Pilot Jeff Pestun fires up at the Night Glow during the 2014 Grand Rapids Balloon Festival. Photo by Jonathan D. Lopez
By Chris Powers – Web Editor
Grand Haven is hosting its 90th annual Coast Guard Festival and the LPGA stops by Blythefield Country Club for the second Meijer Classic. If you’re not going to one of these events or haven’t made any other plans, here are some ideas.
2015 Grand Rapids Balloon Festival
The second annual Grand Rapids Balloon Festival kicks off at 5 p.m. today with food, games and crafts. The balloons launch at 7 p.m. and will stay airborne through sunset, weather permitting. The event continues Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. when the balloons will attempt to precisely fly in from around the area and toss a beanbag in a designated location on the fairgrounds. Other events on Saturday include a pilot meet-and-greet and tethered balloon rides. After another night of flying, the festival concludes with a showing of the movie “Paddington.” Admission is free, parking is $5. Additional charges may apply for certain activities.
Live Theater
The Heritage Theatre Group will be performing William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” at Spectrum Theater here at Grand Rapids Community College. This is the second week of a two-week run. Curtain time is 8 p.m. tonight and tomorrow. Tickets are $10 with your RaiderCard or $20 for adults.
Dog Story Theater is hosting a production of Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park” this weekend performed by The University Wits. There are evening shows at 8 p.m. tonight and tomorrow and 3 p.m. matinees tomorrow and Sunday. Tickets are $12 with your RaiderCard or $18 general admission.
“Becky’s New Car” continues its run at Aquinas’ Circle Theatre. Tickets are $23-25.
Cruizin’ the Calder
The annual event put on by the Grand Rapids Street Racers begins at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Calder Plaza. It will feature classic and modern cars and conclude with a 28th St.-style cruise through downtown led by the Grand Rapids Fire Department at 8 p.m. FREE to the public.
Grand Rapids Beer Tour
Grand Rapids Beer Tours is offering a public tour of three downtown breweries: Founders Brewing Company, The Mitten Brewing Company and Grand Rapids Brewing Company. The guided tour starts at noon on Saturday at the Rapid Central Station and will end at 4 p.m. at the same location. The tour costs $50 and includes 12 “large samples” of beer.
Get your Flix Fix
Tonight’s Movie in the Park at Ah Nab Awen Park is “Hook” (FREE). This family classic directed by Steven Spielberg is a sequel to “Peter Pan” and stars Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter Pan, now Peter Banning, who has forgotten his childhood in Neverland. When Captain Hook, played by Dustin Hoffman, kidnaps his children, Banning must return to Neverland to rescue them.
Marvel’s “Ant-Man” featuring Paul Rudd as the eponymous superhero won the box office last week, beating the previous week’s winner, “Minions,” followed by Amy Schumer’s “Trainwreck.”
Opening this week is “Pixels.” This sci-fi comedy starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad feeds on ‘80s nostalgia with aliens masquerading as classic video game characters due to a crazy cosmic mix-up.
“Paper Towns,” based on the novel by “The Fault in Our Stars” author and YouTube celebrity John Green, also opens this weekend. When Margo Roth Spiegelman, played by Cara Delevingne, crawls through the window of neighbor Quentin “Q” Jacobson, played by Nat Wolff, to enlist his help in a revenge mission against her ex-boyfriend, Q has no idea what he’s in for. After Margo disappears the next day, Q must solve a mystery to find her.
“Gabriel” opens this week at the Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts. Rory Culkin stars as Gabriel, a young man who is obsessively seeking his lost first love. Tickets are $8 for non-members.