILDED AGE VIBES
They’re doing it again, Gilded fans.
This costs a pretty penny, but if you’re a hard-core “Gilded Age” fan: Newport Mansions hosts guide-led tours based on HBO’s Emmy-winning series: Their “Inside ‘The Gilded Age’ Tour” is now updated for Season 2, and starting Sept. 3, they returning for the month. (It ran previously May 17-June 28.)
Take an epic nearly four hour guide-led tours of locations where the Emmy-winning period drama was filmed, according to billing. You’ll “get the inside scoop on what it takes to host a major television production” as guides “explain which scenes were filmed in each room, talk about the real people who lived in these mansions.” You’ll scope out spots chosen by series creator Julian Fellowes. All details here.
Related: A trip to Newport, R.I., inspired by HBO’s ‘The Gilded Age’
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“POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE”
In case you haven’t heard, it’s election season, and Trinity Rep kicks off its 61st season with “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” by Selina Fillinger, directed by Curt Columbus. It runs Sept. 5-22 and again Oct. 10-27. Trinity says the show, debuting shortly before the 2024 election, is a “naughty political farce.” Sept. 5 preview is pay-what-you-wish. Sept. 6 from $24. 7:30 p.m. 201 Washington St., Providence. Details here.
BIRDS AND BREWS
Take flight: It’s Raptor Weekend Brewery Night Sept. 6 as Audubon partners with Warwick’s Proclamation Ale Co. I’lll have more details on Audubon Raptor Weekend in next week’s column. But it kicks off Sept. 6 with live music and a chance to meet live Audubon owl and hawk ambassadors. Sip brews or wine, nosh on snacks, and learn about raptors. Age 21+. 6-8:30 p.m. At Audubon Nature Center and Aquarium, 1401 Hope St., Bristol. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. $30 ticket includes two drink tickets, and free snacks. Details here.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: ONGOING FUN
ERIK ROCK, GRETA GRANITE AND THE THUNDERSTONE: The Washington Post recently profiled a familiar artist: Troll artist Thomas Dambo. We here in Rhody already know the name. I talked to the trash artist and recycle activist in April, when Dambo’s two trolls in Ninigret Park opened to the public. With summer crowds dying out, go see Erik Rock and Greta Granite. 5 Park Lane, Charlestown.
BIG BEAUTIFUL BAMBOO BIRDS: You’ve heard of the Charlestown trolls — now get ready for the big beautiful birds of Bristol. Noted artists Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein are talented artists in their own right. When they team up, they are The Myth Makers, and they’ve created big beautiful bamboo birds at the 33-acre Blithewold estate in Bristol. Each bird ranges from 15 to 30 feet tall, and each has a story to tell. Free to see with admission through next summer. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. General admission for adults, $22, ages 11-16 $11; children ages 6-10 $6; ages 0-5 free. 101 Ferry Road. Details here.
FOOD TOURS: Foodies, Rhode Island Red Food Tours offers tours now through November. Wear your comfortable shoes for a 1.7-mile walking tour. ($76 per person, or $94 per person with alcohol.) Or join a Newport Neighborhood Food Tour May 17, or Downcity Providence Food Tours May 17. All details here.
BROWN’S ART WALKING TOURS: Brown University now offers free public art walking tours led by Brown students every weekend. Learn about Brown’s public art collection with a 40-minute student-curated tour, exploring six works of art. All tours are outdoors, rain or shine. No registration required. Meet up at 1 p.m. On Saturdays, meet at the Eli Harvey sculpture, Bronze Bruno, on the College Green (79 Waterman St.) On Sundays, meet at Tom Friedman’s Circle Dance, on the Campus Walk. Tours run weekends through Nov. 17. Map and all details here.
FOOD AND ARCHITECTURE WALKING TOUR: Food, art, and architecture come together for Downcity Providence Food Tours, noon to 3:30 p.m., on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through November. Get an insider’s view of creative and lively Providence during a tour lasting more than three hours over 1.7 miles. Discover some of the city’s award-winning restaurants, its hidden art and historic architecture. Tickets $76-$94 per person. 1 Ship St., Providence. Details here.
FOOD TRUCK FRIDAYS: Weather permitting, some 15 local food trucks park at Roger Williams Park at 5 p.m. each Friday through Sept. 27. Bring a chair or blanket and soak up live tunes from local artists, jump on the carousel, hop the train ride. Free admission; pay for what you eat. 1000 Elmwood Ave., Providence. Details here.
Until next week, Rhody: Keep rockin.’
Lauren Daley can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurendaley1.
