Looking for Something to Do? Free Pasadena Events June 8 to 14

Here are events scheduled Saturday, June 8, to Friday, June 14.

All events are free, so take a look -- and don't you dare say there's nothing to do in Pasadena!

Every week, Family Fun Saturday at Eaton Canyon Nature Center includes activities for all ages. On Saturday, June 8, from 9 a.m. to noon, enjoy a family nature walk, Nature Tails Storytime, a presentation with a live wild animal and creating a nature craft to take home.

Art will intersect with more art during BoldPas: A Day of Art and Play Saturday, June 8, from noon to 8 p.m. in Old Pasadena. Make your own art, visit 17 site-specific installations throughout Old Pasadena, watch Warrior Painters create plein air paintings in several locations, enjoy a DJ spinning tunes all afternoon and much more.

Join a celebration of arts and culture at the Playhouse District Block Party Saturday, June 8, from noon to 10 p.m. on El Molino Avenue between Colorado Boulevard and Green Street. The family-friendly event will feature live music, interactive art making, dramatic and dance performances, kids' zone and much more. 

"It's Showtime at Your Library!" is the theme of this year's summer reading program for children, tweens and adults from June 8 to Aug. 3. Register here. In addition to reading, the program will include plenty of fun events and activities at all branches. Here are events scheduled June 8 to 14.

• "It's Showtime at Your Library!" will kick off Saturday, June 8, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at Central Library with a celebration of our One City, One Story summer edition, "The Ballad of Huck and Miguel" by Tim DeRoche. Meet the author as well as illustrator Daniel González, get in the spirit with Southern river music, have fun with a special visit from Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher, create an art piece, thrill to Theatre Americana's musical show "Mississippilessly" featuring songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Showboat" and much more.
• Children ages 9 to 12 will make their own stop-motion movies with LEGOs Saturday, June 8, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in Studio on 4th (fourth floor) at Central Library. Call (626) 744-4066, option 4 to sign up.
• Children ages 9 to 12 are invited to plan, create and edit their own trailers for their favorite books Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, June 10, 11 and 13, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Children's Story Room at Central Library. Laptops, tablets with video cameras, and all software will be provided.

Inspired by the special exhibition "Tsuruya Kōkei: Modern Kabuki Prints Revised and Revisited," you'll explore the art of self-portraiture by creating your own mask, participating in a contemporary artist's performance, going on a docent-led tour of the exhibition, listening to a special storytime for children and more Sunday, June 9, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  at USC Pacific Asia Museum. Stay for the entire event, or drop in for a while and drop out.

Your final opportunity to see the exhibition Sandra de la Loza: Mi Casa Es Su Casa at Armory Center for the Arts is Sunday, June 9, from noon to 5 p.m.. De la Loza manipulates historic photographs of her own Mexican American family to address issues of power, memory and history through the concept of home.

Calling all future astronauts ages 9 to 12! Take part in a mission to explore our solar system during a scripted, live-action role play Wednesday, June 12, at 4 p.m. at Hastings Branch Library. Call (626) 744-7262 to sign up. 

Shhh! With Fathers Day approaching, children of all ages are invited to create their own special craft as a gift for Dad Thursday, June 13, at 4 p.m. at Hastings Branch Library. All materials will be provided. 

Pasadena City College's Musical Theater Workshop presents the musical "Welcome to Wonderland" Tuesday, June 11, and Thursday, June 13, at 8 p.m. in PCC's Little Theatre (CA on this map). Loosely based on the "Alice in Wonderland" story, in this musical Alice falls asleep while reading and has a vibrant dream in which she learns that life and love are no fairy tale. While the event is free, parking is not. Park in Student Lot #5 and purchase a $2 parking pass at any parking lot vending machine.

The Oakwood Branch Outreach Project will perform Wednesday, June 12, from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m. for the popular Music at Noon recital series at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" (2006, PG-13) starring Will and Jaden Smith will be shown Wednesday, June 12, at 1 p.m. in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Central Library. A bright and talented yet often unemployed salesman on the hunt for a job finds himself and his young son evicted from their San Francisco apartment, with only the streets to call home.

During the next open forum of pasadenaphotographyarts Thursday, June 13, at 7 p.m. at Armory Center for the Arts, documentary photographer Laurie Freitig will show and discuss her works. 

"At Eternity's Gate" (2018, PG) starring Willem Dafoe and Rupert Friend will be shown Friday, June 14, at 1 p.m. in the Scott Pavilion at the Pasadena Senior Center. The film concentrates on the life of painter Vincent van Gogh during the time he lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France. You do not have to be a member of the Pasadena Senior Center to attend, but you do have to be 50 or older.

SAVE THE DATE!

• The Pasadena Chalk Festival Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Paseo Colorado will feature hundreds of talented muralists who will use chalk as their medium and pavement as their canvas, live music, art-making with chalk, plenty of fun, family-friendly activities, the Pasadena Police Classic Car Show (June 16 only, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and much more.
• Pasadena's One City, One Story 2019 summer edition book selection, "The Ballad of Huck and Miguel" by Tim DeRoche, has been the topic of book discussion groups all over Pasadena. Drop in on any of the remaining groups:

• Hill Avenue Branch Library Book Discussion Group Saturday, June 15, at 10:30 a.m.
• West Pasadena Book Discussion Group Saturday, June 15, at 11 a.m. at Linda Vista Branch Library.
• Rave Reviews Monday, June 24, at 2 p.m. at Lamanda Park Branch Library.

Photo credits: Old Pasadena Management District, City of Pasadena, Armory Center for the Arts, Holly Bellsham School for Performing Arts, Oakwood Branch Outreach Project, Columbia Pictures, Laurie Freitig, CBS Films