Planet Princeton Weekend Picks, June 17-19

Art All Night, the top art event in the region, will celebrate its 10th anniversary this weekend. This  is one of our top event picks of the year for the Princeton area. If you have not visited Art All Night, stop by and see why the event attracts people from Princeton, the rest of the Garden State and beyond.

Thousands of people attend the 24-hour celebration of the arts that includes live music on three stages, food trucks, art demos, installations, films, children’s activities, and visual art work submitted by more than 1,200 people ranging from children to professional artists like J. Seward Johnson. To celebrate the 10th anniversary there will be a live iron pour.

If you are heading to Art All Night from the Princeton area, take Route 1 South to 129, and get off at the South Broad Street Exit. Park in the Mercer County Parking Lot at 640 Broad Street and walk over to the Roebling building at 675 South Clinton Avenue. 3 p.m. Saturday to 3 p.m. Sunday. For more information visit the Art All Night website.

Friday, June 17

jaZams 20th Birthday Celebration Weekend – Come celebrate jaZams’ 20th year in business this weekend. The jaZams annual block party kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday on Hulfish Street in downtown Princeton. Free crafts, carnival games, and prizes for kids. Food trucks too. Concert on the Palmer Square Green with Dan Zanes at 8 p.m.  Block party runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday. Then on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. the Palmer Square Movie Series will present “Despicable Me” starting at 8:30 on the Green. On Sunday, enjoy birthday cake and a concert with Alex Mitnick & The Kaleidoscope Band at 2 p.m. More information

Sunset Sips & Sounds at Terhune Orchards – Join Terhune Orchards for wine, food, and music between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton. Free. More information

Sustainable Jazz Ensemble – Based in Princeton, the Sustainable Jazz Ensemble performs original jazz composed using only local, organic ingredients, natural chord progressions and solar-powered imaginations. No virgin timbres are harvested for their performances. This Friday’s performance has Steve Hiltner on sax and clarinet, Phil Orr on keyboard, Colt Morris on bass, and special guest Lars Wendt on trombone and flugelhorn. Part of the Listen Local Series. 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Hinds Plaza, 55 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. Free. More information

The Arts Council of Princeton and Princeton Shopping Center Present “Pitch Perfect” Summer Movie Sing Along Night – The Arts Council of Princeton and Princeton Shopping Center present the Summer Movie Sing Along Series, bringing elements of popular movies to life through live performance. On Friday, June 17, the Series features Pitch Perfect. A pre-screening concert by Princeton Girlchoir will begin at 7:30 p.m., and the movie will start at 8 p.m. Princeton Shopping Center Courtyard, 301 N. Harrison St, Princeton. Free More information

Princeton Summer Theater presents “Assassins” – Assassins is a tale of the American Dream gone awry. A multiple Tony Award-winning musical, Assassins combines Sondheim’s lyricism and rich music in a revue-style tale that addresses the nation’s culture of celebrity and the violent means taken to obtain it.  8 p.m., Hamilton Murray Theater, Murray Dodge, Princeton University, Princeton. $24.50 – $29.50 More information

Saturday, June 18

The Secret Lives of Birds – A morning hike perfect for seasoned bird watchers and newcomers alike, this walk with Naturalist Tyler Christensen offers an up-close and personal look at birds. Watch foraging behavior, observe family life, and learn about mist-netting and bird banding techniques. Binoculars will be available for use in this program. Sponsored by the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Watershed Center, 31 Titus Mill Road, Pennington. More information

Free, Public Birding trip at Assunpink Wildlife Management Area with the Washington Crossing Audubon Society – Join the Washington Crossing Audubon Society for a free, public birding trip led by John Maret, Brad Merritt and Andrew Bobe at Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. Look for resident birds such as blue grosbeaks, orchard orioles and cedar waxwings, as well as butterflies. 8:30 a.m. Free. More information

Montgomery Friends Farmers Market – The Montgomery Friends Farmers Market is open from 9 a.m to 1 p.m and  is located at the Village Shopper on Route 206, just north of the junction with Route 518. Operated by Montgomery Friends of Open Space, the market features local NJ farm products including vegetables, organic beef, pork and more. The Village Shopper, 1340 Route 206 Skillman Free More information

