Weekend Planner: April 8
Every Friday we put together a list of the weekend events we think look most interesting and provide them here. Keep in mind there is always a lot more going on, and all it takes is a little digging to find something that will be the perfect activity for you.
Click on any of the event titles for a link to the event.
Friday, April 8
Producer, Importer, Roaster, and Barista
Counter Culture Roastery and Training Center, Emeryville
5PM, All Ages
Free
Producer, Importer, Roaster & Barista: An Evening Connecting the Industry
Join a gathering of industry leaders from seed to cup for an evening of panel discussions with experts across the supply chain. Come meet producers from around the globe and network with your industry. Tacos and libations provided. This is a free event to connect us all!
Hosted by Counter Culture Coffee, Fair Trade USA, Royal Coffee, Inc & the Bay Area Coffee Community (BACC) at Counter Culture Roastery and Training Center in Emeryville, Ca.
5-5:30 Coffee and Mingle
5:30 – 6 Impact at Origin – Certification, Technical Assistance, Community & Engagement, a Panel Discussion
Ben Corey-Moran, Fair Trade USA
Christian Soto, FNC, Colombia
Isabel Uriarte, CECANOR, Peru
Gilbert Gatali, KZ Noir, Rwanda
6-7 Tacos & Beer
7-8 Producer, Importer, Roaster & Barista, a Roundtable Discussion
Moderated by Katie Carguilo, Counter Culture Coffee
Christian Soto, FNC, Colombia
Isabel Uriarte, CECANOR, Peru
Gilbert Gatali, KZ Noir, Rwanda
John Cossette, Royal Coffee, Inc.
Jen Apodaca, Royal Coffee, Inc. & Executive Council Member of the Roaster’s Guild of America
Ashely Rodriguez of Sightglass Coffee & the Bay Area Coffee Community (BACC)
Questions?
Contact Richard Sandlin rsandlin@royalcoffee.com for details
Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton
All Weekend, All Ages
$30
RoboGames – the Olympics of Robotics – is coming to Alameda County Fairgrounds this Spring!
You may have seen robot combat on BattleBots on TV, cool Lego contraptions at MakerFaire, or walking, dancing, soccer playing humanoids on your favorite TV show, but you’ve never seen them live all in one place, competing for bronze, silver, and gold medals! Since 2004, RoboGames brings teams from around the world to compete in 50 separate robotics events, fostering the spread of new ideas and collaboration, all while putting on a fantastic show for you! Events range from the well-known 220 pound combat robots all the way to teeny tiny lego bots, with autonomous driving, humanoids, robots playing soccer and dancing, line walking, rope climbing and more in between!
Come to RoboGames this April and see them all live.
In addition to being a fun and loud weekend, RoboGames is known far and wide as the premier robotics competition – being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the World’s Largest Robot Competition. You’ll see some of the world’s best and brightest engineers in person, driving a robot to victory! This event is open to everyone – from professional engineers with $100,000 robots to kids as young as 8 years old, mechanics, teachers, artists, and pretty much anyone else you can think of.
Curious how much fun it is? Watch this great RoboGames video starring Grant Imahara on youtube!
Tickets are $30 per person Children 0-6: free. (Warning: it’s very loud.)
Active Duty Military and their dependants get free admission, only on-site and you must show valid military ID/dependant ID.
Saturday, April 9
Comrades Beer Lab, San Francisco
11 AM, Ages: 21+
$100
Have you ever tasted a beer and said, I wonder how that’s made? Take our Brew It Yourself: Beer Making at Home class and you’ll learn everything you need to know to make great beer at home. You’ll get your hands dirty on one of our brewing rigs, and after this two part class you’ll walk away with at least a 6-pack of bomber bottles of beer YOU MADE! You and a couple of partners will brew a 5 gallon batch of beer in the first class. Then a week or two later you’ll come back and get to taste and bottle your beer.
