Weekend Roundup
Buy some art, have a bite and samba dance with our top 5 event picks for the weekend
Winter is over! Who cares about groundhogs or traditional seasons? This is Texas! Sweating and believing deceptive iPhone weather apps are two things we know how to do well. So get up, get out and see some art, eat some good food, party hard, hang out with your kids and watch the Big Game with our picks for the weekend's top events.
Confluence at the Russell Collection Fine Arts Gallery
Bare witness to two formidable up-and-coming artists: Michael Kessler and Matt Devine will have a small smattering of their work on display (and for sale) at the Russell Fine Arts Gallery. Both artists will be on location for an opening reception being held Saturday at 6 p.m. Their work, as carefully curated by the artists and the gallery owner, is transfixing. Kessler’s vibrant paintings juxtapose (but also feel like an extensive of) Devine’s textured sculptures.
The Food Lab at UT's Food and the City Conference
Out of UT’s Center for Sustainable Development is The Food Lab, whose study food issues and systems culminates in the second annual Food and the City Conference. Lots of foodies talking very seriously about food, but most importantly: There will be really good food. Registration ends today! It’s 60 bucks, but the meal being served tonight at 8 p.m. on the UT campus sounds worth it: goat and beef roast, plenty of high falutin salsas and libations.
Carnaval Brasileiro
You think you know how to party? Wrong. This ode to a Brazilian celebration combining “samba, costumes and wild abandon,” is possibly the biggest and wildest party that has ever been thrown. I wish I was being hyperbolic — but I’m not. Look at the photos. $40 to get in Saturday night at the Palmer Events Center, it will be wild, and there will not be very much clothing. Have at it.
Think.Do.Make at the Austin Children’s Museum
As one of the museum’s final exhibits before moving to its new building in Mueller, the Austin Children’s Museum has Think.Do.Make, designed to compel kids (and their inquisitive, Carnaval Brasileiro-hungover parents) to “ask questions, test ideas and discover new connections.” The exhibit is broken down into three portions: microscopic science, nature’s architectural renderings and mastering the construction of flying contraptions. The exhibit opens at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Super Bowl Watch Parties
There’s plenty to see Sunday: the Ravens and the 49ers, the unloading of thousands of commercials, Beyoncé’s half-time show. And there’s also plenty to eat (and drink). All the aforementioned is pre-programmed, but choosing the right venue is key. How big do you want your big screen? How does 25 feet of HD sound? That’s happening at The North Door.
Would you prefer all-you-can-eat crawdads over chicken wings? Brew Exchange. We’ve rounded up those and a few other places to watch the big game here. Choose at your leisure. Just don’t watch Elementary afterward. It’s not that good.