An especially eventful weekend

This weekend is particularly packed with things to do, from a comics and zine festival, the Capital City Film Festival, the Michigan State University Science Festival and the Ten Pound Fiddle’s 50th anniversary celebration to early Easter events, a beloved Broadway musical, Lansing Lugnuts games, a health and wellness fair and much more. I recommend getting errands done ahead of time to avoid missing out on any of the action.

For Friday evening’s live music, we have a vocal and piano recital by MSU graduate student musicians Paula Duva-Rodriguez and Yushi Hu at the school’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at 5:30; the Lansing Community College Jazz Band with guest vocalist Candace Potts of Lansing’s Transcendence Performing Arts Center at the University Club of MSU, Motown/funk/R&B group Powerlight Band at UrbanBeat and country musician Adrien Nunez at Grewal Hall, all at 7; rock cover band Lucid Vibe at Holt’s Summerlands Brewing Co. and folk singer-songwriter Susan Werner at East Lansing’s University Lutheran Church, both at 7:30; a swing dance with the MSU jazz orchestras at the large rehearsal hall in the school’s Music Building, a DJ set by John Collins of pioneering Detroit techno collective Underground Resistance at the MSUFCU building in downtown East Lansing and variety cover band Mix Pack at the Green Door, all at 8; metal bands Room 101, Food the Desert, Supreme Mystic, Last Call in Jonestown and Wired God at Mac’s Bar at 8:30; pop/funk/R&B band Love Effect at the Avenue at 9, with additional sets by DJs Ruckus and Ganja Girl; and variety cover band Geech at Mash Bar at 9:30. 

On Saturday, the MSU College of Music will host its annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Regional Competition, in which regional high school jazz bands will perform for Jazz at Lincoln Center clinicians and professionals for a chance to play at the Jazz Spectacular finale concert in the evening and advance to the competition’s next phase in New York. The event is open to the public and runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the school’s Fairchild Theatre. In the evening, we have Motown/‘60s band The Collective at UrbanBeat and emo bands Free Throw, Ben Quad and Harrison Gordon at Grewal Hall, both at 7; rock and metal bands Forge the Sun, Hyporium, Already Over, Net Minder and Sins Ov Madness at Mac’s Bar at 7:30; funk/R&B/blues band Mixed Flavors at the Irish Pub and MSU’s Jazz Spectacular finale concert at the school’s Fairchild Theatre, both at 8; Geech at the Green Door at 8:30; and the Capital City Film Festival afterparty at the Avenue at 9, featuring punk-techno band Nature and DJs AK and Blackmoonchild. 

Ending the weekend on Sunday is a tuba and euphonium concert at MSU’s Fairchild Theatre at 3 p.m., the Ingham Festival Chorale’s “Songs of Hope, Peace and Praise” concert at East Lansing’s University United Methodist Church at 4 p.m. and folk-rock band The Aimcriers at the Avenue at 7 p.m.

For even more live music, check out the Ten Pound Fiddle’s 50th anniversary celebration all day Saturday at University Lutheran Church. The event will include sixteen one-hour sessions of community singing, jamming, dancing and more from noon to 4:45 p.m., followed by performances by Ten Pound Fiddle favorites like Kitty Donohoe, Sally Rogers, Joel Mabus, the Springtails and the Ukulele Kings from 6 to 10 p.m. The Fiddle will also host its final used CD and vinyl record sale 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the church, offering thousands of folk, Americana and blues CDs, most priced at $1. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Fiddle Scouts program.

Art displays on view this weekend include the Mid-Michigan Art Guild’s spring member show at the Neighborhood Empowerment Center, which is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; mixed-media artist Steph Joy Hogan’s “Scrapscapes” exhibit at the Nelson Gallery in downtown Lansing, which is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday; “Farmland: Food, Justice and Sovereignty,” “Seeing in 360 Degrees: The Zaha Hadid Design Collection,” “Echoes of War” and the 2025 Master of Fine Arts Exhibition at the MSU Broad Art Museum, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Saturday; and a collective exhibit focusing on patterns found in nature at the Okemos Library, which is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

There’s no shortage of theater productions to enjoy this weekend, including the national tour of “Chicago” 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Wharton Center’s Cobb Great Hall;  “Puffs,” a parody of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series from the perspective of the Hufflepuffs, 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at LCC’s Dart Auditorium; “How I Learned to Drive,” a drama about a woman looking back on an inappropriate relationship she had with her aunt’s husband as a teen, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Riverwalk Theatre; and the MSU Department of Theatre’s “Inching Toward Yeolha,” a dark comedy about a secluded Central Asian Village “desperate to explore a new world while clutching tightly to the past,” 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre.

