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Boise’s love affair with two wheels continues with Pedal for the People.
SATURDAY JUNE 9 bikes PEDAL FOR THE PEOPLE
Stay (Maria) Sharp with a mid-week break at Alive After FIve.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 6 hump-day fun ALIVE AFTER FIVE Boiseans, ready yourselves for a season of music, mingling and beer-swigging. Alive After Five will make its grand return to the Grove Plaza Wednesday, June 6, providing the City of Trees with mid-week fun throughout the summer. And the kick-off installment is pretty darn lively. “The first one of the summer is always good,” said Karen Sander, executive director of the Downtown Boise Association. This is the 26th year that Grove Plaza will be abuzz with AA5-ers. As always, local businesses and organizations will have booths around the fountain and beer and wine will be available. Sander said there will be a wine tasting booth as well, and one local restaurant per week will provide food for the evening. The Wednesday parties will also feature a changing line-up of live music. Country singersongwriter Maria Sharp will kick things off for the inaugural event at 6 p.m. NPR’s “All Things Considered” has featured the musician, who has written songs for the Dixie Chicks and Bonnie Raitt. Her laid back, Alanis-Morissette-on-sedatives sound will help Boise unwind. Workin’ On Fire will open for Sharp, and the three 12th-grade boys will provide an alt-rock groove to warm up the crowd. Like last year, opening acts for AA5 will all be local musicians and headliners come from all over the country. In case of bad weather, the musicians will play at Liquid in BODO. Sander said she’s glad the event is up and running again. “Summer is here, and we’re always excited to get it going,” she said. 5-8 p.m. FREE. Grove Plaza, downtown on Eighth Street between Main and Front streets, downtownboise.org.
16 | JUNE 6–12, 2012 | BOISEweekly
Boise Bike Week may barely be a memory at this point, but the city is already gearing up for another two weeks of cycle mayhem at the hand—er, handlebar—of Boise Bicycle Project’s Pedal for the People festival. Events include some standard group-ride outings like Much Ado About Bikes (a commute to Idaho Shakespeare Festival for a play) and the tweed ride. But Pedal for the People also cranks up the awesome with more daring offerings like a kid’s bike hill climb challenge at Camel’s Back Park, a longest-skid contest to win a growler of beer from Crooked Fence Brewing and the Bare As You Dare Ride—the closest Idaho is likely to get to a naked ride—on Saturday, June 16. This year’s Pedal for the People will also feature a clinic on playing bike polo, a mountain bike scavenger hunt around Military Reserve Park on Tuesday, June 12, and the return of the Helladrome on Saturday, June 9, the most absurd bike race in town. But if none of that appeals to you, then don’t just sit around complaining. Come up with your own bike event and submit it to the calendar. Pedal for the People is by design a crowdsourced event, meaning anyone who wants to submit an event can. And while there is obviously no shortage of badass bike events, there is still room for plenty more, with the festival continuing through Saturday, June 23. Visit boisebicycleproject.org for more information and a full calendar. FREE. Various times and locations, boisebicycleproject.org.
SATURDAY JUNE 9 park party COMMUNITY PROGRESSIVE II It’s hard to go wrong combining food, nonprofits, music and community building. Community Progressive II, a nonpartisan effort presented by United Vision for Idaho, will do just that. “What’s really cool about this is it’s such a grassroots festival,” said Adrienne Evans, executive director of United Vision for Idaho. “Everyone who’s participating has volunteered time.” The second-annual event will bring together small businesses, nonprofits, musicians, artisans, growers and
producers so everyone can explore new ways of contributing to the community. Last year’s event was held in venues in downtown and Garden City, but this year, everything will be concentrated in Julia Davis Park. Things kick off at 10 a.m. with a discussion on the community stage about what people think progress looks like in Idaho. Workshops will be offered throughout the day, encouraging discussion of topics ranging from fracking and environmental policy to activism to job creation, taxes and local economics. The event’s organizers hope to raise awareness about issues that affect the community and Idaho as a whole, especially buying locally to keep Idaho sustainable, according to Evans.
Event-goers are encouraged to participate in workshops and the outdoor marketplace, featuring local products from small Idaho businesses. “Foodlandia” will offer local fare from such establishments as Archies Place and Salt Tears Coffeehouse and Noshery. Nonprofit row will highlight some of Idaho’s hardestworking organizations, like the Idaho Peace Coalition, Add the Words and Transform Idaho. A beer garden presented by Jo’s Traveling Bar will feature Idaho products and 21 local bands will rock the Gene Harris Bandshell and beer garden stage every hour throughout the day. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., FREE. Julia Davis Park, 700 S. Capitol Blvd., uvidaho.org. WWW. B O I S E WE E KLY. C O M