This past Friday I attended my first Concerts in the Park of the year. The evening was spent with great friends, family and a full evening of phenomenal musical performances. I could hear I'm Dirty Too playing from a block away before arriving at Cesar Chavez Plaza. I hurriedly made my way to the park entrance on 10th and I streets. My hurry was to no avail as I had to wait in a long line for 15 minutes for security to check everyone coming in. Once inside I noticed a thirst had been built up so I got in line to purchase some drink tickets. After a short wait in line I got a drink and walked around the park. Several food trucks and specialty food stations lined the park near 9th and

American River College's Fashion Department will hold a gala fashion show this Friday, May 3. Up-and-coming designers will be featuring creative fashion for women, men and children. The 12th Annual Fashion Show will feature 12 designers with unique collections. Designers have been preparing for the show since before a casting call that took place in early April. The May 3 event has three fashion shows and each shows differs in price depending on the time of the event. Show times are 11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Student discounts apply for a limited time. A note from the ARC Facebook shows a discount code for ARC students when they use promo code: ARCSTUDENT. The spring show is call

Paul Valéry, the French writer, poet and philosopher, once said, “An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it.” Those words exemplify the process that took place over a three-year period to create a mural at Rio Americano High School. On Tuesday night, April 30, the unveiling of the completed mural took place at Rio's band building. The high school's “Rio Music” project commenced in 2010 with the sponsorship and support of the Sacramento River Cats and the Rio Band Boosters. Artist Markos Egure was commissioned for the project, which proceeded in three different phases. Egure's other artistic work can be seen at various sites in the Sacramento area. Egure, and the

April's Second Saturday Art Walk drew the highest attendance of the year. More visitors and vendors enjoyed warmer weather as they visited the various art galleries and events in Midtown. Sacramento law enforcement made its presence known as they patrolled Midtown on foot, bicycle, horseback, patrol car and I even saw a helicopter flying in the 20th and J Street area, The added security made some people feel safer. “I like to see the police out here. I've heard about people getting robbed and assaulted the past few months around here and I do feel safer walking the streets,” said Grant Martin. Other people walking with Martin's agreed with his comments as they nodded. 20th Street betw

Sacramento's outdoor festivals and events increase during the spring and summer. The Xipe Colores Ceremony is one of these festivities that has been celebrated for the past 37 years. The annual ceremony recently took place once again at Southside Park. The April 13 event began a little later than expected but brought a good size crowd of supporters to the event. The Xipe Colores Ceremony was organized by the Maquilli Tonatiuh Aztec Dancers and dancers from Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli also participated. Xipe Totec was, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Aztec god of spring and new vegetation and also the patron of goldsmiths. The Xipe Colores Ceremony held at Southside Park celeb

ZuhG is a band with deep roots in Sacramento. They have been described as unique, energetic, funky, lively and above all, fun to watch live. ZuhG is a band that moves audiences to their feet and inspires them to move to their beats and to dance. The talented musicians that make up ZuhG are not afraid to experiment with different types of music and do things differently. They have played most of Sacramento's venues and venture out to spread their brand of music as they constantly tour. Although reggae continues to be what most fans enjoy when they watch ZuhG play, the band continues to experiment with different music genres, including folk music. Their last CD was “Calm & Clear,” a folk

The Sacramento Film Festival (SFF) is set host their Latin infused event on the Delta King in Old Sacramento 7pm this Sunday, April 21st. This cultural favorite of the Sacramento community will feature short films produced by Mexican filmmakers, Fran Guijarro's Mexican Cuisine, El Invento- a Giovanni Granada film, as well as Gloria Moran's, The Unique Ladies, "world's 1st lady low-rider car club!" Professor Dr. Jorge Santana of CSU, Sacramento notes, "This event honors and shines light on the great aspects of the Latino community, a true favorite of mine." Since its establishment in 2007, CineLatino is going on its 5th year to reflect and celebrate Chicano, Latin American, and Spanish cul

Last year brave marchers participated in the annual Cesar Chavez march under rainy skies. This year it did not rain on their parade and a larger number of marchers participated on Saturday, April 6. Participants gathered at the Southside Park Amphitheatre, near the corner of 7th and T streets. Marchers eventually paraded towards the Capitol Mall and advanced to Cesar Chavez Plaza that remains closed due to renovations. This was the 13th year the march has taken place in Sacramento. This year many of the marchers also marched to demand legislation to give undocumented residents a path to the always controversial issue of citizenship for illegal immigrants. A White House Presidential P

Beatnik Studios' Final Friday attracted a crowd of over 100 guests to its monthly event. Final Friday featured the artwork of David Mohr, Trent Liddicoat and James Angello. The three artists were present for a meet-and-greet. I had met one of the artists at an artist reception last year at Sol Collective. Liddicoat indicated that his work, along with that of the other two artists, will be exhibited for two months. “I was asked to exhibit because I'm friends with the other artists who are showing and they studied at Sac State with the curator (Kelley O'Connell) who is working here,” said Liddicoat. The self-taught artist shared that he did not attend art school, has been friends with

Expect an evening of art, music, food and family fun at Beatnik Studios during its Final Friday event. Final Fridays is a free monthly event that showcases local, regional and statewide talent and is open to an all-ages audience. Beatnik Studios is located on the corner of Broadway and 17th Street. Final Friday will feature the art of David Mohr, Trent Liddicoat and James Angello. An artist reception will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 29. Music will be provided by Rook Family, Orion Walsh, Autumn Sky and Musical Charis. I sat with Wesley Davis, photographer and co-owner, Beatnik Studios to talk about Final Fridays. Davis began by saying, “We actually have a new artist director. H

