Juneteenth, Pride and Father’s Day events, plus more

There’s a lot to celebrate this weekend. The 2^nd annual Lansing Pride festival, highlighting the city’s diverse LGBTQ+ population, runs Friday and Saturday; Father’s Day is Sunday; and Juneteenth, honoring the official end of slavery in the United States in 1865, is Monday. Whatever you’re celebrating, Greater Lansing offers plenty of fun events as well as game nights, 5K races, art displays, a comedy show and more.

For Friday evening’s live music, we have Universe Band at Lake Lansing Park South at 7; Tony Thompson at The Peanut Barrel and Rodeo Boys’ record release show with Small Parks, Easy Beach and Get Tuff at The Avenue, both at 8; and ICY/DICEY at The Green Door at 9. Saturday evening, we have Lit Up at Williamston Roadhouse and Be Kind Rewind at Lansing Brewing Co., both at 7, and The Louderthans at The Green Door at 9. Sunday, Christopher Minami and Jonathon Muir-Cotton will perform jazz sets from 10 to 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 to 2 p.m. at the East Lansing Farmers Market, and Red Cedar Spirits will host jazz musicians Randy Napoleon, Paul Keller and David Alvarez III from 4 to 6 p.m.

Try your hand at performing with karaoke at High Caliber Karting and Entertainment 7 to 11 p.m. Friday. There’s no cover charge, no drink minimum, and all ages are welcome.

Williamston Theatre ends its run of “Alabaster” this weekend, with final shows 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Other theater productions include “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Wharton Center 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday and “School House Rock Live!” at Michigan State University’s Summer Circle Theatre Courtyard 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Art displays on view this weekend include The Mid-Michigan Art Guild’s 16^th Annual 12 x 12 Show at Framer’s Edge in Okemos, which is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday; “The LGBTQ+ Artist in Michigan” at the Lansing Art Gallery, which is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; mixed-media artist Angela DeVries’ exhibition at the Haslett Library’s Bookend Gallery, which is open noon to 4 p.m. Friday and noon to 2 p.m. Saturday; and “Blind Spot,” “DIGEST” and “Shouldn’t You Be Working? 100 Years of Working from Home” at MSU’s Broad Art Museum, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

If you’d like to do some crafting of your own, the Grand Ledge Area District Library is offering Guatemalan worry doll take-home craft kits 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday while supplies last.

The nationally touring The Future of Comedy Show will perform at Spare Time Entertainment Center 7 p.m. Friday, featuring comedians Mike Ball, Steve Kaz, Chuck Bates, Nicole Melynk and David Wellfare.

Visit downtown Dimondale 6 to 8 p.m. Friday for its “Small Town, Big Engines” car show and enjoy music, magic, face painting, food specials and, of course, an array of classic cars on display.

Lansing Brewing Co. is having a Teacher’s Appreciation Happy Hour 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, featuring a variety of activities, including board games and self-care bingo. Teachers get $2 off appetizers and beer and $1 off cocktails.

Other opportunities for gaming include a Game Night at Keys to Manifestation 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Unity Spiritual Center of Lansing’s monthly Euchre and Games event noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Lansing Art Gallery is hosting a class on the basics of drone piloting 10 a.m. Saturday for ages 7 through 17. Kids can learn about drone parts and functions, remote piloting, safety and navigating airspace from Mario Swaidan, an FAA-licensed commercial drone pilot.

Shop for handcrafted items and enjoy free refreshments, trivia and a kids’ craft area at Village Crafters’ Grand Ledge Summer Fun Days Craft Show 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Grand Ledge First United Methodist Church. Village Crafters is collecting non-perishable food items for the community food bank, and anyone who donates will be entered into a raffle.

If you have any unwanted books, Friends of the Haslett Library is holding a Used Book Donation Drive 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the library’s parking lot. The books will be sold in the Bookend bookstore, which funds services and supplies for the library.

Get active Saturday morning with the Summer Trail Fest Ultra- and Half-Marathons 7:30 a.m. at Sleepy Hollow State Park in Laingsburg, Eaton Rapids Area District Library’s Summer Reading Family Fun Run 5K & Walk 9 a.m. at Island Park in Eaton Rapids or the Josh Spalsbury Memorial Comet Chase 5K 8:30 a.m. at First United Methodist Church in Grand Ledge, which also offers a 1-mile run for children 13 and under at 8 a.m. and a 400-meter Kids Race at 8:15 a.m.

Grand Ledge has a host of other events lined up for Yankee Doodle Day, such as a parade, live music, fireworks and kids’ activities. For a full schedule, visit the Grand Ledge Chamber of Commerce’s website.

UrbanBeat is hosting a Pride Dance Party 8 p.m. Friday, featuring DJ sets by Whitney Spotts of Starfarm and Juan Trevino of the Lansing-based production duo Moon Disco. Lansing Pride also has plenty of events planned for this weekend, including a White Party 8 p.m. Friday at The Junction, a Pride workout 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Mid Mitten CrossFit, a large festival all day Saturday on Turner Street in Old Town and an Afterglow Party 8 p.m. Saturday at The Junction. For more information, visit the Lansing Pride website.

There are a ton of Juneteenth events throughout Greater Lansing this weekend, including The Avenue’s Juneteenth Party 9:30 p.m. Saturday, featuring performances by Ganja Girl, V. Soul, Auntie Chanel, PRXF7 and Auroara Manifesto; Michigan State University’s Juneteenth Celebration 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Breslin Student Events Center; the Meridian Freedom Fest; the Lansing Juneteenth Celebration; and 517 Juneteenth Weekend. For more information, check out City Pulse’s Juneteenth event coverage.

Finally, Lansing Brewing Co. is celebrating Father’s Day with a brunch 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. The menu includes steak frites with red chimichurri, baked chicken mac, loaded burritos and more.

Dads also get free admission into Potter Park Zoo all day Sunday. The zoo is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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.)