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Here are some of the events taking place in the Mahoning Valley this weekend. For more events, check out our Events Calendar.
This week’s big ticket: The inauguration Mahoning Valley Irish Festival will take place from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday a Penguin City Brewing460 E. Federal St., Youngstown.
The festival will feature crafts, vendors, food, 50/50 raffles and baskets, music and more.
Sullivan’s Irish Brew will make its Mahoning Valley debut, and Penguin City Brewing will introduce its Irish Red Ale, according to a news release.
Doors open at 4.30pm on Friday, with performances by The Bogtrotters, Burke Irish Dancers, County Mayo and Spot Fire Irish Rock.
The doors will open on Saturday at 10:30am. The performance line-up includes Steel Valley Pipes & Drums, Burke School of Irish Dance, County Mayo, Weekend at Blarneys, One String Short, Here Comes Tuesday, The Bogtrotters, Alan Irvine and The Low Kings.
Saturday will also feature activities for children, including bounce houses, yard games and face painting.
You can find a program of events here.
Admission is $5, and children 12 and older are free. Funds raised will benefit the Mahoning Valley Gaelic Society and other local organizations, according to the release.
ALSO HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND
‘GREASE’ LIVE: The Millennial Theater Company will present “Grease the Musical” a The Youngstown Playhouse over the next two weekends. The production will take place at 7.30 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and August 5 and 6, and at 2.30 pm on Sunday and August 7. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased here or by calling 330-788-8739. “When people come to see ‘Grease,’ most of them have certain expectations that must be met, and no expense has been spared in producing our production to ensure that those expectations are not only met, but they outdo each other,” director Joe Asente said in a news release. release
IN THE DARK: Westside Bowl in Youngstown will host the In the Darkness Fest on Friday and Saturday. Bands performing at the two-day metal festival include Bear Mace, Wraith, Hanging Fortress, Tombstoner, Atomic Witch and Imperial Triumphant. The doors will open on Friday at 6 pm and on Saturday at 1 pm. You can find ticket information and a list of performing bands here.
CHOOSE JOY FOR MELINA: The Melina Michelle Edenfield Foundation will host the third annual Choose Joy For Melina fundraiser from 11:30 am to 4 pm Saturday at The Green in Canfield. The foundation was established to honor the memory of 4-year-old Melina, who died in 2020 from a childhood brain tumor called diffuse midline glioma. The event will feature bounce houses, face painting, giveaways, raffles and more. All proceeds raised will go to fund pediatric brain cancer research, according to a news release. More information can be found here.
YOU ARE ENCOURAGED: River Rock in the Amp on Saturday as a tribute band Queen Nation takes the stage at the Warren Community Amphitheater, 321 Mahoning Ave. NW, at 8:30 p.m. The band will perform Queen hits like “We Will Rock You,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions,” “Crazy Little.” Thing Called Love’ and ‘Another Bites the Dust’. Bad JuJu, who performs songs from the 80s, 90s and 2000s, will open the show at 5:30 p.m. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door, are $10. Children 12 and over have free entry.
ON SHOW: “Human/Nature: Two Watercolor Views,” featuring artists Betsy Ford and Lotte Herwig-Erhardt, opens Saturday at the Mill Creek MetroParks’ Weller Gallery a Fellows Riverside Gardens. The exhibition, which includes works that are the “perception and inner experience of the artists’ eye, which determine the way the image is represented in the work of art”, will be on view until October 23, according to a press release. The gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. A meet-the-artists event will take place from 1pm to 3pm on September 17 at the gallery.
NEXT WEEK
ALTMAN EXHIBITION: The artwork of Suzy Altman will be exhibited at the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation Art Gallery at Youngstown Jewish Community Center from Monday to September 5. A reception will be held on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. The collection of images for the “From the Rust Belt to the Bible Belt” exhibit was made over several years of Altman traveling the back roads from Mississippi to Ohio, according to a press release . Altman’s work is in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and the Mississippi Museum of Art.
SUMMER MOVIE: The Youngstown Summer Movie Series will present the 2021 film “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Monday at 9 p.m. at Wean Park, 229 E. Front St., Youngstown.
RACPERS IN ACTION: The Mahoning Valley Scrappers will face the West Virginia Black Bears at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Eastwood Field in Niles. Tickets can be purchased hereat the Chevy All Stars box office at Eastwood Field or by calling 330-505-0000.
FIRST WEDNESDAY: Illuminated Youngstown’s The First Wednesday Readers series will feature poets Debbie Allen, Rochelle Hurt and Alynn Mahle at 7pm on Wednesdays at The soap gallery in Youngstown. The readings will be followed by an open mic, and the event will also celebrate National Watermelon Day.
ELDREDGE IN YOUNGSTOWN: Country music singer-songwriter Brett Eldredge will bring his “Songs About You” tour to the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater Thursday at 19:30. Nate Smith will open the show. Tickets, ranging in price from $37.50 to $75, can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Southwoods Health box office inside the Covelli Center in Youngstown. Eldredge has had five singles reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. His hits include “Don’t Ya”, “Beat of the Music”, “Mean to Me”, “Lose My Mind” and “Wanna Be That Song”.
HIGH KINGS AT ROBINS: Multi-platinum selling Irish folk band The High Kings will act a Robins Theatre at Warren at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are available for purchase, ranging in price from $25 to $40 plus applicable fees here and at the Robins Theater box office. The group’s self-titled debut album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard World Music Chart. His most recent album, “Home From Home”, was released in 2021.
WHAT TO KNOW
TIKTOK DANCE WORKSHOP: Youngstown’s Jewish Community Center School of Dance offers a TikTok dance workshop for ages 7 and up from 3-4:30pm Sunday at the JCC, 505 Gypsy Lane. Participants will learn trending viral dances and choreograph their own, according to a press release. Cost is $15 for JCC members and $20 for non-members. Sign up here.
YSO SEASON PASSES: Season subscriptions and renewals for al Youngstown Symphony Orchestra The 2022-23 season is now on sale. The season will feature nine concerts and will open with “YSO Pops Mask-erade” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at the DeYor Performing Arts Center in Youngstown. Tickets can be purchased here.
BENEFIT WALK: Registration is open for the third annual Teal Together 5K & 1 Mile Walk to Benefit Rose Mary Flanagan Ovarian Cancer Foundation. The event will take place on September 17 at Boardman Township Park. Sign up here.