CivicMeet Sacramento will continue to fill an unmet need this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at The Urban Hive. The traditional public meeting format does not give citizens the opportunity to help solve problems that they are capable of voluntarily tackling. Do you remember the last time you went to a public meeting? Sure, they’re useful for getting information, but not necessarily for incubating new ideas. Public Innovation, one of the organizations behind CivicMeet Sacramento (and Code for Sacramento), is building a civic innovation ecosystem to provide citizens with creative spaces where they can address community issues together. Civic initiatives just like this are spreading across the countr

A colorful day of events transpired this past Saturday, March 16. Run or Dye is a 5K event that took place at McClellan Park in Sacramento. Run or Dye Billed as the world's most colorful 5K the event lived up to its billing and was attended by over 2,000 participants. Run or Dye has scheduled events that take it from coast to coast and is also open to participants of all ages. St. Patrick's Day Parade That same day Old Sacramento held its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade where green was the color most prevalent. Participants followed the beat of drummers and marched behind bagpipers as Sacramento celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Thousands of spectators lined the streets to watc

The city of Sacramento gave Der BierGarten its stamp of approval Thursday afternoon, paving the way for another German pub in Midtown. But the OK came with a few conditions to modify the design.  Design Director Greg Taylor wants the following changes made to the design:  • More significant landscaping between Der Bier Garten and The Golden Bear. • The front patio to be heightened, similar to patio height at The Golden Bear.   Slated to open in July 2013, owner Sean Derfield of Old Sacramento's River City Saloon has been planning this project for the corner of K and 24th streets for the past two years. Currently the site is a vacant lot next to The Golden Bear.  "We have a couple chan

March's Second Saturday saw new art exhibits throughout Midtown and Downtown Sacramento. Next month Folsom will start their Second Saturday for 2013 and join Roseville's Third Saturday as alternative venues in Sacramento. On a warm evening 20th Street between J and K had some activity, mainly anchored by patrons at LowBrau. Kennedy Gallery made a move to the corner of L and 20th Streets some time in the last couple of months and that was my first stop of the evening Scheduled showings at the Kennedy Gallery Art Center included an "Abstractions Show" featuring the work of Michael Kennedy, Maleheh Bartolomeo and others. On the bottom floor the work of John Huerta was on exhibit. Huerta

Nominations needed for youth volunteers and coordinators The Directors of Volunteers in Agencies (DOVIA) is gearing up for its annual awards ceremony and is asking for youth volunteer of the year and volunteer coordinator of the year nominees. All nominations must be submitted by March 28.  The ceremony for the 2012 awards will be held April 11: What: DOVIA presents the Youth Volunteer of the Year Award and Volunteer Coordinator of the Year Award When: April 11, 2013, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Where: Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, 3333 Third Avenue, Sacramento CA 95817 RSVP information: Nominees and nominators are invited to bring a guest at no cost. Additional guests, please pay $5 at

  The California Film Foundation (CFF) in collaboration with Sacramento Fashion Week (SACFW) presented an event called Fashion on Film. Filmmakers were invited to create a music video, short documentary or narrative using the California fashion industry as the focus. CFF and SACFW were available for help if filmmakers needed guidance. Each film had to meet several conditions in order to show their film. The completed films were part of the scheduled events during Sacramento Fashion Week. Filmmakers, directors, models, designers, merchandisers, musicians and others engaged in the fashion industry gathered teams together to create film projects. The completed films were shown to a sol

Sacramento Fashion Week came and went much too quickly. The week dedicated to Sacramento fashion was not all glamor and included several workshops. As part of the week long schedule there was the return of a panel discussion when Sacramento State University hosted the 2013 Sacramento Fashion Week (SACFW) Fashion Forum. In collaboration with Sacramento Fashion Association (SFA) the forum was held at Sac State's University Union on Monday, Feb. 25. The moderator for the SACFW event was Tracy Saville, CEO & Publisher of Possibility Media Group. The open panel discussion included various industry professionals and was open to the public. Former International Academy of Design and Technol

Sacramento Fashion Week (SACFW) was a huge success this year as it expanded to three nights of runway fashion. The 2013 SACFW had a full schedule of meetings, workshops, runway displays, showcasing local, national and internationally known boutiques, designers, models and speakers. A launch party, model and designer practices, a fashion forum, workshops, a Fashion on Film event, designer meet and greet, VIP galas, afterparties and of course runway fashion took place from Feb. 24 – Mar. 2. The full week schedule began early on Sunday Feb. 24 starting with a practice at the Elks Tower Ballroom. The full practice on Sunday morning brought over 100 models, designers, photographers and vo

Sutter's Fort, built by John A. Sutter, is an American institution that continues to host events that feature California's early history. On Sunday, Feb. 24, Mexican Flag Day was celebrated at Sutter's Fort. Sutter was a Swiss immigrant who took Mexican citizenship not long before the California Gold Rush. Sutter's Fort was established on the large track of land granted to Sutter by the Mexican Department of Alta California. Events held at Sutter's Fort help bring California history to life and the many docents and volunteers help make this possible. The celebration began with an American flag ceremony at Sutter's main gate. Mindy Orozco welcomed guests and after raising the American

Sol Collective celebrated eight years of art, culture and activism as well as a recent community leadership award by hosting Word to Your Motherland. The celebration took place on Saturday, Feb. 23 with an art show curated by Nisha K. Sembi and Mandeep Sethi. Art from Word to Your Motherland will be on display at Sol Collective until March 18. The exhibit seeks to embody and inspire new ways of thinking and highlights artist collaboration and interaction with their cultural background. The multimedia showcase was well attended and several guests came from as far away as the Bay Area just to attend the event. Sol Collective invited special guests to a pre-event for the opening of Wo