Here are the Worcester Guardian’s five picks for things to do in Worcester this weekend:
- A music festival with bounce houses and a mission: CASA Palooza returns for its third year on Sunday, May 17, bringing live music, food trucks and a surprisingly packed lineup of family activities to Lilac Hedge Farm from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The festival benefits CASA Project Worcester County, which supports children involved in the foster care system, but the day itself leans more community gathering than formal fundraiser. Bands including Between the Waves, FM Radio and Futon Lasagna will perform throughout the afternoon, alongside food trucks, raffles, vendors, face painting, animal encounters and enough activities to keep kids occupied long enough for adults to briefly sit down. Ticket bundles also include food and drink perks, plus a few extras that suggest somebody actually thought this through.
- America, seen through Its stuff: Photographer David Ricci discusses his new book “Hunter Gatherer: Salvaged Stories of American Culture” during a free artist talk Saturday, May 16, from 2-3 p.m. at Worcester Public Library. Built from a decade of photographs taken at antique fairs, flea markets and resale shops—including plenty from Brimfield—the project uses discarded objects and odd visual juxtapositions to explore everything from racism and consumer culture to religion and beauty standards. Ricci will also talk about his path as a self-taught photographer and the process behind turning years of found images into a finished photobook. Some of it is funny. Some of it is uncomfortable. Which, admittedly, narrows it down to “about America.”
- One last bow before summer break: The Worcester Youth Orchestras wraps up its 78th season with its annual season finale gala on Sunday, May 17, from 4-6 p.m. at Mechanics Hall. The event doubles as both concert and celebration, featuring performances from WYO’s major ensembles, a senior graduation ceremony and the sort of emotional parent testimonials that tend to arrive right around the time someone starts playing “Ashokan Farewell.” There’s also a silent auction and raffles benefiting the organization’s scholarship fund, plus optional dinner seating for those who planned ahead and enjoy hearing orchestral music while eyeing a tray of chicken piccata.
- The kids are not mailing it in: The annual Summer Jumpoff from Inner Voice Outer Change for Youth returns to the Jean McDonough Arts Center on Sunday, May 17, with doors opening at 4 p.m. and performances starting at 4:30 p.m. The showcase highlights music and media projects created by Worcester students through IVOC’s after-school program, with performances shaped largely by the young artists themselves. Tickets are $9, with discounts for groups, and seating is general admission. Expect a lot of energy, a little chaos and at least one moment where somebody in the audience says, “Wait, they made this?”
- Wait…wait….there’s a hair metal rocker coming to Rascals: Mike Tramp brings the songs of White Lion back to the stage Saturday, May 16, at Rascals, with a full-band show running from 8-11 p.m. and support from the John Fox Band. Tramp has spent decades on a solo path, but recently revisited White Lion’s catalog with newly recorded versions of the band’s biggest songs—less nostalgia act, more “these songs still hold up surprisingly well.” Expect a crowd that remembers the original era, plus a few people discovering that half the power ballads in the 1980s apparently began as acoustic songs in somebody’s basement. It’s a 21+ show, because time, as always, remains undefeated.
For more events, visit the Discover Central Massachusetts events calendar. Have an event, news tip, information, joke, favorite recipe or anything else you’d like to tell us about? You should. Contact carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org
