Five Can't Miss Events of the Week: May 19–25

Free hugs and music, a happenin' Hope Street and more.

Head to Fox Point’s favorite coffee shop for an up-close-and-personal night of acoustic music featuring great local acts, organized by Top 5 Fiend. Bluesy crooner Dylan Sevey, frontman of Dylan Sevey and the Gentlemen and drummer for Smith and Weeden, kicks off the night with a solo performance. Up next is John Faraone, a folk singer/songwriter with a soulful quality. Closing out the show is Amanda Salemi, frontwoman of gypsy blues band, Consuelo’s Revenge. Attendees are invited to BYOB, with the full cafe menu available for purchase. The event also boasts free hugs, which is special.

The Details: May 19. 7–10 p.m. Free; suggested $5 donation. Malachi’s Cafe, 134 Ives St., Providence, facebook.com. Photo of John Faraone by Ryan Lang.

 

Local music, food trucks, family activities and a beer garden with local brews: There’s no better place to be than the Hope Street Block Party on a nice spring day. The quaint East Side street, which will be closed to vehicular traffic, features two stages of live, local music with headlining bands Boo City, Happiness, Last Good Tooth, Medusah Black and the Extraordinary Rendition Band. Community groups, including the Classical High School Jazz Band, Project 401 Dance Squad and the Chinese Lion Dance Club, will also perform. Grab a snack at more than twenty food trucks onsite, then work off some energy at the YMCA popup playground or the rock-climbing wall. Don’t forget to pop into Hope Street’s sweet shops for sales and specials. Proceeds benefit Festival Ballet Providence.

The Details: May 21. Noon–6 p.m. Free. Hope Street, Providence, hopestreetprov.com.

      

 

As if the East Side of Providence wasn’t happenin’ enough on Saturday, the seasonal Hope Street Farmers Market kicks off with fresh produce a mere half-mile walk from the Block Party. Grab a cup of coffee from New Harvest Coffee Roasters and start planning your dinner. Pasture-raised burgers topped with mushrooms? Head to Pat’s Pastured, then scoot over to RI Mushroom Co. for a great selection of raw, exotic fungi. Pescatarians should check out fresh options from Matunuck Oyster Farm, Bomster Scallops and the Local Catch. Non-meat-eaters, well, you’ll feel as if you’ve died and gone to vegetarian heaven at this produce-heavy market. Don’t forget dessert: Humble Pie for you and Jack’s Snacks for Fido. Be sure to browse the adjacent Providence Artisans Market before bringing home your haul.

The Details: May 21–Oct. 29. Sat. 9 a.m.–1 p.m.; Wed. 3–6 p.m. Free. Lippitt Park, Hope Street, Providence, hopestreetmarket.com.

 

Think you know chamber music? This double bill showcases two great alternative acts — armed with a mean accordion and a medieval crumhorn or two. Boston-based boundary-defying ensemble, the Renaissonics, blends chamber music, pop and improv music for a surprising live performance. Alec K. Redfearn, a composer, songwriter, videographer, audio engineer and performance artist based in Rhode Island, joins the Renaissonics for a guaranteed-to-be-haunting performance on his accordion.

The Details: May 21. 7:30 p.m. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. The Gallery at 30 Cutler St., Warren, eventbrite.com.

 

If you're one of the thirty million viewers who tuned in for eleven years to the "Carol Burnett Show," you’ll swoon in your seat during an intimate night with the show's namesake and queen bee of TV. The eighty-three-year-old actor, who has received twenty-five Emmys over the course of her sixty-year career, is as hilarious as ever. Any lingering questions about Ms. Burnett? (Please, call her Carol.) Ask away during the night’s Q-and-A session with the audience. Inquire about juicy love affairs, how to make it in Hollywood, her impromptu smooch sesh with Julie Andrews that shocked the First Lady; nothing is off-limits for this sketch comedy living legend.

The Details: May 22. 4 p.m. $49–$125. Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St., Providence, 401-421-2787, ppacri.org.