A&E

The beat of pounding feet, the jangle of spurs and the snap of whips marked the dances of Oaxaca in the Healdsburg Plaza last Sunday. The southern Mexican state is home to some 16 cultural groups and two major native languages. Over the centuries an annual gathering to share their common interests grew, becoming known as a Guelaguetza

Andrew Lloyd Webber bought the stage rights to the 2003 Richard Linklater/Mike White film starring Jack Black and joined with playwright Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey!) and lyricist Glen Slater (The Little Mermaid) to bring the tale of Dewey Finn’s transformation of a group of prep school students into rock stars to Broadway as a musical. It's now at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg.

Goings on around town this week and next, from May Day to the latest Raven Players production.

The Healdsburg Plaza will once again be transformed into an expansive open-air gallery of sculpture, metalwork, glass art and painting—not just oils, but watercolor, acrylic, chalk and anything else that can make a two-dimensional space come alive. There will be fabric arts, woodworkers, ceramics and a hatmaker, some new to Healdsburg but many return participants, in the Healdsburg Arts Festival, 2025.

Local Americana band SoloRio plays at the Ranch at Lake Sonoma from 5:30pm to sunset. The first event in the venue’s summer series, held the last Sunday of every month through September. Always a lot of community fun.... plus more events this week in Healdsburg.

The Grand Tasting, most popular event of the Healdsburg Food & Wine Experience, is held on Saturday from 12:30 to 4:30pm, as 100 vendors of food, wine and lifestyle share their wares under the big canopy erected over the West Plaza parking lot. The location is transformed into a showcase of what Healdsburg does best: eat, drink and be merry!

Second major march against the Trump administration’s trespass of constitutional powers, on Saturday Oct. 18 from 11am to 1pm. Location is the same as the June 14 demonstration, from the Roundabout south to the Hwy 101 intersection. And more events this week in Healdsburg...

For Alexander Valley sculptor T Barny, it’s about more than just about the stone. “It’s a way scientists or astronomers envision the universe as being infinite, but finite,” he says. “It just keeps going, keeps going, keeps going.” The concepts of art and topology animate him.

Make no mistake, Ed Begley Jr. knows his filmic arts. When asked about some of his past roles—which included a recurring part on "Better Call Saul"—he went off on show creator Vince Gilligan, citing the opening sequence in the preceding "Breaking Bad" shot for shot...

Not all the magic will be on the screen when the True West Film Center opens later this month. Here are some photos from a preview tour on Sept. 25...