April in Mendocino brings shower of surprisesPatti Pietschmann suggests.... Looking for a fun, spring fling? Mendocino County has cleverly created "Almost Fringe" April festival, loosely based on the model set by the original Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The events will take place in the county's three distinct regions on each weekend in April. With its wealth of artists, performers, poets, and performance pioneers, Mendocino County is a natural for an arts on the edge celebration.
What's about to happen Trash to Fashion - Friday March 31 at 5 p.m. free for all---Trashion is the focus of a "basse couture" show at Ukiah's Art Center on Friday March 31 at 5 p.m.. Our throwaway society is now refashioning recycling and trash artifacts and thrift store finds into clothing and accessories for the adventurous jetsetter. A live auction of locally crafted Art Clocks accompanies the show. Art Center Ukiah 201 South State Street, Ukiah, 707.462.1400 Third Annual Goat Festival & Wildflower Show - Saturday April 22 and Sunday April 23 (wildflowers only); Goat show is $5 Get your inner goat on and check out the capricious creatures celebrating springtime, community, and "all things Goat!" Start the day with a Goat Parade featuring the best-dressed goats, learn how to make goat cheese, what to use all that goat hair for, and chow down at the "birria cook-off." If you've never milked a goat or tried your hand at goat-calling, now's the time to give it a try! Need a little less excitement? Then slip over to the Wildflower Show featuring the many and amazing flora that make Mendocino County their home.
Anderson Valley Fairgrounds, 14400 Hwy 128, Boonville. Anderson Valley Open Studios - Various locations; Friday April 21 - Sunday April 23; Free Home to many fine artists, photographers, ceramicists, stone artists and jewelers Anderson Valley is an ideal spot to satisfy a taste for art. Artist Antoinette von Grone opens her studio in a visual, musical and poetic collaboration with students from the local high school. Tiptoe among the irises that flank the Wax & Bing Pottery whose works include porcelain and stoneware, both sculptural and functional. Sip wine among the vines and admire the photographs of Chris Espinoza at bucolic Navarro Vineyards in the heart of the valley. And meet the Churro sheep at the Barn Studio which will show hand-wrought jewelry, mixed media landscapes, prints and drawings. Dystopian Prom - Saturday April 8 at 8 p.m. tickets $15/advance; $20/door The sweet nostalgia of a high school prom superimposed over a gritty end-of-the-world landscape...! Flynn Creek Circus partners with Circus Mecca and the Mendocino Dance Project to present the First Almost Fringe Festival Ball. This prom is a one-of-a-kind entertainment featuring interactive survival games, DJ music, an occasional awkward 'slow' dance, circus performances and the much-anticipated "Anti Prom King and Queen contest." Haul out the old prom dress and accessorize with survival gear for the apocalypse of your choosing. Bring a sharpened sense of humor, get your dance on and party like there's literally no tomorrow! Crown Hall, 45285 Ukiah St, Mendocino. A Portrait of Mendocino Village - Saturday April 8, 7:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m. Free Projection artist Ben Wood will build upon his March visit to the village of Mendocino to compile a series of image sequences comprised of the people who live and work in this historic preservation district. The artwork - a series of visually dramatic and moving portraits of people and their landscape - will be projected after dark on a building façade. Ben will be working with the Mendocino Art Center to create this intimate portrait of a town and its citizens.
Spring Concert with Symphony of the Redwoods - Saturday April 8 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday April 9 at 2 p.m. tickets $20, 18 and under free. Acclaimed conductor Allan Pollack leads the symphony in their annual spring welcome concert, this year featuring pianist Spencer Myer, a gifted player who will perform symphonies by Brahms and Beethoven. Cotton Auditorium, 500 N. Harold St., Fort Bragg, 707.964.0898. 15th Annual UkiaHaikU Festival - Sunday April 30, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Free Celebrate the tricky art of the Haiku at this annual springtime festival with an afternoon dedicated to the unrhymed Japanese verse form generally set in three short lines containing a total of 10 to 17 syllables. An art from dating back to 17th Century Japan is now enjoying recognition in the town that is "Haiku" backwards! Ukiah Conference Center, 200 School St, Ukiah, 707.467.2836. Visit Mendocino County is a non-profit destination marketing organization designed to enhance the economic vitality of the community by increasing tourism revenue. For more information, go to facebook.com/VisitMendocinoCounty, @visitmendocino, www.visitmendocino.com. Photos courtesy Mendocino | 
