First, I have to wish the birthday bug, Nibbles Woodaway, a Happy 44th. Nibbles, I’m toasting with coffee milk and clam cakes to your majestic presence on Interstate 95. In fact, I’m celebrating all week long. We’ve got a dance fest, art fest, fringe fest, beer run, live tunes, free concerts and more. Neighbors: We ride.
WORLD MUSIC
In case you’re reading this July 11: there’s a free concert tonight in PVD. FirstWorks Summer Beats Concert Series kicks off with the Ivory Coast’s Dobet Gnahoré at Roger Williams Park at 6 p.m. A 2010 Grammy winner for Best Urban/Alternative performance, Gnahoré is touring on her new album, “Zouzou.” The bilingual singer uses her music to pay “tribute to the women of today and tomorrow and aims to use her words and image to empower a new generation of daring, strong and independent African women,” according to FirstWorks billing. Free. Roger Williams Park Bandstand, Pine Hill Avenue, Providence. Details here.
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FirstWorks holds another free concert July 14 with QUITAPENAS, a group made up of first-generation sons of immigrant parents from Guatemala and Mexico, according to their website. Pre-show workshops start at 3:30 p.m. Concert at 6 p.m. Free. Roger Williams Park Bandstand, Pine Hill Avenue, Providence. Details here.
PROVIDENCE RESTAURANT WEEKS
Foodies, rev your engines: It’s Providence Restaurant Weeks time. Now through July 20, find special offers, deals and prix fixe throughout the PVD area. Some highlights: Fleur Providence offers a special menu: three beef sliders with cheese, bibb lettuce, bacon aioli, onion rings, fries with select wine or beer for $18. Or a three-course dinner for $35 — you might start with tomato gazpacho before digging into pasta Bolognese, then tucking into chambord cheesecake with fresh berries. Meanwhile at Providence Oyster Bar, snag a $24.95 three-course lunch. You might start on wasabi and ginger calamari before digging into baked stuffed shrimp, seafood tacos with fries, or maybe a surf and turf maki roll with tempura shrimp and cucumber, topped with filet mignon, ahi tuna, avocado, eel sauce and sesame seeds. For dessert? Pistachio cake or gelato. Details here.
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TAYLOR SWIFT PLANT NIGHT
Because Taylor Swift. Yup, Pawtucket’s Smug Brewing hosts “Plant Night: Taylor’s Version” July 12 in honor of the Westerly resident. (What, no night for Travis?) Your $65 ticket gets you: one drink ticket, “1 disco ball planter and hardware for hanging,” planting materials, and “Taylor Swift themed accessories.” The night includes a planting lesson, drinks and, likely, meeting some new Swiftie pals. 7-9 p.m. 100 Carver St. Details here.
JOHN CAFFERTY AND THE BEAVER BROWN BAND
These Rhody rock legends take the stage at PPAC July 13 at 8 p.m., with tickets from $10. Let’s party. 220 Weybosset St., Providence. Details here. Read more in my interview with Cafferty here. The man has stories to tell.
TEATRO EN EL VERANO
Catch “¡Alguien Más!,” the ninth production in Trinity Rep and Rhode Island Latino Arts’ bilingual summer theater program, Teatro en El Verano. The play by Dustin Thomas is based on “You Never Can Tell” by George Bernard Shaw. According to Trinity’s billing, Shaw’s 1897 play “gets a 2024 telenovela twist.” July 13 at Roger Williams Park, Broad Street entrance, Providence, and July 17, at Payne Park, Pawtucket. Details here.
I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM
July is National Ice Cream Month, and we mapped a trail of 130 great spots to get ice cream in Rhode Island here. See some highlights here.
LITTLE COMPTON, LOTTA FUN
LC, let’s go: It’s fair time. Since I was a Wilbur School kid, I’ve grown up with the Summer Church Fair and Road Race as a staple of summer. The 4.8-miler starts at 9 a.m. at Town Commons, along with the 63rd Annual Summer Church Fair: craft vendors, food, silent auction, bake sale, book sale, ticketed lobster luncheon, face-painting, games and more. Just writing this gives me all the feels. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Town Commons. Details here and here.
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WICKFORD GOOD
Meanwhile, a summer staple in this quaint village by the sea: The Wickford Art Association’s 61st Wickford Art Festival is July 13 and 14. It’s always a blast. The idyll pops to life with tents, as some 200 juried artists and artisans showcase their works in pyrography, sculptures, acrylics, mixed media, glass, metal, pottery, woodworking, and more. Plus food trucks, vendors, hands-on crafts, and more. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. each day. Wilson Park, 211 West Main St., North Kingstown. Details here.
GETTIN’ FRINGE-Y WITH IT.
It’s that time again — time to get fringe, Rhody. The 11th Annual Fringe PVD is back from July 14 to July 27, featuring an eclectic group of outside-the-box artists and performances at various venues across Providence. There’s a jam-packed day-by-day schedule on their site. And you’re invited to kick things off with an Opening Night Party July 14, 6-8 p.m. at the Wilbury Theatre Group. Expect food, drink, and music including a performance from the Rhode Island Ukulele Armada. Free. 475 Valley St. Providence. Details here and here.
