The Peking Acrobats will be stacking and balancing at the Ferst Center for the Arts in Atlanta this weekend.

For this bright, beautiful spring weekend, check out this mix of indoor, outdoor, on-the-ground and balancing-up-high activities. Looking for live music picks? Check out the Atlanta Music Scene blog, and if you’ve got more weekend suggestions, feel free to share them in the comments, or in the AccessAtlanta.com calendar!

FRIDAY MARCH 26

Comedy: The Atlanta Comedy Festival opens, 8-10 p.m., Apache Cafe, Atlanta.

Dance: Atlanta Ballet performs Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” 8 p.m., Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta.

Festival: Women of Color Arts and Film Festival continues through March 27, Auburn Avenue Research Library, Atlanta. FREE.

For families: “Planet Shark” continues, 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta.

Movies: “Juno” screening and discussion for Movie Mania, 7:30 p.m., Emory University’s White Hall, Atlanta. FREE.

Opera: Clayton State University …

Continue reading Weekend to do list: March 26-28 »

Books: Author Peter Hedges discusses “The Heights,” 7:15 p.m., Decatur Library, Decatur. FREE.

Cars: Atlanta International Auto Show continues, noon-9 p.m., Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta.

For kids: “Cyberchase: The Chase is On!” continues, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Atlanta.

History: Atlanta History Center tours for Phoenix Flies, 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., Atlanta History Center and historic houses, Atlanta. FREE.

Improv: “Clash Titans Clash” continues, 8 p.m., Dad’s Garage Theatre, Atlanta.

Storytelling: MothUP Atlanta nonfiction storytelling takes on “tradition,” 7 p.m., Manuel’s Tavern, Atlanta. FREE.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: March 22 »

The Atlanta International Auto Show opens this weekend, but you'll find these classics over at High Museum of Art, where "The Allure of the Automobile" opens on Sunday. AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

Weekend, we can almost see you. Here’s a list of fun stuff going on around Atlanta. You can find more about music on the Atlanta Music Scene blog, and if you’ve got more weekend suggestions, feel free to share them in the comments, or in the AccessAtlanta.com calendar!

FRIDAY, MARCH 19

Cars: Atlanta International Auto Show opens, 5-10 p.m., Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta.

Dance: Northeast Atlanta Ballet performs “Peter Pan,” 7:30 p.m., Gwinnett Performing Arts Centre, Duluth.

History: “Diana: A Celebration” continues, 10 a.m., Atlanta Civic Center, Atlanta.

For kids: Mommy & Me nature activity, 10 a.m., Dunwoody Nature Center, Dunwoody.

Music: Harvard University’s Kuumba Singers perform, noon-1 p.m., Georgia State University’s Florence Kopleff Recital Hall, Atlanta. FREE.

Music:

Continue reading Weekend to do list: March 19-21 »

Comedy: Jennifer Coolidge performs, 8 p.m., Laughing Skull Lounge, Atlanta.

Dance: Women’s History Month dance presentation, noon-1 p.m., Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta. FREE.

For families: “Fundred” celebration and pick-up, 2-5:30 p.m., Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta. FREE.

History: “Evening with History” speaker Vietnam veteran Robert Babcock, 7 p.m., Marietta History Museum, Marietta.

Sports: Atlanta Thrashers vs. Ottawa Senators, 7 p.m., Philips Arena, Atlanta.

Stage: “100 Saints You Should Know” opens, 8 p.m., Actor’s Express Theatre, Atlanta.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: March 18 »

This "Fundred" bill could help clean up lead in New Orleans. Want to add one to the pile? Visit the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center on March 18.

The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center is looking for a few more hand-made “Fundreds” before the money-sized art works are collected during a free celebration on March 18.

Organizers, including artist Mel Chin, plan to collect 3 million interpretations of $100 bills designed by kids and adults. “Fundreds” from more than 100 U.S. sites will be delivered in a vegetable oil-powered armored truck to Congress to show how much funding is needed to clean up lead contamination around New Orleans. You can learn more about the project at www.fundred.com.

