From the sizzing La Onda festival lineup to “La Boheme” and the Bay Area Book Festival, there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area this weekend.
Here’s a partial roundup.
La Onda: Another impressive lineup
Organizers have pulled together a really big lineup for the second annual Festival La Onda By BottleRock.
Marco Antonio Solis, Carin León, Banda MS, Pepe Aguilar and Grupo Firme are among the well-known names on the bill for this two-day Latin music showcase.
Other features acts include Xavi, Tito Double P, Chino Pacas, La Receta, Camila Fernández, Los Aptos, Sonora Tropicana, MAR, Edgar Alejandro, Christian Nava, Eden Muñoz, Codiciado, Oscar Maydon, Ángela Aguilar, Clave Especial, Alicia Villarreal, Michelle Maciel, Reyna Tropical, Miguel Cornejo, Erre, Los De La 4, Adriana Ríos and Ysrael Barajas.
There’s so much talent in that La Onda lineup, but fans will really be excited to see Solis, the singer-songwriter-guitarist who co-founded Los Bukis in 1975 and went to a hugely successful solo career. His list of No. 1 hits includes “Una Mujer Como Tu,” “Que Pena Me Das,” “Así Como Te Conocí” and “O Me Voy o Te Vas.”
León is another massive draw, with a catalog that includes such popular albums as “Colmillo de Leche” and “Boca Chueca, Vol. 1.”
Details: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. May 31 and JUne 1; Napa Valley Expo, Napa; tickets start at $218; LaOndaFest.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
This fest is a real page-turner
If ever there was a local Woodstock for book fans, it’s the Bay Area Book Festival, which in its 11th year will take over downtown Berkeley for two full days of literary reverie.
Though there’s fun to be had at the 2025 fest the official theme — “Changing the Narrative” — isn’t so joyful, given (waves hand at everything). Garrett Felber will talk about political prisoners through the lens of his biography of American prison-rights activist, Martin Sostre. Journalists Zack Beauchamp and Ari Berman will discuss the rise of authoritarianism and what it means for a free press, and economic experts like Bernadette Atuahene will opine on systemic wealth inequality and corruption in the banking industry.
Saturday is the festival’s Family Day at the Berkeley Public Library, in partnership with the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair, and both nights feature literary events at entertainment venues like The Marsh and Freight & Salvage. There’s a Poetry Stage and a Small Press Alley. Plus, there’s a chance you’ll bump into your favorite author milling in the crowd: Among this year’s headliners are Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen, “Bad Feminist” Roxane Gay and Native American authors Greg Sarris and Jon Hickey.
Details: Festival runs May 31 and June 1 at various locations in downtown Berkeley; free and ticketed events; tickets, schedule and more information at www.baybookfest.org.
— John Metcalfe, Staff
SF Opera kicks off Summer Season
San Francisco Opera’s 2025 Summer Season kicks off its Summer Season — ful;l of the kind of thrills opera lovers live for — with “La Bohème” at the War Memorial Opera House. Conductor Ramon Tebar leads the orchestra and two alternating casts in Puccini’s unforgettably touching tale of young artists falling in love during a cold winter in the Paris demimonde. The final dress rehearsal is 6 p.m. May 31; full performances are June 3-21; tickets $28 and up; livestreams also available.
Details: Tickets/more information at SFOpera.com.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
DocFest back with compelling films
Is truth more interesting than fiction? The San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (SF DocFest) delivers a convincing argument that this is the case. This year’s program is stocked with 28 features and 58 shorts; nearly all films will be available to stream online while many filmmakers and others will be in attendance at in-person screenings.
In “Rebel With a Clause,” director Brandt Johnson travels along with grammar champion Ellen Jovin as she takes her popular “grammar table” out on the road through 50 states. It shares opening night honors (6:15 p.m. May 29 at the Roxie) with “Peaches Goes Bananas” (8:30 p.m., May 29, Roxie), which peers into the life and trailblazing career of feminist queer artist Merrill Nisker aka Peaches. “Peaches Goes Bananas” will be available online.
And should you get soul-soothing nourishment from watching cat videos, you’ll definitely want to check out “25 Cats From Qatar” (1 p.m. Saturday at the Roxie), director Mye Hoang’s (“Cat Daddies”) inspiring documentary about Milwaukee cafe owner Katy McHugh’s and other animal rescue volunteers efforts to relocate feral cats that are overrunning Doha, capital, the United States.
Details: May 29-June 8, Roxie and Vogue theaters, San Francisco; sfdocfest2025
— Randy Myers, Correspondent
Friday on Front is your Freebie of the week
San Francisco’s latest ploy to try and perk up its downtown nightlife unfurls May 30 with the cleverly titled Fridays on Front Street, which takes place Friday on, um, Front Street, from 4 to 9 p.m. between Sacramento and California Street. The free event features all the staples of a cool street party – booze, food, live music, games and more. The live music lineup – curated by the Noise Pop festival – includes the versatile Bay Area pop/rock/R&B/funk band Curtis Family C-Notes (this is a true family band; you may have caught them on “America’s Got Talent” or the JC Penney ads they have starred in) as well as The Fell Swoop, Sweet Lew and MC Broke-Ass Stuart.