Your instructor, Jason Beck, has brewed over a million pints of beer, and loves to share the joy of brewing with students. During the class, you’ll munch malts and huff hops, learning how to use them to achieve the flavor you want. You’ll become best friends with yeast, and fall in love with sanitizer. We’ll have a tasting of many different styles of beer to get you acquainted with the many possibilities of brewing. You’ll learn great detail about the production process in a commercial brewery, and also learn about the science behind the art. You’ll get the low down on what the best equipment is for your home brewery. Everything will help you gain the knowledge you need to make a successful, flavorful batch of beer at home.
Note that the class is taught over 2 sessions: Brewing: Sat April 9 11a-5p, Bottling: Wed Apr 27 7p-9p
Cool Stuff: 8 hours total class time Hands-on: You do the whole damn thing Small classes – max of 12 people in class Take home beer you made Learn from a professional brewer Learn from someone who’s taught over 400 people how to brew Learn techniques no other class will teach you
Check out a great article Liquid Bread Magazine did on my classes.
And check out lots of pics from previous classes on Facebook.
You must be 21+ to attend the class. Please note there is a 72 hour cancellation and transfer policy. No refunds or transfers are granted within 72 hours of the start of class.
5th Annual Fantasy Faire and Pirate Fest
Discovery Meadow Park, San Jose
10 AM, All Ages
$11
More fun than you can shake a wand at. If you stand too close, you’ll get GLITTER all over you!
Attire yourself in your most beautiful princess or faerie finery, don your wings or pick up a wand, belt on a sword or pull on an eye patch, then gather your friends and family and cross the threshold of the San Jose Fantasy Festival where characters from folklore, fairy tales and fantasy will come alive to frolic for a magical spell of time.
The event is a family-friendly festival, a blending of myth and popular fantasy. Find yourself a part of a wondrous gathering of knights and princesses, as they stand side-by-side with elves and fairies, on a weekend filled with performances to enchant children and grown-ups alike. Come and celebrate the Fantasy Faire by dancing in your faerie finery, princess gowns, knightly garments, pirate garb, steampunk attire, or superhero wardrobe in the large dance area.
Some of the characters you’ll meet @ the Festival: Snow White & Sleeping Beauty Troll and Goblin Kings
Ogress Viking Gods Rumpelstilskin Satyrs Robin Goodfellow
Witches and Fairy Godmothers from various fairy tales Fairies Hobbits
The Doctor
AND TONS OF PIRATES!
Please note: Tickets are not refundable once purchased. No pets are allowed at this event.
Japantown Peace Plaza, San Francisco
10 AM, All Ages
Free
All are welcome to join in the festivities as San Francisco’s Japantown celebrates Japanese and Japanese-American culture. The festival will be held on Post Street between Laguna and Fillmore Streets. There will be food booths, cultural performances, J-Pop, cosplay, taiko drumming, martial arts, live bands, DJs, Japanese games, a Lolita fashion show, Japanese doll displays, the annual Queen Program (held at the Kabuki Theater on April 9, 2016 at 6 pm) and much more.
Hello Kitty Treat Truck April 9, April 10 and April 16 | 10 am to 5 pm It’s baaack! The truck will be selling Hello Kitty cakes, donuts, macarons and other sweets, and of course Hello Kitty swag like water bottles. The truck attracted huge crowds last year, so here’s your next chance to go ga-ga for Hello Kitty. For the kiddos there are special games, crafts and prizes featuring Hello Kitty and friends at the Sanrio Kids Corner along Post Street next to the Kinokuniya Building.
2016 Sakura Classic Kendama Championships April 9-10 | 11 am to 7 pm Come watch the top pros demonstrate the high level skills of freestyle kendama play and learn how to play yourself with multiple free workshops throughout the festival.
The 2016 Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates its 49th year, is one of California’s most prominent celebrations of Asian traditions. Each year, over 200,000 people attend this dazzling display showcasing the color and grace of the Japanese culture and the diversity of the Japanese American Community.
