Baltimore is celebrating the unofficial start of summer with activities galore. Take a bike ride through the streets of Baltimore with the Baltimore Bike Party, sip local beers at the annual Brew at the Zoo, or check out art, crafts, music, food and more at the 39th Sowebo Festival. A heavy metal festival, a science fiction and fantasy convention, a decorator’s showhouse, and a reptile show are all on the calendar, too, this weekend.
Check out all those events and more with this weekend’s lineup:
Balticon Convention – Friday to Sunday, May 27 – 30, times, The Baltimore Convention Center. Join fans of science fiction and fantasy with more than 300 hours of programming, from authors and publishers to live-streamers, from cosplay experts to renowned scientists and tech innovators. The convention will also include a sing-along, soak art Show and masquerade, and film festival.
MDF XVIII, Maryland Deathfest, May 27 – 30, Baltimore Soundstage, Edison Lot, Power Plant Live, Rams Head Live. Gates open at 2:45 on Friday; 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday. Heavy metal fans come together at Maryland Deathfest for three days of “the best and most extreme bands the underground has to offer.” The festival brings together the very best death metal, grindcore, doom, thrash, hardcore, black metal, and experimental bands from all around the world. (Look for our photo gallery of the festival on Tuesday.)
Baltimore Bike Party, St. Mary’s Park, Friday, May 27, 6:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Join the Baltimore Bike Party for its May Flowers Spring Ride. Ride through the streets of Baltimore City with hundreds of others. This month’s bike ride starts at St. Mary’s Park and will traverse north. Afterparty at Mt. Vernon Marketplace. Check out the route, here.
Grover Washington Jr. Tribute Legacy Band Featuring Saxophonist Don Braden, Friday, May 27, 7:30 p.m., Keystone Korner. World-class saxophonist, flutist, composer and educator, Don Braden honors American jazz and soul saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., who along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, is considered to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.
Sherwood Garden Tulip dig, Saturday, May 28, Sherwood Gardens, one block east of the 4100 block of St. Paul St., 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Sherwood Gardens puts on a glorious display of tulips every year and the annual dig, on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend each year, makes room for the flowers of summer. The dig attracts tulip and other bulb lovers to dig up, buy and take home their favorite bulbs to enjoy.
34th Annual Decorator’s Showhouse to benefit Ellicott City, Saturday, May 28, and Sunday, May 29, “Oakdale”, 16449 Edwin Warfield Road, Woodbine, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Culturally, historically, and architecturally significant, Oakdale, circa 1838 and 1898, is the ancestral home of Governor Edwin Warfield. The property, with 12 fireplaces and impressive original details and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, has been decorated by 20 local designers to benefit Historic Ellicott City, Inc.
Repticon, Baltimore Reptile and Exotic Animal Show, Saturday, May 28, and Sunday, May 29, Timonium Fair Grounds, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. See thousands of reptiles from around the world and live animal presentations including a venomous reptile display.
Brew at the Zoo, Saturday, May 28 and Sunday, May 29, The Maryland Zoo, 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. Experience one of Baltimore’s biggest beer festivals at the Maryland Zoo’s annual fundraiser. Enjoy unlimited beer sampling, live music, local artisan vendors, and all-day admission to the Zoo.
39th Annual Sowebo Arts and Music Festival, Sunday, May 29, Hollins Market, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. The SOWEBO Arts and Music Festival is back with three music stages, The Lord Baltimore Stage of Fashion and Dance, an interactive Arts Alley, kids activities, pet activities, food trucks and an arts and crafts marketplace.
Baltimore Official Silent Party Memorial Weekend Edition, Sunday, May 29, The Garage, 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. – Put on a pair of wireless headphones and dance the night away. Choose between three DJs with a flip of a switch. Each channel is color-coded to indicate which DJ you are listening to, so you can dance along with those listening to the same DJ.
Memorial Day Ceremony, Reisterstown Community Cemetery, Monday, May 30, 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. – Commemorate the national holiday with a wreath-laying ceremony to honor fallen soldiers. Flowers will be placed on the graves of interred veterans, in keeping with a tradition dating back to the Civil War.
Marcus Dieterle is on vacation this week and will return to authoring Weekend Events next week.