There will also be a ping-pong table and other games that become infinitely more entertaining when you’ve had a drink or two, food trucks and more fun stuff. The three popular drinking establishments on the block – Royal Exchange, Harrington’s Bar & Grill and Schroeder’s – will all be offering drink specials and their own entertainment. And a big screen in the vicinity will broadcast the San Francisco Giants game. Additional Fridays on Front Street events are slated for July 18, Aug. 22 and Oct. 10.
Details: More information is at downtownsf.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Opera Paralléle’s season closer
It is a topic — and a larger-than-life personality — perfectly suited for operatic treatment. The adventurous San Francisco company Opera Paralléle is winding up its current season with a tightened version of composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie’s “Harvey Milk Reimagined,” the West Coast debut of a reworked production that originally premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 1995 and then graced the San Francisco Opera stage in 1996. Shortened to two acts with a single intermission and more compact casting and sung in English, it traces the early life and political evolution of the iconic activist who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office as a San Francisco supervisor in 1978, only to be cut down in a brutal double slaying that also took the life of Mayor George Moscone less than a year later. Baritone Michael Kelly takes on the title role for his company debut, and the other important roles are filled by tenor Christopher Oglesby as Dan White, tenor Henry Benson as Scott Smith, bass Matt Boehler as George Moscone and soprano Marnie Breckenridge as Dianne Feinstein. Mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook sings as Milk’s mother, and vocalist Curtis Resnick plays him as a young boy. Opera Paralléle’s artistic and general director Nicole Paiement conducts a 30-member orchestra.
Details: 7:30 p.m. May 31; 3 p.m. June 1, 7:30 p.m. June 6, 5 p.m. June 7; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; San Francisco; $50-$180; operaparallele.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Celebratory swan song at Berk Symph
Conductor Joseph Young of the Berkeley Symphony is leaving his position after six years at the podium, but not before a final concert titled “Triumph,” which takes place June 1 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. Young, who was honored at the orchestra’s annual spring gala in early May, will lead a program that is anchored by Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D minor, famously argued as either an appeasing kowtow to the disapproving dictator Joseph Stalin or, in its final movement, a satirical jab at that clueless tyrant. Regardless, it remains the most popular of Shostakovich’s 10 symphonies today. Also on the program are, in its Bay Area premiere, Gity Razaz’s “Methuselah (In Chains of Time”), with its evocation of the rugged bristlecone pines of California’s Inyo County; and Astor Piazzolla’s “Aconcagua,” with accordion virtuoso Hanzhi Wang featured as soloist.
Details: 4 p.m.; $30-$85; berkeleysymphony.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
‘Limitless’ art in Walnut Creek
You still have a little more than three weeks to catch an exhibit in Contra Costa County that may open your eyes and serve up some awesome works of art at the same time. “Limitless,” an exhibit on display at the Bedford Gallery in the Lesher Center for the Arts puts the focus on artists with disabilities. The collection features scores of works – paintings, prints, sculptures and more — from 65 artists who are members of the nonprofits Creative Growth, Creativity Explored and NIAD (Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development), which were formed by Florence Ludins-Katz and Elias Katz some 50 years to champion the rights and accomplishments of artists with intellectual and physical disabilities.
The artists include Berkeley multidisciplinary artist Dorian Reid, whose works often center on themes of social justice, civil rights and animal welfare (she is particularly enamored with cats, whom she says bring her comfort). And Bay Area Filipino American artist John Patrick McKenzie, whose works, described as “visual poetry,” combine often-colorful calligraphy with references to popular culture, geography, celebrities and other themes.
Details: Exhibit runs through June 22; Bedford Gallery is open noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays; admission is $5; www.bedfordgallery.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
2 top comedians hit Bay Area
A couple of star comedians are headed to Bay Area clubs this weekend. Tommy T’s in Pleasanton is hosting Adele Givens, who made her name in the Chicago circuit, where comedy is more than a form of entertainment, it’s practically a turf war. In 1990, she captured the Windy City’s Crown Royal Comedy Competition in 1990 and has become well-known for her not-exactly-bashful form of stand-up, often built around her catchphrase “I am SUCH a #$%@#% Lady.” She’s performed on Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam as well as the Queens of Comedy Tour, and appeared in such films as “Beauty Shop” and Ice Cube’s “The Players Club.” She plays Tommy T’s 7 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $30-$40; go to tommyts.com.
Meanwhile, iconic comedian and actor Tommy Davidson, who broke out as a star on TV’s game-changing show “In Living Color,” holds forth at San Jose Improv. He has an almost incomprehensibly long list of TV and big screen appearances, from guest-starring spots and supporting and voice roles to comedy specials and more. But his career, which took off after he won a comedy competition at New York’s famed Apollo Theater and then headed for L.A., has its foundation in stand-up, which is what he will be delivering in performances at 8 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, and 7 and 9:15 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $31.14-$83.15; go to improv.com/sanjose.
— Bay City News Foundation