Big and small concerts, brainy talks, neighborhood festivals and a chance to set a Guinness World Record help New Haven transition from summer into fall.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Bikini Kill + Kilynn Lunsford
8 p.m. • College Street Music Hall
Riot-grrrl pioneer Bikini Kill starts the week at maximum volume, with New Haven-born punk experimentalist Kilynn Lunsford opening.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
Beyond Britain: “Ghosting”
12:30 p.m. • Yale Center for British Art • Free; limited space
A half-hour gallery talk uses Roshini Kempadoo’s Ghosting to trace photography, plantation history and their social and ecological afterlives.
David Brooks: The Battle for America’s Soul
5:30 p.m. • Luce Hall • Free; registration required
The former long-time New York Times opinion columnist—now Presidential Senior Fellow at Yale's Jackson School of Global Affairs—gives a public talk followed by discussion.
Brentano String Quartet
7:30 p.m. • Morse Recital Hall
The Brentano String Quartet open Yale’s chamber-music series with Haydn, Beethoven and Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks.
Mt. Joy: Celebrating 10 Years of Mt. Joy
7 p.m. • Westville Music Bowl
Philly-born indie-rock band Mt. Joy marks a decade together in one of Westville’s final big outdoor concerts of the season.
Ziggy Marley + Third World
8 p.m. • College Street Music Hall
A reggae double bill pairs legendary eight-time Grammy winner Ziggy Marley with Jamaican mainstays Third World.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
What Does an Editor Do? with Henry Finder
Noon • Humanities Quadrangle • Free
The New Yorker’s editorial director aims to pull back the curtain on magazine-making—from finding an idea through editing and publication.
Teen Art Studio
3–4:30 p.m. • Yale University Art Gallery • Free • Ages 13–19
A drop-in art studio complete with supplies, snacks and even bus passes for those who need them.
The Wonder of Birds + Binocular Lesson
4–5 p.m. • Mitchell Library • Registration requested
The New Haven Bird Club brings binoculars to the library and teaches young bird-watchers how to spot the incredible avian creatures.
Bonga-Bonga’s Football Life, from Congo to Belgium
4–5:30 p.m. • Luce Hall
Michigan State historian Peter Alegi, co-author of the forthcoming Cool Under Pressure: Bonga-Bonga’s Global African Football Life, tells the story of Congolese soccer star Paul Bonga-Bonga, whose career took him from colonial Congo to Belgium’s top league in the 1950s and ’60s.
Folklorist by Night
6:30 p.m. • Lost in New Haven
Folklorist Derek Piotr opens an archive of more than 2,000 field recordings collected around New Haven, selecting songs and stories while inviting guests to contribute their own.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Whitney Literary Society: Griswold v. Connecticut
5:30 p.m. • New Haven Museum • Registration required
Susan C. Wawrose discusses her book about Griswold v. Connecticut, the landmark Supreme Court case that struck down Connecticut’s ban on contraception for married couples. The museum will bring out related materials from its archives.
Stony Creek Forum: Gish Jen
7 p.m. • Willoughby Wallace Library, Branford • Registration required
Acclaimed novelist Gish Jen discusses Bad Bad Girl, her memoir about her formidable mother and their difficult relationship.
Concert at the Ely
7:30 p.m. • Ely Center • $10 suggested donation
An experimental music concert brings together brass and electronics, homemade instruments, tape loops, sound machines and live video.
Hoop Dreams on 35mm
7 p.m. • Humanities Quadrangle • Free
Yale Film Archive projects Steve James’s excellent and under-awarded ‘90s basketball documentary Hoop Dreams from a 35mm print.
The Carpenters Songbook
7 p.m. • Shubert Theatre
The Carpenters’ catalog gets the live tribute treatment "with a full band and heartfelt storytelling."
El Ten Eleven + Tall Tall Trees
8 p.m. • Space Ballroom, Hamden
Instrumental duo El Ten Eleven builds surprisingly big songs from bass, drums, loops and pedals, with one-man-band Tall Tall Trees opening.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
New Haven Grand Prix + A-1 Toyota Apizza Feast
4–10 p.m. • Downtown New Haven
Friday, we catch a fleeting glimpse of just how good downtown New Haven can be when the roads close. The streets become a bicycle race course while the Green fills with pizza, drinks, music, and family activities. In what will surely be a surreal moment, 5,000 people will be dressing up as pizza slices in order to capture a Guinness World Record. If you want, you can also help make history.
Oundjian Conducts Mahler
7:30 p.m. • Woolsey Hall
Peter Oundjian and the Yale Philharmonia tackle Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, the mighty Titan.
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
8 p.m. • Toad’s Place
Three-time Grammy winner Ben Harper comes to Toad’s, playing music from a three-decade catalog of blues, rock, folk, soul and reggae.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
CT Folk Fest & Green Expo
11 a.m.–8 p.m. • Edgerton Park • Rain date: Sunday, September 27
The annual festival fills Edgerton Park with live music, food trucks, vendors, and a Green Kids Village. Kyshona headlines a bill that also includes On the Trail, The Wolff Sisters and Kemp Harris.
Fiesta Latina
Noon–5 p.m. • JUNTA, 169 Grand Ave. • Free
The Peabody and JUNTA kick off a two-day celebration of Latin American culture with music, performances, food and family activities in Fair Haven. The festivities continue Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at the Yale Peabody Museum.
Oktoberfest at East Rock Brewing
Noon–9 p.m. • East Rock Brewing Company • 21+
Lagers, German-inspired food, live Bavarian entertainment, stein-holding and yodeling contests.
Armadafest
Noon • Armada Brewing
Armada’s version of Oktoberfest promises the brewery’s characteristically unserious take on the German beer-hall tradition, including stein-holding and assorted festival ridiculousness.
Lotta Studio Open Studio + Artist Reception
Open studio 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; reception 3–5 p.m. • Lotta Studio, Westville
Don Wunderlee and Susan McCaslin share new work during an afternoon artist reception and larger open-studio day.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
Lake Wintergreen Bird Walk
8–11 a.m. • Lake Wintergreen
Circle the lake with New Haven Bird Club looking for migratory and resident birds, with an optional climb to the water tower thrown in.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
3 p.m. • Woolsey Hall
New Haven Symphony Orchestra mixes Mendelssohn’s famous Shakespeare score with music by Katherine Balch, Howard Swanson and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, plus actors and the Elm City Girls’ Choir.
Chelsea Handler
7 p.m. • College Street Music Hall
The comedian, author and longtime late-night host will be at College Street with a stand-up set.
Written by Daily Nutmeg Staff. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
