September 27, 2011 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
http://tasteofmicrofinance.eventbrite.com/
October 1, 2011 at 6:30pm
Rotunda Building (across from City Hall)
Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
http://www.lighthousecharter.org/support/annualgala.html
October 5, 2011 from 6pm-9pm
The Bently Reserve,
301 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA, 94111
http://www.rencenter.org/get-involved/annual-event
It’s that time of year again–time to vote for the Best of the East Bay! The East Bay Express’s big summer issue and flagship event recognizes readers and editors favorites in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
This year’s theme is “Home Grown,” which recognizes things grown right here in our own backyard. In this twenty-first century world of globalization and mass production, Home Grown asks the readers and editors to be thoughtful citizens and loyal localists when making their nominations for the Best of the East Bay.
Voting is taking place online at http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ballot until July 4th, so vote early and make your voice heard!
And mark your calendars now for Friday August 6th, the date for the Best of the East Bay Party. This year’s party will be at Jack London Square waterfront from 5-11PM. The event is free and open for all ages, and features multiple bands, a kid’s zone, and a Blues Pavilion, paying tribute to the blues history of Russeel City in Hayward and 7th Street in Oakland. For more details and ongoing updates, please visit www.EastBayExpress.com/BOEBParty
On Friday, May 14th, Oaklanders celebrated the people and businesses that make the city great at OneCalifornia Foundation’s 4th Annual Oakland Indie Awards. Hosted in partnership with the East Bay Express, the annual awards program is a celebration of all things Oakland and an opportunity to highlight the positive social and environmental impact of Oakland’s independent businesses and artists. The program was kicked off by keynote speaker Michael Kieschnick, Co-Founder, President and CEO of CREDO Mobile / Working Assets.
The 2010 Indie Award Winners Are:
Neighborhood Dynamo: Uptown Body and Fender, a woman-owned body shop that focuses on the emotional well-being of its customers and hosts community events and fundraisers free to local non-profits at its stunning body shop in Oakland’s Uptown district.
Newbie: Snap Judgment, the new Oakland-based NPR program and multi-media company that offers a new voice in storytelling, showcasing Oakland’s diversity and telling stories that “drop listeners into another person’s skin”.
Youth Empowerment: Oaklandish, the extremely popular design and screen-printing company that celebrates all-things Oakland through its apparel and supports the city’s youth through innovation award grants.
Pillar: Peerless Coffee, the 86-year-old family-owned specialty coffee company that provides specialty blends to some of the Bay Area’s most esteemed restaurants, offers scholarships to Berkeley students, helps develop the communities that grow their coffee, and was one of the first businesses to be certified green by the Alameda County Green Business program.
Innovator: Natural Home Cleaning Professionals, the eco-friendly co-op that provides healthy worker-owner cleaning employment opportunities for immigrant women in Oakland and the Bay Area.
Ripple Effect: BayVAN and Compound Gallery, the arts organizations that founded the nationally-recognized Plaid Friday, the independent business’ answer to Black Friday that encourages people to do their holiday shopping at local indie businesses.
Greenie: Ryan Duke, an independent industrial designer that creatively re-uses reclaimed materials to build essential products to improve lives including refugees in the U.S. and individuals in developing countries.
Oakland Soul: Joyce Gordon Gallery, the downtown-Oakland based commercial fine art gallery that seeks to open doors and share the perspectives of the Bay Area’s diverse artist population, as well as those of international artists.
Please visit http://www.oaklandindieawards.com/ for more information about the winners and for pictures!
In addition to seeing the winners being announced and awarded, party guests sampled food, wine, chocolate and beer from as many as 30 food producers and restaurants, explored a selection of locally-made items from over 50 artists and retailers, and thanks to the generosity of DJ Mama L, listened to music from Oakland musicians, past and present.
Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate with us and we’ll see you at the 5th Annual next year!!
