📅 Baton Rouge: Week at a Glance | May 4–10
Why it matters: Hot Art Cool Nights takes over Mid City, Night Market BTR returns to the Capitol—though both a little later than planned due to some predicted bad weather—and a packed Saturday gives you no excuse to stay home, rain clouds permitting.
🗓️ Wednesday, May 6
🎨 Baton Rouge Gallery: First Wednesday Opening—6–9 p.m. 📍 Baton Rouge Gallery, 1515 Dalrymple Drive
- Free monthly opening reception introducing new work by local and regional artists. This month features exhibits by Jeremiah Ariaz, Justin Tyler Bryant and Kristine Thompson. Food, drink and live music. Free and open to the public.
🔭 Navigating the Cosmos—noon debut 📍 Irene W. Pennington Planetarium, LASM, 100 S. River Road
- World premiere of a new immersive planetarium production—available only at LASM. Additional showtimes throughout the month. Details at lasm.org.
🗓️ Friday, May 8
🎵 Live After Five: The Rumble + N'Tune—5–8 p.m. 📍 North Boulevard Town Square, downtown
- Baton Rouge's beloved free concert series continues. Full lineup at the Downtown Business Association.
🎨 Hot Art Cool Nights—6–10 p.m. 📍 Government Street corridor, Mid City
(This event has been postponed a week to Friday May 15.)
- Mid City's spring arts and culture festival opens 40-plus independent businesses to visual artists, musicians, makers and chefs across the Government Street corridor from Jefferson Highway at Goodwood Boulevard to 14th Street. Free. Draws nearly 5,000 people annually. Full map at midcitymerchantsbr.org.
🎵 CJ Solar & The Old Souls featuring Rick Huckaby—7:30 p.m. 📍 Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St.
- Baton Rouge native CJ Solar returns with a new band and debuts tracks from his upcoming album. Tickets at Manship Theatre.
🔭 Evening Sky Viewing—8:30–10 p.m. 📍 BREC Highland Road Park Observatory, 13800 Highland Road
- Weekly public viewing night through BREC's telescopes. Ages 6 and up. Free. Details at hrpo.lsu.edu.
🗓️ Saturday, May 9
🌱 Red Stick Farmers Market—8 a.m.–noon 📍 5th & Main Street, downtown
- Fresh produce, local vendors and community at BR's flagship open-air market. Also runs Thursdays, 8 a.m.–noon, at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Tuesdays, 3–6 p.m., at the Main Library at Goodwood.
📖 StoryTime at Burden—9 a.m.–noon 📍 LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden, 4560 Essen Lane
- Stories, arts and crafts for children ages 3–8 in the gardens—one Saturday a month through May. Every child takes home a book. Free, no registration required.
💃 World Belly Dance Day—LASM 📍 Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road
- Vibrant performances from belly dancers across Louisiana in celebration of World Belly Dance Day. Part of LASM's International Planetarium Month programming. Details at lasm.org.
🏮 Night Market BTR—4–10 p.m. 📍 In front of the Louisiana State Capitol, N. 4th Street (Note: This event is moving to May 30 due to expected bad weather.)
- Baton Rouge's premier Asian American and Pacific Islander cultural festival returns for its fourth year—40 food vendors, 20 artists, lion dance performances and live music. Organizer Laura Siu-Nguyen is intentionally capping attendance at 7,000 this year to ensure everyone actually gets to eat. Asian Heritage Month, if you needed another reason. Tickets $5; VIP $75. RedEye has the full story.
🎨 Artist Talk: Brandon V. Lewis—6 p.m. 📍 Gallery at Manship, Shaw Center, 100 Lafayette St.
- Free talk with the artist behind the current Gallery at Manship exhibit "When All God's Children Get Together." Located in the loft above the bar. Free and open to the public.
🎵 Ashley Orlando: The Songs She Sings—7:30 p.m. 📍 Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St.
- Jazz vocalist and ukulele artist Ashley Orlando and her band weave heartfelt storytelling with timeless classics—Nina Simone, Eva Cassidy, Norah Jones—in an intimate Mother's Day weekend concert. Tickets $30.
Reach us: Want to submit an event item for consideration? Email us the information at news@redeyebr.com. Details: The calendar is on a Monday–Sunday rotation, and the submission deadline is the Wednesday prior.
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