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We don’t care what the calendar says — it’s only slightly more useful than the bathroom scale we stopped talking to three years ago. Summer in the Bay Area really starts when “Fogust” is done. Kick September into high gear with these seven sensational ideas for things to do around the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, from a sweet successor to the Museum of Ice Cream to an awww-inspiring movie about guide dogs. Plus, Jon Snow-inspired music!
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1 PLAY: Candy Land IRL
If you get giddy over gummy bears, relish rock candy and swoon over Swedish fish, say hello to Candytopia. This interactive candy art exhibit and Instagram opens today, right across the street from the Museum of Ice Cream. How to choose? How to choose??? If it’s any help, Candytopia offers 16,000 square feet of candy sculptures, rainbow-pooping winged pigs and a marshmallow pool. Take a peek inside.
2 SEE: A moving movie about guide dogs
The new movie “Pick of the Litter” delivers a look at the hard work and intense competition it takes to make a guide dog. But we’re burying the lead here: It also has lots of amazing scenes with ADORABLE PUPPIES. Created by the same team that gave us the heartwarming “Batkid Begins,” the documentary opens this weekend at theaters in Berkeley, San Jose and beyond. It tops our list of your best weekend movie options (along with Jennifer Garner making a welcome butt-kicking return in a new thriller). And, yes, our roundup has the trailer for “Litter” (we dare you to watch it just once, it’s adorbs).
3 SIP: Tiki in the city
The California Rum Festival heads to San Francisco this weekend for an afternoon of tiki cocktails, retro surf tunes and plenty of mai tai magic. You’ll find all the grand tasting details here. And if you’re more of a wine or beer type, we’ve got other boozy suggestions, too, including the Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival’s Chocolate Lounge, which serves wine, beer and chocolate everything.
4 HEAR: Targaryen tunes and “Game of Thrones” scenes
Suffering from “Game of Thrones” withdrawal? A little anxious that the return of the hit HBO series feels like it’s taking longer than it took for Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen to finally get busy (if you catch our drift)? We feel your pain. But a feast-for-the-senses bit of compensation is headed our way, in the form of an orchestral performance of the show’s stirring score set to key seasons from the show so far. Find details on the San Jose show here, along with our chat with “GOT” musical mastermind Ramin Djawadi.
5 EAT: A green avo-lanche
Sure, anyone can order avocado toast or guacamole. But if you are a fan of creamy, green goodness, hightail it to San Francisco’s Avocado Con. StrEat Food Park — the food fest folks who pair street food, with carnival games, wine, beer and other fun — are hosting Sunday’s avocado-centric event and it sounds delicious. (It’s just one of a bunch of fun foodie fests this month.)
6 HEAR: Baseball history-inspired music
Marcus Shelby is one of the true treasures of the Bay Area music scene. The composer, bassist extraordinaire and bandleader is known for creating works exploring everything from the American prison system to Harriet Tubman to the Port Chicago tragedy. This weekend, he’s debuting a new piece titled “The Negro Leagues and the Blues” at the wonderful (and free!) Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in San Francisco. Details are here.
7 EAT: Brunch times three!
Is there any more beautiful word in the English language than “brunch”? Here are three new possibilities for leisurely, breakfasty dining this weekend, from Southern-style Fried Chicken Benedict at Hayward’s PLaYT to Bao Benedicts in the city.
