Circuses, concerts and Chicago comedians

The first weekend of August offers a long list of activities, from a jazz festival and two traveling circuses to a high school playwright showcase, baseball games, a few unique workshops and much more.

For Friday evening’s live music, we have singer-songwriter Jen Sygit and funk/R&B band Mixed Flavors at Lake Lansing Park South at 6:15; party band Great Scott! at Lansing Brewing Co. and country/rock band Deer & Elk at Lansing Shuffle, both at 7; variety cover band Mix Pack at the Green Door at 9; and party band Electric Flower Co. at Mash Bar at 10. On Sunday, we have variety cover group Kathy Ford Band at East Lansing’s University Lutheran Church and Red Cedar Spirits’ weekly Sunday Jazz show, both at 6 p.m.; Americana/folk band Red Thyme at the Avenue at 7 p.m.; and Mac’s Bar’s weekly Harmony Sundays DJ show at 9 p.m.

For even more live music, JazzFest Michigan runs 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday on Turner Street in Old Town, featuring an array of performances that will traverse genres well beyond straight-up jazz. There will be afterglow performances and jam sessions at UrbanBeat each night. The festival closes on Sunday with its new GospelFest, which will kick off with a service at 11 a.m. on Turner Street.

En Plein Air Mid-Michigan, a group of local artists who meet weekly during warm months to paint among nature, will host an opening reception for its “Alluring Nature 2024” art show 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Framer’s Edge in Okemos. The exhibition is also open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Other art displays on view this weekend include “Resonant Earth,” a group exhibition exploring “the tangibility and mutability of sound,” and “Always Different, Always the Same” at the Lansing Art Gallery, which is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; “Eye Witness,” “Seeing in 360 Degrees: The Zaha Hadid Design Collection” and “DOOMSCROLLING” at the Broad Art Museum, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday; and “Figuring It All Out: An Artistic Study of the Human Figure” at the Art Williamston gallery, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

If you’d like to get creative yourself, the Lansing Art Gallery will host a character creation workshop 2 p.m. Saturday.

It’s the last weekend to catch “Predictor” at Williamston Theatre, with final performances 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Additionally, Riverwalk Theatre will host its annual Emerging Playwrights Festival 7 p.m. Saturday, featuring two full productions and three staged readings of the one-act scripts written by the winners of its high school playwriting competition.

Events for the kids this weekend include a recycled cardboard necklace craft 4:15 p.m. Friday at Charlotte Community Library, Grand Ledge Area District Library’s weekly Messy Fun Play Day 2 to 4 p.m. Friday and a screening of the Disney movie “Wish” 9 p.m. Friday at Holt’s Veterans Memorial Gardens.

Two circuses will hit town this weekend: the Garden Bros. Nuclear Circus, performing eight shows at the Lansing Mall, and the Great Pages Circus, performing five shows at the Fowlerville Family Fairgrounds.

The Lansing Lugnuts will finish up their six-game series against the Dayton Dragons 7:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday at Jackson Field. To purchase tickets and view the promotional events at each game, visit the Lugnuts’ website.

The Ingham County Fair runs through Saturday, offering nightly grandstand events, livestock shows and auctions, carnival rides, food vendors, games, a BIPOC vendor fair on Saturday and more. Gates open at noon each day.

Unity Spiritual Center of Lansing’s monthly euchre tournament begins 7 p.m. Friday, with an optional potluck at 6:30 p.m.

Bring your dogs to Harris Nature Center 8 p.m. Saturday for a 3-mile walk through the nighttime woods. Dogs must be on a leash.

Village Crafters will host an arts and crafts sale 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Grand Ledge’s First United Methodist Church. Attendees are encouraged to bring donations of non-perishable food items for the Grand Ledge Emergency Assistance Program.

Milton Shoup, general manager of the Eastside Lansing Food Co-Op, will lead a workshop on food fermentation 10 a.m. Saturday at Allen Neighborhood Center.

Willow Tree Family Center, a nonprofit that equips Lansing-area families with resources for childbirth and parenting, will host its first annual CommUNITY of Families Festival 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, featuring vendor and resource tables, a free baby item store, free mini-workshops, a kids’ area, food trucks and more.

Ukulele instructor Jim D’Ville will lead a workshop on the emotional value of chords 11 a.m. Saturday at Elderly Instruments.

Visit Dear Ollie & Co. in downtown Lansing 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday for a postcard party, where guests can fill out and mail postcards for free. There will also be a temporary tattoo bar and free gifts with purchases over $15.

The Michigan Dental Hygienists’ Association will host a golf outing Saturday afternoon at Williamston’s Wheatfield Valley Golf Course. Tickets include 18 holes with a cart, a boxed lunch and a taco bar dinner. Registration begins at 1, with a shotgun start at 2.

Looking Glass Brewing Co.’s StreetFest runs 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday in downtown DeWitt, featuring live music, a cornhole tournament, barbecue food and more than 20 special release beers, ciders and seltzers. Attendees who purchase tickets online will receive early entry at 3 p.m. The event is restricted to ages 21 and older.

Four crowd-favorite comedians from Chicago’s Laugh Factory, Joey Villagomez, Abi Sanchez, Aaron Putnum and Nick Leydorf, will visit Lansing for a show 8 p.m. Saturday at Grewal Hall at 224.

Finally, Maeve Bassett, education program director at Michigan State University’s Beal Botanical Garden, will lead a garden tour in collaboration with the Broad Art Museum 1 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.)