Arts and Entertainment

Tickets for the 2014 season of the Polar Express aboard the historic Virginia and Truckee Railroad are now on sale. The perennial holiday favorite all-ages train ride from the frosty Northern Nevada landscape to the North Pole, will run from Nov. 20 to Dec. 22. The hour long V&T diesel train ride includes a keepsake silver bell, hot chocolate and cookies, entertainment and a reading of The Polar Express.

Attention musicians: The Carson City Symphony will begin rehearsals for the 2014-15 concert season on Wednesday, August 27, 7:00 to 9:15 p.m., at the Carson High School band room.

The Symphony, conducted by David Bugli, is a volunteer orchestra of about 55 players who perform music from the 15th to 21st centuries. It is open to string players at any time without audition, and to other instrumentalists when positions are available. Current openings are for strings and horn. Musicians who are interested in joining should contact the Symphony at 775-883-4154.

The Smith Center will celebrate the Nevada Sesquicentennial with a concert event showcasing the Silver State’s very own entertainment featuring extraordinary performers from all around the state on Monday, September 22 at 7 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Hall inside The Smith Center. The star-studded event will feature artists, entertainers and celebrities who all call Nevada home.

Nick Flynn, whose first memoir sparked the major motion picture, “Being Flynn,” international reviews and much press attention, will visit Sierra Nevada College on Sept. 5-6 to kick off the 2014-15 Writers in the Woods literary speaker series and to introduce the college’s Common Read book for the year.

West Coast swing dancing sponsored by High Sierra Swing Dance Club, El Charro Avitia Restaurant, 4389 S. Carson St., Carson City, every Tuesday, 7-9 p.m., free. Preceded by a lesson by Tim Renner in intermediate West Coast swing at 5:45 p.m., lesson $8. No partner necessary for either activity. Practice your moves or just check out the dance at this fun, nonstructured event. Information: 530-307-8937 or www.highsierraSDC.org.

Award winning performers from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Reno and Tahoe will grace the stage for Trails and Vistas World Concert at Sand Harbor State Park at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 6.

The World Concert, an original blend of diverse musicians, aerialists and dancers, is produced by Trails and Vistas, a Truckee, CA-based nonprofit organization dedicated to producing inspiring art events in nature, in collaboration with the Truckee Tahoe Peace Project.

Professional artists and ensembles of all disciplines are invited to apply to the Nevada Arts Council’s 2015–2018 Artists in Schools + Communities Roster. The roster is designed as an online resource for schools, organizations and communities to broaden and diversify participation in the arts by engaging artists in educational and community cultural residencies and programs. Roster artists visit host schools and organizations to share their expertise and encourage active learning in the arts.

From October 23-26, the Nevada Land Trust is hosting a free benefit art show, "Art of Conservation - Open Spaces and Special Spaces" in the three galleries of the Wilbur May Museum, Rancho San Rafael Regional Park at 1595 N. Sierra St., Reno. The Galleries will be open Thursday 2pm-4pm, Friday-Saturday 10am-4pm, Sunday 12pm-3pm, with a closing reception 12pm-2pm.

The USAF Golden West Winds, a division of the USAF Golden Band of the West, will entertain Saturday evening, August 16, in the beautiful backyard of the Governor’s Mansion beginning at 6:30 pm.

The concert is free and gates open at 5:30 p.m. The Carson City Elks will be on hand to serve beer, wine and a light supper. Or, bring your own.

Please be sure to bring a blanket or chair. Come early for best seating. The event is being sponsored as a community service by the Carson City Chamber and the Carson City Elks. Veterans are encouraged to attend.

Canyon Band, featuring RN+R's '2nd Best Local Songwriter' , Canyon White, will be performing free, an all original, all ages, concert Saturday August 16th from 6-8 pm at A-Zen Gift and Thrift on N. Carson Street.

Live music featuring acoustic duo Mark Wilson and Grace music stylings to please all .

Nevada poets and fiction writers have a unique new opportunity to express themselves and compete for an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to meet with top literary professionals, including editors, agents, publishers, and prominent writers. Poets & Writers, the nation's largest nonprofit organization serving creative writers, has selected Nevada as the only state to participate in its annual Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award program.

UPDATE: Yogi Berra may have said, “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore,” but at the 2014 Carson City Mint Coin Show and Fair, the value is in the eye of the beholder. Sharp skilled dealers will buy, sell, trade and offer their expertise with free appraisals during the two-day event today, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 23. Held this year at both the Nevada State Museum and the Carson Nugget, the fair includes activities for children, prize drawings, lectures, coin sales and free appraisals with admission.

Many celebrations are scheduled throughout the Silver State in the month of August. These Nevada 150 events celebrate all things Nevada and help bring awareness to the 150th Anniversary of Statehood. The following events are held Aug. 15 through Aug. 31.

The Comstock History Center in Virginia City, in partnership with the Comstock Cemetery Foundation, is pleased to announce the opening of a new museum exhibit entitled Deathways of the Comstock Chinese.

The exhibit, which highlights the death and burial practices of the Chinese, features artifacts, photographs, video and an accurately reproduced, life-sized Chinese gravesite. The free exhibit will open to the public on Thursday, August 14, 2014 at 11 a.m.

