A front-loaded holiday weekend

After last weekend’s hectic schedule, this weekend may look a bit more sparse activity-wise, but don’t be fooled — there are plenty of exciting events to lead you into Sunday, when you can take the day off to celebrate Easter with the family, toke with friends in honor of 420 or just relax and enjoy the warm (albeit likely rainy) spring weather. 

For Friday evening’s live music, we have pop/rock cover group Lynx Band at Holt’s Summerlands Brewing Co. at 7:30; ‘80s cover band Miranda & the M-80s at the Venue by Eleven 11 Events in the Lansing Mall and Chris Stapleton tribute act Tennessee Whiskey at Grewal Hall, both at 8; party band Atomic Annie at the Green Door at 8:30; and pop band JP & the Energy at Mash Bar at 9:30. Saturday evening, we have a dueling piano show to benefit the Mason Area Chamber of Commerce at Mason’s VFW Post 7309 at 5; R&B/soul musician Dylan Tolbert at UrbanBeat at 7; R&B/neo-soul band Moonchild with hip-hop/soul group MikeyyAustin & the Soulcial Club and DJ Kaelz at Grewal Hall at 7:30; and local DJ collective Scratch Pilots at the Green Door at 8:30. Ending the weekend on Sunday is folk-rock band Wild Honey Collective at the Avenue at 7 p.m.

If you’d like to make some music of your own, Elderly Instruments will host its monthly open Irish jam session 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday. Players of all skill levels are welcome to attend.

Art displays on view this weekend include the Mid-Michigan Art Guild’s spring member show at the Neighborhood Empowerment Center, which is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; mixed-media artist Steph Joy Hogan’s “Scrapscapes” exhibit at the Nelson Gallery in downtown Lansing, which is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday; oil, acrylic and mixed-media works by Maureen Ryan at the Haslett Library’s Bookend Gallery, which is open noon to 4 p.m. Friday and noon to 2 p.m. Saturday; “Farmland: Food, Justice and Sovereignty,” “Seeing in 360 Degrees: The Zaha Hadid Design Collection,” “Echoes of War” and the 2025 Master of Fine Arts Exhibition at the MSU Broad Art Museum, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; a collective exhibit focusing on patterns found in nature at the Okemos Library, which is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; and “Where the Light Gets In,” a public art installation on display as part of the MSU Science Festival, which is on view daily from dusk to dawn at the northeast corner of Trowbridge and Harrison roads on campus.

The science festival will also offer hands-on art and science activities exploring where our food comes from and its journey to our tables 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Broad, an open house 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the school’s Bug House and a bike tour of campus beginning 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bikes Service Center, featuring behind-the-scenes looks at many of MSU's gardens, museums and research facilities.

Both Lansing Community College and MSU will wrap up their final theater productions of the season this weekend, with performances of MSU’s “Inching Towards Yeolha” 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday at the Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre and LCC’s “Puffs” 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Dart Auditorium. If improv is more your speed, or you’re just a big fan of “Whose Line Is It Anyway,” the cast of the Emmy-nominated TV show will bring their “Whose Live Anyway?” musical comedy show to the Wharton Center 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Lugnuts are out of town this weekend, but that won’t stop the fun at Jackson Field. The annual Beerfest at the Ballpark runs 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, offering the opportunity to sample more than 300 different beers, ciders, seltzers, wines, meads and spirits. There will also be food and merchandise vendors and live music by a range of local artists. For the full list of vendors and performers, visit the website. Attendees must be 21 or older.

If you’re still looking to see a baseball game, MSU’s team will take on Ohio State University 6 p.m. Friday, 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at McLane Stadium in East Lansing.

Like running or walking? Love donuts? You might enjoy the DoNot Stop 5K, 10K or half-marathon races, all kicking off 8 a.m. Saturday at Adado Riverfront Park. A complimentary donut will await each participant at the finish line. Participants can also sign up to eat 12 donut holes throughout the race, with an exclusive pin for those who complete the challenge. 

The Wild Ones Red Cedar chapter will host a walking tour 10:30 a.m. Saturday of the area along the Red Cedar River where staff from MSU’s Beal Botanical Garden have been removing invasive species and replacing them with native plants and shrubs. The tour will be led by Carolyn Miller, Beal’s arboretum and invasive species coordinator. Attendees should meet at the pedestrian bridge south of MSU’s Main Library.

Weavers of the Web will host its monthly game night 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Attendees are invited to bring their favorite games to share or browse the available collection. Unity Spiritual Center of Lansing will also host its monthly euchre and board game meetup noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Deadtime Stories’ Night at the Haunted Museum, beginning 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Charlotte’s Courthouse Square Museum, aims to raise funds for the bookstore’s second location, opening this summer inside the museum. Guests can choose from the"lite" ticket option, allowing them to get a sneak peek of the bookstore’s new space, participate in a silent auction and purchase limited-edition items from the merch table, or the VIP ticket option, which includes additional activities like true-crime and horror trivia, a photo scavenger hunt and a haunted historical tour of the museum. 

The Ten Pound Fiddle’s biweekly contra and square dance runs 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday at Central United Methodist Church, with an optional contra dance lesson at 6:30 p.m. The caller will be Maeve Devlin, and Pimento Mori will provide the music.

If salsa dancing is more your speed, visit UrbanBeat 10:30 p.m. Saturday to get your groove on with DJs Mingo and Adrian “Ace” Lopez.

Finally, for those celebrating Easter this weekend, Saturday will offer a selection of festivities to get you in the spirit, including an egg hunt at 9:30 a.m. at Our Savior Lutheran Church; a candy hunt hosted by the East Lansing Kiwanis Club at 10 a.m. at Patriarche Park; the annual egg hunt on the Capitol lawn from 10 to 11 a.m., with opportunities to receive more candy and treats from businesses along South Washington Square until 2 p.m. during Downtown Lansing Inc.’s Bunny Hop on the Square; the annual Hippity Hop 5K at 11 a.m. at Potter Park Zoo, with an egg hunt for kids at 10:30 a.m.; and a flashlight egg hunt at dusk (approximately 9:15 p.m.) at Haslett’s Nancy Moore Park, also offering carnival games, crafts, a bonfire and music from 6:30 p.m. until the hunt, plus visits from the Easter Bunny, Meridian Township police officers and firefighters and League of Enchantment characters.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best of weekends.

(Have an event? Be sure to list it free at lansingcitypulse.com/calendar. Think it’s worth at least a short story? Send a news release to nicole@lansingcitypulse.com for consideration.)