Savor Fat Tuesday and Chewing the Fat. Then make the most out of a month that’s got a little extra breadth.
Monday, February 24
You’ve probably seen them—the fresh-looking plant beds, edged with light stone and dark metal, now dotting sidewalks downtown. They’re called bioswales, and aside from beautifying the city, they serve a deeper purpose: diverting rainwater from the city’s sewer system, which in turn keeps that system from overflowing. You can learn about why that matters at the Urban Resources Initiative (301 Prospect St, New Haven), where Yale prof Gaboury Benoit and city engineer Giovanni Zinn are giving a noontime presentation about the bioswales’ “design, function and measured performance.” Free; “lunch will be provided.”
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Tuesday, February 25 – Fat Tuesday
Mardi Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday,” and Fat Tuesday means it’s time for the New Haven Free Public Library’s annual Mardi Gras party at Ives Main Library (133 Elm St, New Haven; 203-946-7454). Adopting the theme “New Haven: A City of Stories” and encouraging attendees to “dress to impress,” organizers promise “delicious dishes from some of New Haven’s most popular restaurants,” “signature cocktails from Ordinary and High George,” live music from Thabisa and an activity that puts the “fun” in fundraising: paying to pop balloons that may contain surprises. Tickets cost $80, with all proceeds benefiting the library system.
Wednesday, February 26
You can spend today’s lunch hour digesting international intrigue courtesy of journalist Mara Hvistendahl. At 12:05 p.m. in the Yale Law School (127 Wall St, New Haven), she’s set to discuss “the FBI and the US-China technological battle,” echoing the title of her just-published book, The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage.
You can spend the evening digesting additional food for thought along with some actual food, as James Beard Award-winning chef Bryant Terry headlines two “Cooking Across the Black Diaspora” events at the Afro American Cultural Center at Yale (211 Park St, New Haven). The first, in conjunction with the Yale Sustainable Food Program’s Chewing the Fat series, presents a conversation with Terry from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The second, starting at 7, features a cooking demo based on “a recipe from his newest cookbook, Vegetable Kingdom. A lineup of students and community members sharing narratives of foods from the Black diaspora will follow. Music, food, and conversation cap off the night!” Free.
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Thursday, February 27
Fellowship Place, which “serve adults living with mental illness by offering a full range of therapeutic support and rehabilitation services that promote independence, wellness, and a meaningful life,” celebrates 60 years of operation with a 6 p.m. fundraising gala at the New Haven Lawn Club (193 Whitney Ave, New Haven). Highlights of the night include a wine reception and dinner as well as silent and live auctions. $150.
Also at 6 p.m., Area Two, the experimental brew zone at Two Roads Brewing Company (1700 Stratford Ave, Stratford), presents “Dead of Winter,” in which members of the Yale Science Diplomats—each of them a graduate or postdoctoral researcher at Yale—discuss “the science of death.” Attendees, meanwhile, can “hoist a one-night only firkin of Two Roads’ new beer Two Die For.” $10; admission includes one complimentary beer.
Friday, February 28
Chapter & Verse, a local prose and poetry reading series, offers up its next installment at 7 p.m. at Koffee? (104 Audubon St, New Haven; 203-465-6244). The theme this time? “Glean.”
Saturday, February 29 – Leap Day
February gets an extra day this year, and New Haven seems determined to use it.
A busy schedule at Artspace (50 Orange St, New Haven; 203-772-2709) begins in earnest at 4 p.m., when curators Johannes DeYoung and Federico Solmi mark the closing of their exhibition, Strange Loops, with a talk “that sheds light on the technology-related issues” the show raises. Elena Bertozzi, an associate professor of Game Design & Development at Quinnipiac University, will also join in. Free; “refreshments will be served.”
Also at Artspace, at 8 p.m., “an evening of Puppet Cabaret” promises “short-form puppet and object theater for adult audiences” courtesy of performers Anatar Marmol-Gagne, Madison J. Cripps, Katayoun Amir-Aslani, Kāli Therrien and Ponybird. “Expect the unexpected!” $10 suggested donation.
Starting at 8 p.m. as well, the Space Ballroom (295 Treadwell St, New Haven; 203-573-1600) hosts a performance of Trump vs. Bernie: The Debate!—“a hilarious live comedy experience that stars Anthony Atamanuik as Donald Trump and James Adomian as Bernie Sanders.” Tickets cost about $34, including fees.
And if you want a Leap Year-specific option, consider an 8 p.m. show at The State House, where the lineup includes The Olympics!—a band that performs only once every two years, including every Leap Day, and promises “sludge, punk, metal, thrash, avant-garde, all while wearing short shorts.” $8.
Sunday, March 1
At 6 p.m., friar and author Brian Pierce, who has “worked in barrios and mountain villages with men and women living with HIV-AIDS” and “also spent time in a contemplative ashram dedicated to Christian mysticism and interreligious dialogue,” comes to the Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale (268 Park St, New Haven) to give the Jeanie Graustein Lecture on Environmental Justice. “Clay, Breath & Flowing River” is the topic, according to organizers, who also say, “Come for dinner prior to the lecture.”
Written by Dan Mims. Image, featuring Bryant Terry, photographed by Margo Moritz. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