NEWPORT DANCE FEST
Tired: Watching ballet inside a theater with no picnic. Wired: Watching ballet out on lawn with a picnic. Yup, it’s time to watch talented dancers outdoors as the Newport Contemporary Ballet presents the Newport Dance Festival July 17-21. Head to the outdoor festival stage at the Great Friends Meeting House in Newport. “Each evening the performance features a unique lineup of dances drawn on the talent, artistry, and unique styles of the festival’s five visiting dance companies, and Newport’s resident Newport Contemporary Ballet,” according to billing. They suggest you arrive early. BYO picnic, blanket and lawn chairs. Tickets from $39. 21 Farewell St. Details here.
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2000s PARTY AT THE ZOO
Millennials: Get ready to relive high school and college: It’s a 2000s Sip & Stroll party at Roger Williams Park Zoo July 18. Don your low-rise jeans and Ugg boots for a Battle of the Bands, 2000s-style costume contest, brews, wild animals, and access to the Dragons & Mythical Creatures experience. (I award bonus points if you bring a flip-phone.) $18. 5-9 p.m. 21+ 1000 Elmwood Ave., Providence. Details here.
DUANE BETTS
Rock fans, don’t miss Duane Betts, son of the late great Allman Brothers Band co-founder, Dickey Betts, at the Greenwich Odeum July 19. After 10 years playing with his father, Betts has made a stellar solo career. His latest album, “Wild & Precious Life,” was recorded at Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks’ studio. See highlights of his Grand Ole Opry debut here. $35. Doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m. 59 Main St., East Greenwich. Details here.
BEER RUN
Whether your favorite part of a run is the post-run beer, or you just like beer fests, this is a 5K for you: The Newport Beer Run — formerly the Craft Brew Races — goes off July 20 at Fort Adams State Park. I mention this now because it tends to sell out. Run a 5K road race and run right into a craft beer festival at Fort Adams. Or, skip the run and just imbibe. $65 for run and fest; $60 fest only. 90 Fort Adams Drive. Details here.
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HOT TICKET: SID ABBRUZZI
I had planned to mention “Water Brother: The Sid Abbruzzi Story,” now showing at the Jane Pickens Theatre this week, but all of this week’s screenings sold out. So I’ll mention next week’s now. As of this writing, there are still tickets for a red carpet screening July 21, and screenings July 31, Aug. 4, and Aug. 7.
Known as the Godfather of New England surfing, the longtime owner of Water Brothers Surf and Skate shop in Newport is a community-shaper, an East Coast Surfing hall-of-famer, a surf pioneer, and a professional free spirit.
I interviewed the East Coast surf legend and the filmmakers, Little Compton’s Kinnane Brothers, last year when this doc premiered at a sold-out Fort Adams. It’s a must-see, and I’m thrilled it’s now in a wider theatrical release.
49 Touro St., Newport. Screening details here.
RHODE READS
I’m a lifelong book lover and want to spread the Ocean State literary love. Rhody is so packed with talented authors and books, I started a subsection of this column, Rhode Reads.
South Dartmouth, Mass.-based author/artist/gallery curator/general store owner Ben Shattuck is on tour with his newly released collection of New England-based short stories, “The History of Sound.” I’ve interviewed Shattuck — husband of Milton native/actor Jenny Slate — on both his centuries-old New England general store, and his 2022 debut essay collection about retracing Thoreau’s footsteps, “Six Walks.” At the time, he told me his Pushcart Prize-winning story, “The History of Sound,” had been optioned for film — Shattuck wrote the screenplay. I’m thrilled to see this in a collection.
Catch Shattuck at Twenty Stories — one of my favorite bookstores in Providence — July 14 in conversation with local author Annie Hartnett. Free, 6 p.m. 134 Ives St. Details here.
And in a ticketed event with Slate July 16 at 6 p.m. at Westerly’s United Theatre. $8 no book; $38 with book. 5 Canal St. Details here.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: ONGOING FUN …
THE GREAT ELEPHANT MIGRATION: See a herd of some 100 life-size Indian elephant sculptures in Newport, presented by Art&Newport through Sept. 6. The Great Elephant Migration is a global fundraiser to amplify indigenous knowledge and inspire the human race to share space, according to its website. The sculptures were made by a community of 200 indigenous Indian artisans from the Bettakurumba, Paniya, Kattunayakan and Soliga tribes in India’s Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, according to their website. Viewing is best along the Cliff Walk, where the 52-elephant display is taking place at Salve Regina University’s McAuley Hall, The Breakers, and Rough Point. Learn more here, here and here.
BLACK HISTORY WALKING TOUR: Educate yourself on a Newport Black History Walking Tour. Until now, the personal narratives and experiences of Black individuals enslaved against their will to white merchants in late 18th-century Newport have been largely unknown. Their voices highlight a new tour and exhibit that illuminate “the untold history of early Black Americans” and its widespread, ongoing impact in Rhode Island. Tours Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays at 10 a.m. through Nov. 30. $20 adults; $10 kids 12 and under. Departs from the Pilot House at 13 Bowen’s Wharf, Newport. Details here.
TROOPTOP THURSDAYS: ‘Tis the season for a rooftop beer garden. WaterFire Providence’s TroopTop Thursdays rock the top of WaterFire Arts Center. Each week (except July 25) you can catch the sunset, and the current exhibition, 5-9 p.m. Expect tunes, snacks, beer and wine. 475 Valley St., Providence. Details here.
Until next week, Rhody: Keep rockin.’
Lauren Daley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @laurendaley1.