The Grand Parade will be held on Sunday, April 17, 2016, beginning at City Hall at 1pm up Polk Street, down Post Street and concluding in Japantown. [View Parade Map]
Sunday, April 10
Mission District, San Francisco
11 AM, All Ages
Free
Sunday Streets (April – November 2016) is San Francisco’s official block party – a sorta-monthly roving neighborhood celebration and five hour street party where the streets are closed to vehicles, so pedestrians, roller skaters, bicyclists, yogis, and everyone except for cars can take over the streets for an afternoon.
New to 2016, Sunday Streets will be kicking off each route with an Opening Procession lead by Host Neighborhood community groups. Join the celebration with a bedazzled bike, a proud pooch, bubbles or simply a smile.
Funcheap is proud to be a sponsor and an official partner of Sunday Streets.
New to 2016, Sunday Streets will be kicking off each route with an Opening Procession lead by Host Neighborhood community groups. Join the celebration with a bedazzled bike, a proud pooch, bubbles or simply a smile. The procession begins at Valencia & McCoppin and will be lead by Carnaval San Francisco.
One of the annual favorites is the day-long BBoy Connection Break Dancing & Graffiti Art Street Fest that will once again take over the Mission District. Stay tuned for specific information about other activities planned along the route.
Download the route map or view it on Google maps.
New to 2016, Sunday Streets is focusing its onsite programming into two Activity Hubs that will group organizations and businesses together to share activities with the community that support healthy lifestyles. The Activity Hubs will feature collaborations with incredible partners across the art, music, and dance worlds, along with health, fitness, cycling and animal groups.
Highlights include free demos from Bay Area Bike Share and its expanded bike share network, basketball with the Golden State Warriors, live music, dance classes and performances, free blood pressure screening and informative installations by community groups like the St. Francis Homeless Challenge, which invites everyone to help find a solutions for our homeless neighbors need for access to shelter, hygiene and other vital services. The SFMTA is also staging a new 60’ bus to showcase the latest Muni Forward transit enhancements and Van Ness Improvement Project updates at the season launch of Sunday Streets.
The Presidio, San Francisco
11 AM, All Ages
Free
Off the Grid hosts a full season of Picnic at the Presidio from 11 am to 4 pm every Sunday through the fall at the Main Parade Ground Lawn.
Get ready for yummy offerings available for purchase from San Francisco’s favorite eateries and food trucks, a lively atmosphere and picnics on the lawn with a view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Though we don’t know the details for 2016 yet; in past years, they’ve offered Mimosa and Bloody Mary drink kits, an onsite DJ, classic picnic amenities like bocce ball, as well as game rentals and activities from Sports Basement. Blankets and Adirondack chairs are available to rent for a complete picnic experience.
2016 Featured Vendors Lineups may change from week to week. Check Facebook for updates.
They have 29 food vendors and 3 retail vendors including Yerena Farms, Happy Moose Juice and Nosh This, along with:
Bacon Bacon
Del Popolo
Dum – an Indian Soul Foodtruck in San Francisco
Beach Brew
Sugarfoot
Grilled Cheese Guy
Little Green Cyclo
NopalitoSF
Ceviche & Co.
El Porteño Empanadas
Slightly Skewed
Fat Face
Wing Wings
Verde Vivo Tea
Cholita Linda
Luciano’s Scoop
Stateside Bakery
Girl Friday Zeppole
Sajj Street Eats
Sam’s ChowderMobile
Ruru
Powder
the creme brulee cart
Fine and Rare
La Marcha Tapas Bar
Réveille Coffee Co.
Shorty Goldstein’s
The Whole Beast
Want more options? Eventbrite is a great place to start. Know about
a great event we missed? Leave it in the comments.#Baristas #Roasting #FamilyFriendly #Training #Robots #Robotics #Coffee #weekend #Japantown #Brewing #FamilyFriendlyEvents #Fantasy #StreetFair #Family #RoboGames #CherryBlossoms #Pirates #FamilyFun #party #foodtrucks #food #Faire #Games #Beer #StreetParty #BlockParty #Homebrew #events #StreetFood #Fun