Friday Nights at OMCA with Off the Grid

Friday Nights at OMCA are back and ready to kick off the season in style on April 5!

Gather with family, friends, and community every Friday at 5 pm for free live music and hands-on activities, Off the Grid food trucks, and late night access to our galleries and special exhibitions, with a Museum ticket.

Bring your own or grab dinner from any one of the 8 Off the Grid food trucks on 10th Street between Oak and Fallon Streets. Beer, wine, mixed and non-alcoholic drinks are available for sale. After grabbing a meal from a wide and weekly changing menu of culinary creations, head to the OMCA Garden where you’ll find picnic tables and blankets to enjoy your local eats. Play lawn and table games, enjoy weekly rotating Museum programming, and create new memories at one of the Town’s most treasured spaces right in the heart of Oakland.

No outside alcohol permitted. Performances are subject to change. Limited $10 flat rate parking for Friday Nights is available in the OMCA Garage until 10 pm.

Friday Nights at OMCA with Off the Grid is sponsored by the Oakland Museum Women’s Board and Bank of America.

Oakland Women's Board Logo 2023

Highlights

Upcoming

Friday Nights | Live Music by MacArthur Maze, Sketchboard Live Drawing Sessions, and set by DJ Ron Reeser April 26 from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Friday Nights at OMCA brings back a Thursday After Hours special, Sketchboard Live Drawing! This Friday OMCA invites visitors to bring their sketch pads and appetites and get creative in the Museum’s Gallery of California Art with live drawing sessions.

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Friday Nights at OMCA | Live Music with Alphabet Rockers, Drag Storytime with Per Sia, Wire Sculpture Making, Gallery Chats, and DJ set with Siyah May 3 from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Pump up the joy this first Friday at Friday Nights at OMCA! Join us as the intergenerational hip hop group, Alphabet Rockers, explores elements of hip hop and leads audiences to shared moments of joyful expression, uplifting affirmations, and celebratory movement. Drag Storytime keeps the empowering energy flowing as drag artist Per Sia brings Tyler Feder’s preschool picture book, Bodies are Cool, to life with an exuberant read-aloud alongside bright and friendly illustrations to captivate all.

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Friday Nights at OMCA | Live Music by Fantastic Negrito & Friends, Poetry and Hip Hop by Let’s Lab with KDThe Poet!, Gallery Chats, and DJ set with Mani Draper May 10 from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Friday Night’s at OMCA presents an electrifying evening with Oakland’s own Fantastic Negrito as he takes the stage alongside some of his favorite musicians in the Bay Area. Join us for an immersive performance that plays with the boundaries between funk, rock, soul, and blues to produce  a unique and captivating experience. More boundaries are broken as Let’s Lab with KD the Poet makes the mundane fantastic as he centers everyday life in his blend of soulful lyricism and tempered production. The night will be further filled with the groovy blend of rap, soul, R&B, and Afrobeats emanating from Bay Area DJ Mani Draper, all excellent energy to intercut with engaging discussion facilitated by the Gallery Chats taking place in our Special Exhibition, Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya.

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Friday Nights at OMCA | Live Music by Awesöme Orchestra, K-Pop Dance Lesson with Groobeu & Robin Lee, Gallery Chats, and set with DJ Peter Lo May 17 from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Join OMCA this Friday night as we host Awesöme Orchestra and 100+ musicians for an evening filled with internationally acclaimed guest artists and local composers! Bringing music out of the concert hall and into the wider Bay Area community parks, streets and rock venues, Awesöme Orchestra takes film and video game scores and brings them to life. Both a performance and an invitation, the Awesöme Orchestra invites you to their website for info about how to participate. This Friday Nights at OMCA further invites you into the performance with K-Pop Dance Lessons with Groobeu & Robin Lee as they teach one of NewJeans’ choreography to one of their most popular songs, “Hype Boy!” This will be a supportive space as they walk through each movement, try the choreo many times, and split into smaller groups to give everyone a chance to showcase their new moves!

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Friday Nights at OMCA | Bolo Music Group Presents Live Music by Ruby Ibarra & Ian Santilliano, Live Figure Drawing with Sketchboard, Gallery Chats, and set by DJ Sake One May 24 from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Friday Nights at OMCA brings back a Thursday After Hours special, Sketchboard Live Drawing! This Friday OMCA invites visitors to bring their sketch pads and appetites and get creative in the Museum’s Gallery of California Art with live drawing sessions.

 Learn More