Culture & Events

Spring Fling

The City of San Luis Obispo Parks & Recreation Department presents a fun-for-the-whole-family event to celebrate the coming of spring. Activities for all ages, including an egg hunt for the kids, live music, interactive booths, and a vendor fair take place in Meadow Park on South Street in SLO.

April 8 // slocity.org

Ballet Unbound

Enter a world where classic form meets modern movement, where dance becomes emotion, and where the body speaks. Two works of contemporary styling, presented by Movement Arts Collective in Cuesta College’s Cultural and Performing Arts Center, feature the choreography of Maartje Hermans and Ryan Lawrence performed by seventeen of the area’s most talented dancers. This is a yearly celebration of everything that ballet is and everything it is not. April 22-23 // movementartscollective.org

Dorrance Dance

Cal Poly Arts presents the award-winning tap dance company founded in 2011 by artistic director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance. Based in New York City, the company shares the incredibly dynamic range that tap dance has to offer through performance and education, engaging audiences on a musical and emotional level and sharing the complex history and powerful legacy of a truly American art form.

April 12 // calpolyarts.org

Slo Film Fest

This hometown twenty-ninth annual film festival is a six-day event showcasing contemporary and classic films in a wide variety of venues, from the classic art deco Fremont to the popular independent Palm Theatre in SLO, to venues in the wine country of Paso Robles and the seaside town of Morro Bay. Moviemaker Magazine calls it one of the top fifty festivals worth the entry fee, and it includes showcases for youth and Central Coast films, as well as music videos.

April 25-30 // slofilmfest.org

DARWIN’S SMILE

Iconic actress Isabella Rossellini comes to the PAC SLO with a new one woman show reconciling two worlds that often are at odds: art and science. In her well-known comical tones, she demonstrates how acting can be used to understand the mysterious nature of animals and their emotions. With humor and simple devices, she plays dogs, cats, chickens, peacocks, and of course Charles Darwin himself. April 29 // calpolyarts.org

Book Of The Year

Cuesta College’s fourteenth annual county-wide program brings New York Times bestselling author Sabaa Tahir to the college’s Cultural and Performing Arts Center in SLO for a lecture, Q&A, and book signing. Her “brilliant, unforgettable, and heart-wrenching” contemporary novel, “All My Rage,” won the 2022 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature and the 2023 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults. April 27 // cuesta.edu

Shabang

Get “a full dose of the Central Coast” at this annual live music and arts festival featuring more than fifty performances across four different stages at Dairy Creek Golf Course. You can purchase single-day tickets, two-day passes, or VIP passes that include premium access to spacious lounge areas, private bars, restrooms, and express entry lanes. The line-up includes Men I Trust, Hippo Campus, Bob Moses, Vundabar, Hayden James, Dudeo Perez, and more. May 5-6 // shabangslo.com

SCOTT YOO & GUESTS

Join Festival Mozaic Music Director Scott Yoo and three incredible guest artists for a concert exploring great works of chamber music in intimate performance. Jessica Chang (viola), Sophie Shao (cello), Orion Weiss (piano), and Yoo (violinist) collaborate to bring you selections from Debussy’s Twelve Études for solo piano, Schumann’s Fantasiestücke for viola and piano, Poulenc’s Cello Sonata, and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in C minor. May 12-13 // festivalmozaic.org

A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2

As a door slams in 1879 Norway, a young wife and mother leaves behind her family, freeing herself from the shackles of traditional societal constraints. Now, fifteen years later, that same door opens to reveal a changed woman with an incredibly awkward favor to ask the people who she abandoned. SLO REP presents Lucas Hnath’s bitingly funny sequel to Ibsen’s masterpiece, revealing that a slammed door isn’t just an end, but also the chance for a new beginning. May 5-22 // slorep.org

The Book Of Mormon

One of the most successful musicals of all time—winner of nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album— comes to the PAC SLO. The story of two missionaries as they preach to inhabitants of a remote Ugandan village, it’s been called “the best musical of this century” by The New York Times and “the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals” by The Washington Post May 17-19 // calpolyarts.org

Atascadero Tamale Festival

The seventh annual fest features thirty tamale vendors, some hailing from local restaurants and some from across California. A variety of other food options and a host of merchandise for sale accompanies a line-up of robust entertainment including a Latin dance band, traditional mariachi music, Folklorico dancers, a soulful funk band, fireworks, and even dancing horses. And don’t miss the annual “best tamale,” tamale eating, and pet costume contests.

May 6 // atascaderotamalefest.com

Paso Wine Fest

More than one hundred wineries fill four large tents at the Paso Robles Event Center for the annual four-day festival celebrating all things wine. Enjoy music, an array of food options from wood-fired pizza to barbecue to savory and sweet crepes, and handmade goods and wine-related wares from local artisans at a maker’s market showcase. Then explore Paso Robles wine country for special wine tastings, winemaker dinners, live music, and more. May 18-21 // pasowine.com