Though Easter isn’t until next weekend, Eaton Rapids will hold an egg hunt 11 a.m. Saturday at Martin Hansen Amphitheater, and Fowlerville’s Lil Sunflowers Learning Academy will host a celebration featuring an egg hunt, photos with the Easter Bunny and opportunities to pet a real bunny 9 a.m. to noon Saturday to raise funds to purchase a shade for its infant and toddler playground.

Other events for the kids include the return of the weekly storytime and parkour workshop 10 a.m. Friday at  AL!VE Health Park in Charlotte and Charlotte Community Library’s monthly Minecraft Club 4 p.m. Friday.

If you’re looking for a new spring read, you’re in luck, with a buy one, get one free book, jigsaw puzzle, DVD and CD sale 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday and 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Delta Township District Library and a used book sale 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Haslett Library.

Before wrapping up Saturday evening, the Capital City Film Festival will offer a selection of screenings Friday and Saturday at venues around Lansing. For a full schedule, visit the website.

The MSU Science Festival continues this weekend with a variety of activities for all ages, from an Earth Bash noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center, featuring behind-the-scenes tours of the facilities and recycling-focused activities like upcycled crafts and a clothing swap, to an astronomy night 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the MSU observatory, offering the best night-sky view in town and hands-on demonstrations led by physicists and astronomers from the school.

For baseball fans, the Lansing Lugnuts will play a three-game series against the Great Lakes Loons 6:05 p.m. Friday and 1:05 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Jackson Field, and the MSU baseball team will face off against Northwestern University in its own three-game series 5:30 p.m. Friday, 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at McLane Stadium.

Members of local potters’ collective Clayworks will sell their creations at a spring pottery sale, running 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday at Faith Church near the Eastwood Towne Center.

Okemos’ Harris Nature Center will reduce the sounds and lighting in its exhibits for its free sensory-friendly night, running 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday. A quiet room and sensory kits will be available to attendees.

The East Lansing Public Library will hold its annual Books, Bites, and Bids fundraiser 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, featuring a silent auction, dinner, drinks, live music and more. Proceeds from ticket sales will be used for local history initiatives.

The biweekly TGIF dance party begins 8 p.m. Friday at Bath’s Hawk Hollow Banquet Center, with an optional line dance lesson at 7:15 p.m. The theme is “little black dress.” A complimentary dinner buffet and cash bar will be available to attendees.

Visit Better Health Market in Frandor 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday for a free health and wellness fair, offering consultations with health experts and wellness practitioners, giveaways, a storewide sale, healthy snack and drink samples and services such as blood pressure screenings, hand and chair massages, vitamin B12 injections and frequency therapies.

The inaugural Lansing Independent Comics and Zine Fest runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the REO Town Marketplace, featuring more than 40 exhibitors, including cartoonists, zine makers, artists, local publishing resources and more. Admission is free.

Ruth Sherman, a certified hypnotherapist, will lead a participatory hypnosis workshop 2 p.m. Saturday at the Light House Chapel in north Lansing. 

Representatives from the Greater Lansing Food Bank’s Garden Project will host a beginners’ gardening workshop 1 p.m. Sunday at the Okemos Library, teaching attendees about soil fertility, garden site prep, seed selection and beyond. Participants will take home free seeds and educational guides to begin the process of starting their own gardens.

Finally, Capital Pro Wrestling returns to the Fledge for a series of matches beginning 3 p.m. Sunday.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best of weekends.

(Have an event? Be sure to list it free at lansingcitypulse.com/calendar. Think it’s worth at least a short story? Send a news release to nicole@lansingcitypulse.com for consideration.)