USAF Golden West Winds will perform a free concert this Saturday evening, Aug. 16, in the backyard of the Governor's Mansion as part of the Jazz and Beyond festival this month in Carson City.

Because of unstable weather conditions in Carson City, the "Jazz & Beyond" music festival is moving its concerts for today, Sun., Aug. 10, from the Legislative Plaza to the Carson Mall. People are encouraged to hear Back Forty at 4:30 p.m. and CeCe Gable with the DG Kicks Octet at 6:00 p.m. People are encouraged to bring their own chairs.

In this Carson TV News segment, host Cortney Bloomer highlights the recent performance by Sierra Nevada Ballet performing Swan Lake at Sand Harbor, and other arts events in and around Carson City.

Follow Carson TV News at www.facebook.com/carsontvnews for updates, information and to learn more about the program, which airs weekly on Mondays, Charter Cable Channel 193, at 4:30 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. and throughout the week. Have a news tip? You can also submit photos and video to CarsonTVnews@gmail.com.

Nevada Performance Academy will be adding another dimension to their program by offering workshops to give kids the chance to meet professionals in other fields of interest such as medicine, engineering, accounting and more.

Parents interested in enrollment or seeking information are being asked to attend an informative meeting on Aug. 11 and again Aug. 12, 6:15 p.m. at VT Williams and Associates, 3470 G.S. Richards Blvd., Carson City.

Something amazing is happening in our Carson City! Once again our community is rising up to help a neighbor in need.

As many of you may have heard a favorite, downtown restaurant, Sassafras is being forced to relocate. The word spread throughout our community and one question was being asked “how can we help?”

I had a chance to attend a meeting of volunteers from the community to help organize a benefit to help Save our Sassafras. I then asked Owner, Scott Owen Doerr, what he wanted people to know. This is what he had to say:

A outdoor feast with the main course arriving straight out of Lake Tahoe, plus an indoor muscle and fitness protein fest will be the ultimate flex and fry events of the summer on Aug. 23 at the South Shore.

The second annual Boil 'n Fry Day Festival at MontBleu Resort, Casino and Spa is Lake Tahoe's version of an old fashioned New Orleans crawdad feed, complete with live music at the resort's outdoor event center, carnival games, hot wings, barbecue, cold crafted beer and all the fried, boiled or barbecued fresh water crustaceans festival goers can eat.

Beatles Flashback, a Beatles tribute band formed in 2006, will be on stage tonight, Wednesday, at the Carson City Community Center as part of the Jazz & Beyond Carson City Music Festival.

While most people are familiar with Beatles tribute bands that dress up to look like the Fab Four, Beatles Flashback, a group that formed in Sonoma County, Calif., and is now based in Reno, focuses instead on recreating the music that is heard on the original recordings.

Come join us for free hors D'oeuvres with cocktails. And take a spin on our Great Dance Floor at Living The Good Life 1480 N Carson Street.

Beer lovers don’t have to wait until fall to celebrate the region’s finest microbrews. MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa will roll out barrels from dozens of area brewmasters Saturday, Aug. 9 for the first Tahoe Craft BeerFest.

With more than 45 brewers on tap and plenty of barbecue, live music, games, and competition, the festival will be a summer celebration of frosty, sudsy, hoppy handcrafted brews made around California and Nevada.

The Jazz and Beyond: Carson City Music Festival presents Boogie Woogie Hall of Famer Carl Sonny Leyland in concert on Thursday, Aug. 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall, 511 W. King St., Carson City.

"Jazz & Beyond" is a yearly festival put on by the Mile High Jazz Band Association and its sponsors. Admission to this concert is free. Donations are requested and include a chance at a door prize.

Cherie Shipley gives us the rundown on the Jazz & Beyond Carson City Music Festival running through August 17, 2014.

Go here for a rundown of events.

It's Your City is a weekly program aimed at keeping citizens informed about city government, organizations and happenings around Carson City, Nev. Go here to learn more about Access Carson City Television.

Once again the Brewery Arts Center brought arts to our little city in a big way. Saturday night The City Wide Short Film competition was a huge hit.

New and veteran filmmakers were put to competition to produce a film in just one week. The house was packed and viewers delighted as they watched the screening of the 14 films.

Be sure not to miss this excellent event next year. In the meantime visit breweryarts.org for many other worthy events.

The final day of the NV 150 Fair at Fuji Park in Carson City kicks off at 9 a.m. with the Ranch Rodeo finals at the grandstand. Come down and see all the bucking broncos and barrel racing events. The rodeo runs until 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the grandstand or here.

Among today's activities, there will be livestock shows, sales and demonstrations, carnival rides and games, fly tying demonstrations, cloggers, a dog show at 4 p.m. Sons of Slide Mountain Band beginning at noon, Youth Theater Carson City performance at 12:30 p.m.

On stage The Mountain Girls (band) at 4:30, Ranch Rodeo at 5 p.m., live music with CW Bayer and Mr. Spoons at 5:30 p.m.

It's the first Saturday of the month and that means the return of the Carson City Downtown Wine Walk, today from 1 to 5 p.m. through Carson City.

For $10 participants will receive a commemorative wine glass and endless reasons to stroll through Downtown Carson City sipping and tasting the afternoon away. Bring your wine walk glass with the Carson City Logo on it and pay only $8.