On Sunday June 27th, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland will sponsor Oaklavia in downtown Oakland from 10 AM-2 PM. You no longer need to venture into San Francisco to enjoy car free streets on Sunday Streets–you can do so right here in Oakland! Come bike, walk, or play in the car free streets and enjoy free dance lessons, people watching, and more! For more information, check out Oaklavia’s website.
And while you’re out and about, don’t forget to stop by La Borinquena Mex-icatessen between 10 AM and 2 PM to celebrate its 66th Birthday! There will be food, live music, guest presenters, and more. La Borinquena has been a powerful community force in Oakland for many years and was a recipient of the 2007 Oakland Indie Pillar Award, so spot by, enjoy some tamales, and wish La Borinquena a happy birthday! Details are available on their websites: http://www.tamalegirl.com/ and http://www.tinatamale.com/.
Pro Arts Gallery is hosting its 35th Anniversary/Box Art Exhibit and Benefit Auction this Saturday evening, November 7th. Box Art 2009 features “original works made from recycled materials distributed by Pro Arts in partnership with the Reuse People.” This fundraiser allows a community of artists to have fun creating new works from the same materials. Come check out what they’ve created and support a local art gallery! Details are on Pro Art Gallery’s website.
Oakland’s Dimond District is hosting their annual Oaktoberfest this Saturday, October 10, celebrating all that is October and Oakland! This is Oakland’s Family-Friendly Craft Beer Festival, featuring a kid’s area, live music, and good food and drink, including a German Style Homebrew Competition. Come get October started off right with Oaktoberfest! For more details, check out the event’s website.
On August 7th, the East Bay Express hosted 10,000 people at the Best of the East Bay Party. Held at the Oakland Museum of California, attendees were presented with over thirty bands; fifty international dancers; comedians, graffiti, tattoo and visual artists; sixty indie fashion designers; a Harley-Davidson and tattoo art show; a classic pinball arcade; a kid’s party zone with young rock bands and science projects; and a professional contact sports ring with talent ranging from Pro Wresting to Kung Fu competitions.
In its second year, the Best of the East Bay Party has quickly become one of the region’s most well-received events. East Bay Express publisher Jody Colley summed up the event by saying, “Our goal was to throw a free community party that truly celebrates what we love most about the East Bay, and that’s its depth of talent, creativity and diversity. This party offers outstanding cultural entertainment value for everyone, all ages and all walks of life.”
The event was broadcast live on the Express’ website and will be featured at a later date on the internet radio site, Pandora.com. The event website has more information as well as photo and video galleries: http://www.eastbayexpress.wordpress.com/. You can also check out photos of the OneCalifornia bar here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34624260@N02/sets/72157622171067078/.
Thank you to all who made this event a success! And a BIG thank you to all the volunteers who helped man the event bar with OneCalifornia. We couldn’t have done it without you!
The East Bay Express holds an annual reader poll to find out who is the Best of the East Bay. Readers vote for the best in various categories, ranging from the Best Band to the Best Brunch Place for Vegans and Carnivores to Coexist, and everything in between. To celebrate the winners, the East Bay Express holds the Best of the East Bay Party at the end of the summer! Featured at this party are all types of East Bay food, drink, and retail vendors displaying their wares; East Bay non-profits educating the public about the amazing work that they do; a multitude of East Bay bands jamming on eight different stages as well as dancers, comedians, and other artists showing off their talents; sports demonstrations and car shows; and a kids’ zone with magic shows, art projects, and other hands-on activities; and more!
This year’s Best of the East Bay Party takes place on Friday, August 7th from 5 PM to midnight at the Oakland Museum of California. The Oakland Museum of California is located just one block away from Lake Merritt BART Station, so you can take BART to the event. There will also be Bike Valet parking available onsite.
Each year the East Bay Express chooses an East Bay non-profit to highlight and support through the event; for the Best of 2009 Party, OneCalifornia Foundation is honored to be that chosen non-profit! This means that, while the event is free, all bar proceeds will go to the Foundation. See the article on the event’s blog about the party supporting local non-profits. For more information about the event, check out the East Bay Express event blog.
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