It’s easy to get caught up in the honey-do list on the weekends, so make sure to take some time out to do something fun with your significant other, your family or your friends. While you’re making your plans, check out some of the best bets for weekend fun right here in W.Y.D, which stands for What You’ll Do.
We pull these ideas off our community calendar, which you can find on the right side of WYDaily.com. Submitting to the calendar is free and easy, so make sure to add upcoming events for your group or organization.
This weekend is chock-full of fun events including some African American History Month events, some musical goings-on, a great kid’s film previewing an upcoming film festival and lots more. Read on for details!
History
Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center are celebrating African American History Month starting Friday with a new theme: “From Africa to America.” Gallery exhibits and guided tours of the museums’ outdoor living-history areas will highlight the culture of the first known Africans in Virginia and the experience of Africans in 1600s and 1700s Virginia. Click on the calendar link to get more information.
For more than 30 years, Williamsburg Regional Library and area social and cultural organizations have organized programs to celebrate African-American culture and achievements, and this year is no exception. On Sunday, the library welcomes The Abinet Berhanu Group, young jazz musicians from Virginia Commonwealth University who are rapidly gaining success and moving up in the jazz community. The sponsors are LeCercle Charmant; Williamsburg Men’s Club; Williamsburg Chapter of the National Association of Negro Business; and Professional Women’s Club. Look at the calendar to find out the time for this free performance.
Music and Dance
Principal Trumpet David Vonderheide will return to the Virginia Symphony Orchestra to take the spotlight as the featured soloist on the next Regional Classics concert Thursday evening. He will be performing Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto – a work considered the crown jewel among Haydn’s works for soloist and orchestra. Guest Conductor George Hanson will lead the orchestra in this and another work by Haydn – Symphony No. 104, “London.” Also on the program is Ravel’s “Le tombeau de Couperin” and Christopher Theofanidis’s “Muse.” The performance will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday at Phi Beta Kappa Hall. Tickets begin at $20. Students are $10 with ID, and discounts are available for groups of ten or more. To purchase tickets, call Symphony Patron Services at 757-892-6366 or visit www.virginiasymphony.org.
The Virginia Arts Festival (VAF) is presenting its Winter Concert Weekend in Williamsburg starting Friday. On Friday night at 7:30 p.m., Ruth Moody, a founding member of the internationally renowned Billboard-charting trio The Wailin’ Jennys, takes the stage at the Williamsburg Lodge in a free performance. Rosanne Cash headlines the Winter Concert Weekend, sponsored by Colonial Williamsburg and the Virginia Arts Festival, on Saturday night. The daughter of legend Johnny Cash and an acclaimed country music artist in her own right, Cash will perform songs from her album “The List,” a contemporary interpretation of essential country songs from the past. This performance, set for 8 p.m., requires tickets. Visit the VAF website to get more information and to get tickets.
Talks and Classes
William & Mary Law Professor Eric A. Kades will present a lecture called “The New Feudalism” on Thursday afternoon. The talk will explore the growing gap between rich and poor, and it will be followed by commentary from Emeritus Professor John W. Ely Jr., of Vanderbilt University. The event is co-sponsored by the William & Mary Property Rights Project and admission is free and open to the public. Check out the calendar to get the details.
St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church is hosting Rosalie Lamb, Anat Baniel Method Master Practitioner, for a free introduction class for seniors this Sunday. Attendees can learn how to increase balance, flexibility and freedom of movement as they age. Intellectual, emotional and energetic improvement is possible through the use of slow gentle movement that is designed to give your brain information it can use to become better organized. The class times are listed in the calendar.
Family Fun
Six more weeks of winter, or is spring just around the corner? One way or the other, the Virginia Living Museum is going to celebrate Groundhog Day on Saturday. Join the museum for a special day filled with fun children’s activities, including face painting by Kolonial Klowns, groundhog-themed crafts and treats, delightful planetarium programs and a visit from the museum’s whistle pig, a.k.a. the groundhog. SuperDoppler 10 meteorologist Jeremy Wheeler will be on hand to help the groundhog in his official prediction for Hampton Roads. Click the calendar link to get more information.
The Institute for Dance is offering free weekend performances of “Fairies by the Sea.” Just arrived at their coastal fairy house, the fairies must get ready for the Blue Moon High Tide Festival. Their new friend the mermaid wants to participate, but her big, clunky tail makes it impossible for her to dance like the fairies. The fairies must investigate ancient legends to find a way for the mermaid to join in this magical, tidal, seaside, celebration before it’s too late! See the performance for free at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Kimball Theatre (click here to get tickets for this free event). It will also play at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Williamsburg Library Theater.
Film
Films from all over the world for both adults and children will be shown during a Saturday matinee series leading up to the William and Mary Global Film Festival that will take place in mid February. The matinees at the Williamsburg Library will introduce the theme of this year’s Global Film Festival: “Film and Youth.” This weekend’s movie is the 1976 classic “Bugsy Malone.” It’s a family-friendly gangster movie and a musical where all the gangsters are played by children (including Jodie Foster in one of her first films). Instead of real bullets they use cream pies and splurge guns that cover the victim in cream. The story tells of the rise of Bugsy Malone and the battle for power between Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Here’s the calendar link.
