Count down to a trio of tentpole events, a duo of popup jazz lounges and a singular Guinness World Records attempt.
Tuesday, September 9
Westville Music Bowl’s final week of shows this year starts at 6:30 p.m. with a performance by pop/rock band HAIM and ends on Thursday with a 6 p.m. show by country legend Dwight Yoakam.
At 7 at Elm City Social, a seminar titled “The Bittersweet Future—Amaro Is Here to Stay,” part of a broader slate of events for New Haven Cocktail Week, offers an explanation of “Amaro’s moment” along with ideas for how to seize it.
Wednesday, September 10
Offering an anthemic blend of emo, alt rock, folk rock and more topped off by neurotic lyrics sung in a distinctive warble, Spanish Love Songs sound nothing like their name. But something tells me they’ll still be able to romance the crowd during a 7:30 show at Hamden’s Space Ballroom, where World’s Greatest Dad and Bike Routes are set to open.
Thursday, September 11
At 5 p.m., the Hotel Marcel, a green hotel within a “modernist masterpiece,” hosts its next Jazz Night at BLDG, the lobby-level restaurant, bar and lounge. “Enjoy the smooth notes of New Haven Jazz Underground while sipping and savoring BLDG’s happy hour bites and hand-crafted cocktails in our lobby’s sunken lounge.”
At 7, it’s the final Weird Music Night of the year at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art. Attendees can expect “an evening of boundary-pushing performance and experimental sound.”
At 8, Stella Blues hosts, and theChillCorner presents, Beats, Bits & Bytes, a retro video game popup. “Pull up, grab a drink, grab a controller and come vibe with the gang.”
Friday, September 12
Starting at 4 p.m., the annual New Haven Grand Prix and associated A-1 Toyota Apizza Feast take over the middle of downtown, when cyclists will begin racing laps around a square city block and more than 50 food, beverage and other vendors, including a bunch slinging slices, will set up shop right in the middle. The pizza festival is notably different this year, encompassing a three-hour ticketed attempt to set the Guinness World Record for “largest pizza party” before opening up to the general public at 7.
Meanwhile, between 6 and 9, Hamden’s Villano Park hosts a movie night featuring “free popcorn, food trucks and games” along with the family-friendly animated hit The Wild Robot (2024).
Saturday, September 13
From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the first East Rock Porchfest, organized and headlined by local rock band Modern Refuge, convenes more than 50 acts on front porches and yards around the East Rock neighborhood.
From noon to 4, the DixWell Neighborhood Festival at the Dixwell “Q” House offers attractions including over 50 vendors (food trucks among them), live music from Rahsaan Langley and activities including line dancing and hula hooping.
Also starting at noon, Abomination Brewing Company’s next Rare Fog Day hovers “all day” around Twelve Percent Beer Project in North Haven. The event offers “never-before-seen rare beer,” including new additions to the brewery’s hyper-limited Fog series; “our first-ever (and maybe CT’s first-ever) hard iced tea bar”; an “evening stout and cigar lounge”; a barely-breaking-a-sweat 0.5k kickoff run; plus live music and “great food.”
Sunday, September 14
From 1 to 3 p.m., an opening reception at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art launches a pair of shows. The first is Conceptual Romance, featuring “textile-based installations, provisional sculptures, photographic paintings and site-responsive conceptual projects, among other media,” from roughly two dozen artists. The second is Translating from the Edges, an exhibit of artist books from roughly one dozen artists.
From 6 to 10, enjoy Jazz on the Green. “The Green will transform into an open-air jazz lounge, filled with soulful melodies, smooth rhythms, and good vibes all around. Bring a blanket or a chair and enjoy an unforgettable night of live music under the stars.”
Written by Dan Mims. Image, featuring attendees of a past Apizza Feast, sourced from @tasteofnewhaven. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