Fifth Annual Kidsbridge Walk2Stop Bullying – The Kidsbridge WALK2STOP BULLYING will be held on the grounds of the Educational Testing Service. Support diversity, inclusion and respect for others in schools & homes. Concerned parents, children, teens, educators, college students, youth and service groups, and members of the community will come together to raise awareness to stop bullying. 9 a.m. ETS Campus, 660 Rosedale Road, Princeton. Free. More information

D&R Canal History Bike Tour  – The Delaware & Raritan Canal Watch will hold a free history tour by bicycle along the D&R Canal towpath from Kingston to Griggstown and back. Cyclists will meet 10 a.m. at the locktender’s house in Kingston, located off Route 27 between the bridges over the Millstone River and canal. Ride is 10 miles.  More information

Mercer County Cultural Festival and Food Truck Rally – Music, food from a variety of cultures, and more. Rain or shine. Free admission & parking. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mercer County Park, West Windsor. More information

Knit in Public Day – Bring your knitting and crocheting projects and join in this four-hour celebration of Worldwide Knit in Public Day. Drop in the Princeton Public Library any time and knit for as long as you please. Knitters of all experience levels are welcome to attend. Pins & Needles and library staff will help beginners get started. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hinds Plaza, Princeton. More information

Climate Cabaret – Witness climate cabaret as you’ve never seen it before: original comic climate change theater sketches, plus members of the Sustainable Jazz Ensemble. Sketches include Complaint Training, Earth Logic in Space, and Breaking Up With Your Car, with a possible cameo (if we can coax him out of the backyard) by the Climate Cowboy, 3 p.m., Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau Street, Princeton. Free More information

Celebrate Hopewell Borough’s 125th Anniversary at the Community Day Music Festival – The D&R Greenway Land Trust and Hopewell Borough invite the public to rock and roll for the 125th anniversary of Hopewell Borough. The Community Day Music Festival at St. Michaels Farm Preserve in Hopewell will be held from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.. The event includes free family activities, music and more. St. Michael’s Farm Preserve, Aunt Molly Road, Hopewell. More information

Princeton Senior Resource Center 2nd Annual BBQ and Line Dance Benefit – Come with a friend, your family, or just for fun for a good cause. Full BBQ by Business Bistro, and line dancing with the Silver Spurrs. $38 per adult ticket; $17 for kids age 5 -12; kids under 5 free All proceeds benefit the Princeton Senior Resource Center. 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Princeton Senior Resource Center, 45 Stockton Street Princeton. More information

Princeton Festival Lecture: Meeting Peter Grimes – This talk is for members of The Princeton Festival’s audience who will be meeting Peter Grimes for the first time. Scott Burnham, Scheide Professor of Music History, Princeton University will retrace aspects of his own maiden voyage into the world of Britten’s opera. 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Matthews Theater at McCarter Theater Center, 91 University Pl., Princeton. Free. More information

The Princeton Festival Presents Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes – Peter Grimes, Benjamin Britten’s first full-scale opera, explores themes of alienation and the fate of the anti-hero by pitting a conflicted dreamer against a village that rejects and persecutes him. 8 p.m., Matthews Theater at McCarter Theater Center, 91 University Pl., Princeton. $30 – $140 More information

Sunday, June 19

Bird in the Hand: Songbird Banding – Visitors to the Fiddler’s Creek Preserve in Titusville can experience a “behind-the-nets” look at an active field research project. At “Bird in the Hand: Songbird Banding,” visitors will learn about the research taking place and see wild birds up-close as they are banded, measured and released. 8 a.m., Fiddler’s Creek Preserve, 495 Washington Crossing Pennington Rd., Titusville. More information

The Princeton Festival Presents Kristiaan Seynhave (Organ Recital) – Kristiaan Seynhave was organist-titular of the National Basilica in Koekelberg-Brussels, the fifth largest church in the world. Today he is much in demand as a solo performer at international music festivals. He has performed the complete organ works of J.S. Bach, C. Franck and F. Liszt many times.  Recital at 3 p.m., Princeton University Chapel, Princeton. $25 – $35 More information

The Princeton Festival presents Cécile McLorin Salvant – This concert gives Princeton audiences a rare opportunity to hear this Grammy Award-winning jazz superstar live. Cécile McLorin Salvant burst onto the scene in 2010 when she won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Now, just six years later, the whole world is taking notice. 7 p.m., Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Pl., Princeton. $45 – $60 More information