The 2022 Idaho Shakespeare Fest season kicks off tomorrow, Friday, May 20! The first performance is Much Ado About Nothing and will be showing May 20-June 11. Other performances include Ain't Misbehavin' (June 17-July 9), Romeo & Juliet (July 15-30), Little Shop of Horrors (August 5-27), and The 39 Steps (Sept 2-25). Tix are $16-$88.
If you've never been, here's the deets: get a ticket, pack a picnic (you can byob!), and bring a blanket or low chair if you get hillside tix. I also recommend a hat for those late summer shows because its hotttt before the sun goes down. It's super fun & the grounds are absolutely gorgeous.
New this year, City of Good is running the on-site cafe! You can pre-purchase meals and quickly pick up a farm-fresh, locally-sourced meal when you get to the show.
Idaho Shakespeare Fest. Photo by DKM Photography.
Neighborhood Concert Series is back
The Neighborhood Concert Series is back! This is a collab between Lost Grove Brewing & The Morrison Center with help from the city that started during the pandemic. It was really fun & I'm glad they brought it back!
The series of pop-up concerts take place in parks in different neighborhoods around Boise. Each show has two local bands, food trucks, vendors & Lost Grove beer. It's very fam-friendly & free! Here's the schedule:
June 15 - Sunset Neighborhood - Sunset Park
June 29- Morris Hill Neighborhood - Morris Hill Park
July 13 - Southwest Ada County Alliance Neighborhood - Peppermint Park
July 27 - West End Neighborhood - Fairview Park
August 10 - Winstead Neighborhood - Winstead Park
August 24 - Collister Neighborhood - Catalpa Park
Veteran's Memorial Park show. Photo by Lost Grove Brewing.
A few things to look forward to
Summery Market is Fri & Sat June 17-18 at Expo Idaho. It's a handmade & vintage market featuring 100+ local makers, artists, and vendors. You could quite literally get an entire year's worth of bday & xmas gifts here. It's $5 to enter & kids under 12 are free.
Summery Market 2021. Photo by Allison Corona Photography
World Village Festival is Fri-Sun June 24-26 in Cecil D. Andrus Park. It's three days of live music, dance, & food from around the world! Most performers are local & represent more than 15 cultures. It's free & open to all ages. Sounds fun & the Saturday headliner is rad (watch/listen).
World Village Fest 2019. Photo by Hero Carosel.
Boise Trails Challenge is June 17-July 17. It's an annual month-long challenge to complete as many of Boise's trails as you can in a month. You can walk, run, or bike. It's really fun. Registration is open now!
...on May 16, 1982, ExtraMile Arena (formerly known as Taco Bell Arena and The Pavilion) opened its doors to Boise.
Located on the east end of Boise State University’s campus, the multipurpose sports and entertainment center was the first of its kind and in high demand. Its first event was BSU Commencement. Since opening in 1982, 12 million guests have attended over 5,000 events. Over the years, the arena has held many more commencement ceremonies, a dozen NCAA and Big Sky basketball tournaments, and hundreds of concerts, like Metallica, Elton John, Cirque Du Soleil, Luciano Pavarotti, The Grateful Dead, Green Day, Van Halen, Nirvana, Tina Turner, Blue Oyster Cult, Katy Perry, Tom Petty, and The Heartbreakers & many more.
Today, ExtraMile Arena driven by a predominately women-led team and continues to invest in our community through sponsorships and multiple nonprofit partnerships.
There's some great shows coming up! I'm really excited to see Homeshake (listen) and Salami Rose Joe Louis (listen) tonight at Neurolux. On Friday, Jenny Don't & the Spurs (listen) is always a fun show and Reckless Kelly (listen) is playing a show at Hayden Beverage's new outdoor amphitheater, so you could go check that out. Next week, on Tuesday you can see McKenna Esteb (listen), who is also From Boise's amazing social media manager! Also next week I'm excited for Tomberlin (listen), which is an all ages show.
TONIGHT: Meriwether Cider (in Garden City) is hosting a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association. Bingo from 5-7pm & 10% of cider sales will be donated to the Treasure Valley Walk to End Alzheimer's.
Tues May 24:Telaya and Wild Plum teamed up for a lil wine din. Tix are $40 and include a five-course wine & small plate pairing.
From Boise reader James sent me his amazing list of food & drink places. It's more like a database. Pretty impressive honestly haha check it out. Thanks for sharing, James!
Switchback Boise schedule is up! Live music by June Babies & three food trucks.
Green Acres Boise schedule is up! Rotating food trucks & live music tonight thru Sunday.
Indulge Boise Food Tours are back! YAY. This is a really fun thing to do with friends or if you have fam/friends visiting. They have multiple types of tours, but essentially you go around downtown Boise and try small plates from different restaurants and learn about Boise in the process. It's fun!
Shadow Puppet, a new speciality wine & beer bar on the bench, has a cute new patio!
Sunshine Spice Cafe is opening a second location in downtown Boise! Their new space is at 220 N 10th. They will have their amazing pastries & baked goods and an expanded breakfast & lunch menu. Woo!
Also, did you know Lost Grove is opening a pizza kitchen in the brewery this summer?! And they are hiring someone to make said pizza. Another Lost Grove fun fact, they have a darling brewery kitty named Pizza Cat. I'm obsessed with him.
Beautiful Pizza Cat is ready to take your order. Credit Lost Grove Brewing.
Things to do
TONIGHT: The first Push & Pour Running Club run is tonight. I mistakenly said that the first one was last week - ugh my bad. It kicks off tonight at 6pm from Push & Pour at 13 S Latah. And they waived the fee so it's freeee!
Th-Sat May 19-21:Idaho’s Best Comedian Competition is happening at Visual Arts Collective. Preliminary rounds are Thurs & Fri night and the final round is Sat. Shows start at 8pm. Tix are $25/night or $55/all 3 nights and it's 21+.
Th-Sun May 19-22: Boise Music Week is performing Into The Woods at the Morrison Center. There are multiple showtimes over the weekend. Tix are free but have to be reserved in advance.
Fri May 20: The Old Pen is hosting another Captivating Conversations and this month's topic is Indigenous Peoples at the Idaho Territorial Prison. It's 6-8pm and it's free!
Sat May 21: Got stuff to sell? Need some new goodies? Check out Idaho's Largest Garage Sale, happening 7am-5pm at Expo Idaho. Admission is $5 for people age 16+ and $3 for ages 15 and under.
Sat May 21: There's a Spring Garden Festivalat Franz Witte. Lots of plants to shop & a food truck. It's free!
Sat May 21: There's a record swap happening at PreFunk Beer Bar in Nampa. 11am-4pm. It's technically outside in the alley so under 21 might be fine to attend but idk for sure.
Sat May 21:The Idaho Pun Slam is happening at Lounge at the End of the Universe. It's 18+ and tix are $15.
Sat & Sun May 21-22: Learn to tango! Ochos is hosting a weekend-long tango workshop. Tix are $20-$132 depending on how many things you want to attend.
Coming soon: Starting Tues, June 7, Kaleidisco and Hollywood Market Yoga are hosting Silent Disco Yoga in the Park. It's happening every Tuesday June 7-August 30 from 7-8pm. It will be held behind the tennis courts in Camel's Back Park and price varies. Open to ages 7+.