It’s free concert season and the amazing performers at Stern Grove will delight you in their 81st year. Summer also means hot dogs, beers and rooting for the GIANTS, how about a ballpark tour – a home run for sure. Calling all vegans and tofu lovers, The Northern California Soy and Tofu festival returns – yes there IS a festival for everything. And you know, fellow tomatoes, there is a lot of art in our city, and a lot of art that is inspired by light. Visit Midway Gallery for one of the most unique LED exhibits we’ve seen.

Free Concerts at Stern Grove

It’s back, hooray. Insert clapping hands emoji as the Stern Grove festival returns with a line-up of performances that are fab. Yes, there will be thousands of people attending these free concerts, but if you get to the grove around noon for the 2 p.m. concert, you’ll have time to put out your blanket and prepare your feast. Just don’t bring a blanket that has sentimental value, as the throngs will step on it. People watching is the bomb, so enjoy a sip of wine, a nibble of cheese and relax.

Coming up this Sunday is Ziggy Marley and Flavia Coelho. Later in the summer you can see, among other greats, the SF Symphony, the SF ballet and Ronnie and the Ronettes! Such a wonderful opportunity to give all residents of the bay area free access to high quality performances.  For complete artist list and location info visit. http://www.sterngrove.org

Ball Park Tours

Let’s hear it for the Giants and our fabulous stadium. Sure you’ve been there to cheer on the black and orange, but don’t you want to take a peek around and see inside this architectural landmark?  You can! It’s a great stop for visitors, a gift for a fan, or just something fun to do. In the behind-the-scenes ballpark tour of AT&T Park you get to enter places only the players and staff go including the dugout, the field-warning track and the visitor’s indoor batting cage.

Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones who watch the games in a luxury suite. But if you just dream of being there, now you can step foot inside and pretend. Or if a loved one perhaps, has wanted to “call” the game, you get to explore the press box and pretend you are a color commentator.

Another stop is The Giant Vault. This is a museum for the true fan containing treasured and coveted artifacts related to Giants Heritage.  Tours are most days from 10:30 – 12:30 except for unavailable dates listed on the website. Put on your Giant’s gear and go for it. Tour hotline – 415-972-2400 or visit www.sfgiants.com

Now-July 31. Halation at the Midway Gallery

Halation- the current exhibit at Midway Gallery in the Bayview district is inspired by the Haruki Murakami quote, “Where there is light, there must be shadow, where there is shadow there must be light.” Ok that makes sense to me, and those more artistic than myself have contributed to this exhibit. It explores the physical meaning of creating a sense of place with light.

The show highlights SF based Tech artist Marpi’s “Aquarium Project”, an interactive installation of underwater creatures, and the LED star canopy “Constellation” by Burning Man regular Christopher Schardt.

A former engineer, Schardt has been creating large-scale sculpture for nearly a decade, and his creations encourage visitors to stop, smile and absorb. The third artist whose work is on display is SF based projection artist Ecco Screen. He has transformed one of the gallery spaces into “Strands”.

Suffice it to say, that I cannot adequately describe the “coolness” of his work and you just have to see it. Basically, the strands you see are given a lifelike feel but of an alien nature – on screen. It’s all about physics and is created with custom software. Ok, just go and see for yourself! Now through July 31^st. www.themidwaygallery.com

June 30. Tofu Festival

The joy of soy returns to the bay. Those of you who love tofu and other soy products (you don’t have to be vegan you know) will not want to miss this annual festival. Who doesn’t love a little miso soup? On June 30th, whet your appetite with tempting tofu treats at Saint Mary’s Cathedral event center. You may not know but there are thousands of different varieties of tofu. Maybe you don’t care, but the non-meat eating population is growing. The vendors at this event will share information about healthy eating and how you can benefit from a plant based diet.

They have some of my personal favorite local food vendors on hand, including Tofuyu.  It’s not all about the soy though; you can see local jazz artists perform, along with a variety of musicians and one standout comedian, LEX the Lexicon Artist, a Taipei-raised and Oakland-based artist who “combines frank storytelling, sharp commentary, and a comically huge ego to deliver her unique perspective of being a weird Asian nerd in America.”  www.soyandtofufest.org