IT’S FREE DAY AT THE GARDEN! Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont, is free today, and kicking things off is a family bird walk from 8 to 9 a.m. Join Chris Verma of Claremont’s Wild Birds Unlimited for this family friendly walk along garden trails. Wear comfortable walking shoes, bring any bird guides you have and binoculars if you have them. It’s free, but reservations are required at rsabg.org/bird-walks, (909) 625-8767.
SCRIPPS’ NOON CONCERT Downbeat for Scripps College’s free Friday Noon Concert Series is 12:15 p.m. at Balch Auditorium, 1030 Columbia Ave., Claremont. This week’s concert features Bach’s “Partita for Solo Violin in B minor, BWV 1002” and “Sonata for Solo Violin in C Major, BWV 1005.” The weekly concerts are a joint production of the Scripps and Pomona College music departments.
Fearless freaks and purveyors of rapturous live shows, both visually and aurally, The Flaming Lips will land their rock ‘n’ roll spaceship in Pomona Monday, October 9 for an 8:30 p.m. performance at the Fox Theater.
And though the band has upped its game on the production end of things since 2005—fans can expect substantially more than balloons and blood at Monday’s show—The Lips’ 56-year-old singer, lyricist and co-songwriter Wayne Coyne’s mantra remains charmingly intact: let’s love one another for a while.
TAKE A CHOCOLATE WALK Claremont Educational Foundation’s first annual Chocolate Walk takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Village. Participants can browse 24 chocolate stops among Village merchants, listen to live music and see a Claremont student art exhibit. Tickets are $20 or 4 for $60, and are available at supportcef.com/chocolate.
SCRIPPS’ NOONISH CONCERTS GET UNDERWAY This year’s Scripps College free Friday “Noon” Concert Series kicks off at 12:15 p.m. with a performance at Balch Auditorium, 1030 Columbia Ave., Claremont. The concert, Mozart, Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478, features Jacqueline Suzuki, violin; Cynthia Fogg (Pomona), viola; Tom Flaherty (Pomona), cello; Susan Svr?ek, piano. Sponsored by the Departments of Music at Pomona and Scripps colleges, the weekly concerts are a joint production of Scripps and the Pomona College Music Department.
THERE’LL BE MUSIC EVERYWHERE It’s Friday, and that means Claremont is abuzz with another night of live music in the Village. Tonight’s edition of Friday Nights Live features guitar driven jazz from the Marc Weller Combo at Laemmle plaza; Ed Zarate at the chamber of commerce; Talmadge at Shelton Park; and Random Spark at city hall. Friday Nights Live runs from 6 to 9 p.m. through October 27.
KIWANIS CLUB ROUTE 66 PARTY The Kiwanis Club of Claremont holds its ninth annual Route 66 Party at 6 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, 555 W. Foothill Blvd., Claremont. The evening includes a buffet dinner and dancing to the music of The Ravelers, as well as a casino, a silent auction with more than 50 theme baskets, a complimentary photo booth and a bingo parlor.
WINE WALK The annual Claremont Wine Walk takes place today from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Village. Tickets, if still available, can be purchased for $50 the day of the event. For more information, visit claremontwinewalk.com.
WALKING IN LA The Claremont Library hosts a free 10:30 a.m. book chat and lecture, Loving LA the Low Carbon Way.
GET YOUR FAIR ON Has all this heat left you with a hankerin’ for a nice, refreshing fried Twinkie? Well if so you’re in luck, because the 95th annual LA County Fair returns to Pomona Fairplex today from noon to midnight. Adult admission this year is $20 for weekends and $14 for weekdays. Kids ages 6-12 are $12 and $8, respectively, seniors age 60-plus are $15 and $10 and children 5 and under are free.
Local heavy rock band Ojos Rojos is releasing a new five song EP Friday, “Sons of Love and Death,” and will be celebrating with a free 10 p.m. record release show at The Press, 129 Harvard Ave., Claremont.
The Claremont-based band blends the riff-heavy psychedelia of desert rock with the snotty but tuneful Manchester sound.
REVERBERATION Claremont’s ongoing free summer/fall music series, Friday Nights Live, continues tonight with Silverados Unplugged at Laemmle plaza; Mohave Beach Band at the chamber of commerce; US 99 at Shelton Park; and Jack McCoy at city hall; Friday Nights Live runs from 6 to 9 p.m. through October 27. More info, including future lineups, is at claremontchamber.org.
PILGRIM PLACE ARTIFACTS SHOW Claremont’s Petterson Museum of Intercultural Art at Pilgrim Place, 730 Plymouth Rd., opens its exhibition, “Around the World and Back Again,” from 2 to 4 p.m.
‘GIDION’S KNOT’ AT SYCAMORE Women’s Theatre Workshop presents Gidion’s Knot, a play by Johnna Adams, at 8 p.m. tonight and tomorrow at Sycamore School, 225 W. Eighth St., Claremont. Tickets for the 90-minute play—which contains content not suitable for children—are $15 and available at gidionsknotwtw. bpt.me or by calling (951) 990-5708.
