The future is foreseen, the past is reissued and the present is worth savoring this week in New Haven.
Monday, April 16
At the Yale School of Architecture (180 York St, New Haven), “speculative architect and explorer” Liam Young, founder of futurist think tank Tomorrow’s Thoughts Today, presents “City Everywhere: Stories from the Post-Anthropocene.” Organizers say little more than that, but on TTT’s website, City Everywhere is described as “a quasi-fictional city of the near future, extrapolated from the fears and wonders of an increasingly complex present.” Free.
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Tuesday, April 17
As part of the historically informed performance movement, Yale’s Collegium Musicum aims to perform music of the past as it was performed in the past—using historically accurate instruments, for example. At 5:15 this evening in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (121 Wall St, New Haven; 203-432-2977), the Collegium “presents scenes and ballads” from John Gay’s charged 1728 work The Beggar’s Opera. “
Also, it’s Tax Day, so file your taxes like there’s no tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 18
Between two daytime engagements, RJ Julia Booksellers (768 Boston Post Rd, Madison; 203-245-3959) enriches kids ranging from toddlers to teenagers. At 11 a.m., held offsite at IKEA (450 Sargent Dr, New Haven; 888-888-4532), the bookstore’s next free Small Event for Small People involves children’s books and activities themed around the question, “Where is Home?” Then, at 2 p.m. in RJ Julia’s Madison storefront, a free after-school workshop aims to help 9- to 13-year-olds develop their writing talents.
Thursday, April 19
The fourth annual, two-day Elm City Folk Festival gets underway at Cafe Nine (250 State St, New Haven; 203-789-8281). Featuring a dozen acts from near and far with “a wide range of folk styles,” tonight’s $5 bill starts at 8 p.m., while tomorrow’s starts at 9.
Friday, April 20
Southern Connecticut State’s Lyman Center (501 Crescent St, New Haven; 203-392-6154) hosts a Friday night of comedy connected to Saturday Night Live. The headliner is SNL cast member Alex Moffat, who’s parodied Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Trump, Prince William, Chuck Schumer and Guy Who Just Bought a Boat, among many others, and the special guest is SNL writer Anna Drezen, who’s a standup and sketch comic in her own right. The show starts at 8 p.m. and regular tickets cost just $15.
Saturday, April 21
“It’s Spring. Wake up the Green!” says a coalition of groups who’ve organized an eccentric array of free events from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the New Haven Green. Beginning with a “wake-up walk” at 9 followed by a clean-up effort and a Powder House Day reenactment—recounting the day that Benedict Arnold and other like-minded militiamen compelled New Haven to join the Revolutionary War—at 10, the Yale Marching Band is leading a march through the Green at 12:30, culminating in a speech or two from the main stage at 1, by which time food trucks will have set up along Temple Street. Meantime, myriad family-friendly activities are scheduled from 12:30 to 4, joined at 1:45 by a steelpans concert and, at 2, a pre-Earth Day tree planting and guided tour of the Green’s most significant greenery.
Sunday, April 22 – Earth Day
This year, Earth Day lines up with an annual outdoor favorite: the Wooster Square Cherry Blossom Festival. And according to perennial tongue-in-cheek blossom whisperer Bart Connors Szczarba, it might also line up with the peak of the neighborhood’s cherry blossom bloom, which he thinks could hit as early as today. Featuring live music, food trucks, local arts and other vendors and a children and families area, the festival lasts from noon to 4:30 and is free to attend.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Image depicts Wooster Square cherry blossoms in 2016. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