Want to go? Fundred Pick-up Celebration. 2-4 p.m. Fundred-making drive, 4-5:30 p.m. entertainment and pick-up. Free. Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, 535 Means St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-688-1970, www.thecontemporary.org.

Continue reading Celebrate and make a ‘Fundred’ to help New Orleans at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center on March 18 »

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Here’s a list of Atlanta area St. Patrick’s Day events.

For kids: Moms and Tots playtime, 11 a.m., Gwinnett Place Mall, Duluth.

Music: John Mayer performs with Michael Franti and Spearhead, 7 p.m., Philips Arena, Atlanta.

Music: Tango concert and dance performance, 8 p.m., Emory University’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Atlanta. FREE.

Outdoors: Atlanta Audubon Society bird walk, 8 a.m.,  Cochran Shoals Unit of Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, Marietta. FREE.

Stage: “The Sunset Limited” opens, 7:30 p.m., The Balzer Theatre at Herren’s, Atlanta.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: March 17 »

Dance: Indian Kuchipudi Dance, 7 p.m., Rialto Center for the Arts, Atlanta. FREE.

For families: “Nature Unleashed” continues, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta.

Music: George Thorogood performs, 8 p.m., Variety Playhouse, Atlanta.

Stage: “Fiddler on the Roof” opens, 8 p.m., Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta.

Stage: “Ethan Frome” continues, 8 p.m., Theatre in the Square, Marietta.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: March 16 »

Art: The 28th Great American Cover-Up Quilt Show 2010, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Bulloch Hall, Roswell.

Discussion: Bernice King is interviewed by Oglethorpe students for Women’s History Month, 4-6  p.m., Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethorpe University, Atlanta. FREE.

For kids: “Your Jewish World” continues, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Marcus Jewish Community Center’s Sophie Hirsch Srochi Jewish Discovery Museum, Dunwoody. FREE. Read more.

History: “Voices Across the Color Line: The Atlanta Student Movement 50th Anniversary” opening celebration and lecture featuring Dr. Winston Grady-Willis, 6-8 p.m., Atlanta History Center, Atlanta.

Music: Air performs, 8 p.m., Center Stage, Atlanta.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: March 15 »

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns will speak at Georgia State on March 25, between production on at least six more documentaries.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns spent years making “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” but since its debut on public television last year, he hasn’t waited to start something new — or several somethings. Already on his list of films-in-the-works: documentaries about prohibition, the Dust Bowl, the Central Park jogger case, Vietnam,  the Roosevelts (including Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor) and an update of “Baseball.”

“This is pretty insane,” he said. “I love my work too much. I feel like I have the best job in the country. It permits me to travel around and dive into the complexity without becoming like the screamers on cable.”

Complexity and deep dives last, he said. Attendance at National Parks jumped after the films broadcast. People still come up to him almost daily to discuss his 1990 film about the Civil War and …

Continue reading Q &A: Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, speaking at Georgia State on March 25 »

"The Lion, The Mouse & Other Aesop's Fables," by Red Herring Puppets of Fairview, N.C. is on the Center for Puppetry Arts 2010-11 series.

The Center for Puppetry Arts announced its 2010-11 season this week, one packed with family shows, a few not-for-kids shows, films and workshops. Some of the shows written locally by Jon Ludwig include “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”,”The Body Detective” and “Beauty & The Beast, and there are plenty of shows produced by other theaters, as well.

I’ve posted the list below, or you can see more details on the shows, times and prices.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

FAMILY SERIES
May 25-June 6: “Stellaluna” by Tears of Joy Theatre of Portland, Ore.
June 8-20: “The Lion, The Mouse & Other Aesop’s Fables,” by Red Herring Puppets of Fairview, N.C.
June 22-July 3: “Hansel & Gretel,” by Tanglewood Marionettes of Ware, Mass.
July 6-18: “Billy Goats Gruff and Other Stuff,” by All Hands Productions of Atlanta
July 20-Aug. 1: …

Continue reading Center for Puppetry Arts announces 2010-11 season »