Oakland

Local Artists Illuminate Lake Merritt Gardens in Immersive Autumn Lights Festival
For a 10th year, The Gardens at Lake Merritt will transform into an outdoor immersive gallery of art and light. This year’s Autumn Lights Festival welcomes the public back to experience the beauty in person. People are invited to take an illuminated stroll through 7 acres of municipal gardens made

Oakland’s First First Friday Since the Pandemic was Exactly What I Needed
Oakland is a city of contrast and creativity. The beauty of Oakland is found within this conflict. The struggle of the flat lands juxtaposed against the prosperity in the hills, the pothole-laden streets where homes sell for upwards of a million dollars, the way your windows shake when a car

Oakland Maker Space American Steel Sold To Seemingly Horrible New Corporate Owners
When it was established in 2006, the West Oakland maker space American Steel served as an art gallery and studio for large-scale industrial works, like giant Tesla coils and 20-foot tall metal sculptures. But when the place sold in 2016 for $29 million, many of the artists left because of

Second Sky Music Festival Attendees Were Too Tired For This Years Festival Season!
While the excitement was high initially, Second Sky Music Festival attendees realized ever so quickly their bodies weren’t actually ready for festival season. As it turns out, one and half years of staying at home to shelter in place had made them too soft to stand.

Oakland’s Strange & Delightful “Troll Trail”
Deep in Oakland, imaginative trolls await you along the Bridgeview Troll Trail bringing the fun of art and creativity back into your life. What started out as just a way to bring in some fun during the all-consuming sadness of 2020, has turned into a collective art project.

Check Out These Oakland Outdoor Bars to Soak Up What’s Left of Summer
The East Bay has taken a spanking this summer with abnormally high temperatures and smoky air you can chew on like a snack. But those punishing daytime rays make for beautiful summer nights, nights that will quickly disappear. So grab your vaccinated peeps and hit up some trippy outdoor bars

Hung Liu: Groundbreaking Oakland Artist Dies at 73
Hung Liu had cemented her place in Oakland history with a long life of contributing art she believed had the power to “change the world.” It was announced Monday that the 73-year-old painter died over the weekend from late-stage pancreatic cancer. Her passing comes less than two months before an

The Best Beer Drinking Patios in the East Bay
One of my favorite jobs as a journalist is trying out bars and restaurants in order to write our Beer Passports. This past year nearly every weekend I explored 2-3 new drinkin’ patios in the Bay Area, while asking friends and patrons where their favorite spots to drink were. Oakland