Glitter Optional
Dust off your festival garb. Cosplayers and incarnated fairies: This one’s for you and the kiddos. Greensboro Summer Solstice Festival returns to the Arboretum and Lindley Park on Saturday, June 19, from 2–10 p.m. Celebrate the longest day of the year with a party so ripe with midsummer magic that Shakespeare might have dreamed it (although we definitely added the glitter). Fit for “the young and the ageless,” this solstice celebration is a prismatic, hypnotic, enchanted collaboration of local artisans, performers, budding entrepreneurs and — don’t forget it — Mother Nature. Frolic through the bazaar at Lindley Park (2–8 p.m.), mingle with the mermaids in the butterfly garden, dance yourself into a trance during the hour-long drum circle, and soak up the sensory magic until the fire stops spinning. Buskers and vendors and wings? Oh, yeah. Admission: $10 (free for children 12 and under). Info: www.greensborosummersolstice.org.
Porch Strummin’
On Saturday, June 12, the porches of Dunleath Historic Neighborhood will become tiny concert venues for, yep, Dunleath Porchfest. From noon until 5 p.m., the public is invited to mosey from house to house and soak up the folksy-country, bluesy-woozy, gypsy-jazzy goodness of bands like The Headless Chickens, Half-Baked Betty, Hokem Pokem, High Cotton, The Grand Ole Uproar and The Brown Mountain Lightening Bugs — to name just a few. Find details on who’s performing and where plus how to tip virtually at www.dunleath.org/porchfest, where you can also read up on precautionary safety practices, transportation and parking, plus the grand finale at Sternberger Park. You can find Dunleath Neighborhood near downtown Greensboro, just off Summit Avenue, Yanceyville Street and Bessemer Avenue. Bring a blanket or chair, the kids, the dog, canned goods for the Triad Health Project food pantry, and cash for tips, food and swag. The porchfest slogan says it best: Spread only music and goodwill.
The Gamut is Steep
You’ve heard of Steep Canyon Rangers, right? The Grammy-winning bluegrass band from Western N.C.? If you haven’t seen them live, perhaps you saw them pickin’ and fiddlin’ and croonin’ with banjo wizard Steve Martin on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert. And you can catch them with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra — that’s GSO, baby — on Saturday, June 5, 8 p.m. Tickets: $25–45 (you better snag ’em fast). White Oak Amphitheatre at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: greensborocoliseum.com/events.
Keep it Classical
So many acronyms, but here’s one we all know and love: EMF. This Eastern Music Festival season, which begins Saturday, June 26, and continues until the end of July, celebrates 60 years of musical excellence. This nationally recognized classical music festival and educational institution fuels the dreams of young musicians from across the country and around the globe, breathing new life into a tradition that continues to enrich our community, delight our spirits and — yes — evolve. Find more than 65 ticketed concerts and 30-plus outreach performances to be held on the campuses of Guilford College and UNCG, and other venues in Greensboro. Just follow the tuba music.
Info: easternmusicfestival.org.
Double, double, toil and trouble . . . Willy’s song might have been about the Twins. It’s Gemini season, folks. Equal parts charm and impulse, this air sign is flighty, secretive and analytical to a fault. But we mostly love them. Well, half of the time. And this month, Gems, the solar eclipse on June 10 might do a number on that fickle heart if you’re not willing to sit with your shadow for a few days. And yet, what would your life be if not dramatic? Venus is in your house of money. The universe is asking you to slow down. You won’t listen. So, keep stirring the cauldron. See what bubbles. It won’t be dull.
