We start wide with perspectives from Africa and the Middle East, then stay wide to handle impressive local breadth.
Monday, September 25
At 2 p.m. in Yale’s Horchow Hall, Timothy Musa Kabba, Sierra Leone’s top diplomat, “will discuss his personal journey from child soldier to Minister of Foreign Affairs, leading his country’s efforts in the UN Security Council as it navigates global food and energy shocks and regional coups.”
Tuesday, September 26
The Schwarzman Center hosts a conversation between Tanzanian singer Lady Jaydee and Nigerian writer Chigozie Obioma, who will “reflect on the landscape of African music and literature.”
At 5, Yale’s Loria’s Center for the History of Art hosts master potter and Afghan exile Matin Malikzada. “Internationally recognized for his technical skill and elegant designs” and “now resettled in Northwest Connecticut,” organizers invite us to “meet the artist” and “hear the story of his struggles, joy, creativity, and resilience.”
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Thursday, September 28
Westville Music Bowl’s 2023 season ends at 7 p.m. with boygenius, a trio of lead-caliber singers who harmonize beautifully over indie rock and folk.
Meanwhile, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s season begins at 7:30 “with a triumphant return to Woolsey Hall, celebrated with Saint-Saëns’s vibrant and joyful ‘Organ’ Symphony
Friday, September 29
In Yale’s Luce Hall, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (when lunch is served), a seminar led by academics Marci Shore, Bradley Woodworth and Viktoras Bachmetjevas tackles “Social Dialogue in Times of Troubled Identities,” particularly “promoting a culture of dialogue and civil conversation” amid “raging cultural wars.”
The next New Haven Night Market starts at 5 and runs ’til 10 on Chapel Street from College to York, where roughly 90 vendors (including 10 food and drink options) are set to pop up alongside performances, a “game zone” and a number of “photo ops.”
Over in Madison, a Drum & Medicinal Cacao Circle at Hammonasset Beach State Park promises a “transformative” experience brimming with “connection, self-expression, and rejuvenation.”
Saturday, September 30
Speaking of rejuvenation, Quinnipiac River Park is due for a cleanup. You can join from 9 a.m. to 11. “All supplies provided.”
Starting at 5 p.m., two runway shows at Neville Wisdom’s shop and studio on Broadway present new collections by Wisdom and Duss Wayne.
Explosions in the Sky and their soaring instrumental post-rock head up an 8 o’clock show at College Street Music Hall.
Or keep your ears to the ground at Three Sheets, where a small local show by The Simulators, West Rockers and The Vigos starts at 9.
Sunday, October 1
To mark the start of October, Stratford’s bimonthly, year-round Shakespeare Market—an open-air vendor popup named to honor the American Shakespeare Festival Theater, which burned to the ground at the site in 2019—becomes The Shakesfeare Market: A Nightmare on 1850 Elm Street, promising “frighteningly fun festivities and a Halloween-centric shopping experience” from 10 a.m. to 2.
From noon to 4, an Animal Awareness Day celebration on the Branford Town Green promises a number of attractions including a blessing of the animals (bring your pets), an opossum ambassador, a dog kissing booth and, most importantly, rescue group and other booths aimed at helping us help nonhuman animals.
Also starting at noon, an Oktoberfest celebration at West Haven’s Harugari German-American Club offers live music from 2 to 6 and “a variety of German food and beer” for sale.
The hard rock band Helmet, who flirted with major mainstream success in the ’90s (and did have one record that ultimately sold millions of copies) but never quite broke out, headline an 8 p.m. bill at Space Ballroom in Hamden.
Written by Dan Mims. Image 1, featuring boygenius, sourced from @boygeniustrio. Image 2, featuring Matin Malikzada and family, sourced from Patch. Images 3, of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra at Woolsey Hall; 4, of Quinnipiac River Park; and 5, of Explosions in the Sky at College Street Music Hall in 2017, photographed by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
