Birmingham’s weekly event guide: January 11-17

New franchises, basketball as you don’t get to see every day, Russian ballet, and lots of classes!  Find out what’s going on in Birmingham in the second January event guide.

Mark Twain Brewery release, I Love Bacon food truck

• January 11 @ 5PM
• Hop City
• You’ll pay for drinks, but no cover listed

“Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough” – Mark Twain

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2018 Pioneer Classic

• January 12-14 @ 8AM
• Lakeshore Foundation
• Free!

Wheelchair basketball is a completely different experience from regular basketball.  For one, nobody tries to hog the ball so they can dunk.  That turns the whole game into something more team oriented and more skill based than “jump high!”  Head out to the Lakeshore Foundation to support 13 adult and 5 youth teams this year.  Read more

Asian Heritage Festival

• January 13 @ 10AM
• BMA
• Free!

Celebrate a new exhibit at BMA with this midday festival.  Events for all ages such as face painting and storytelling will complement a scavenger hunt.  Later, there will be performances of traditional Chinese music and a Butoh dance exhibition.  Read more

Improv 101

• January 13 @ 10AM
• Hoover StarDome
• $195

Improv defines so much of what we watch and love.  Learning how to improvise on the spot is valuable at work, on a date, and in front of a mic! Props if you can pull off all three at once.  Read more

Master Mechanics

• January 13 @ 4PM
• Redemptive Cycles
• $100

This first class in a four class series covers tire, wheel, and tube maintenance, which happens to be what goes wrong most often on a bike.  Pre-registration required, but the cost includes a Park Tool textbook and reference.  If you miss a class, you can make it up (with notice) at a future date.  I’d strongly recommend this – $100 up front to learn how to fix things yourself is far cheaper over the long run than taking your bike into a shop over and over!  Read more

Punk Rock Art Show

• January 13 @ 8PM
• The Nick
• $8-10

Birmingham Oddities presents four Alabamian punk acts and one from San Antonio come together at the Nick, alongside “a handful of the raddest art makers in town..!”  Read more

John Latham, Nick Nace, and Ryan Sobb

• January 13 @ 8PM
• Syndicate
• $8-10

Americana should be lyrically driven.  What’s the point of Americana that isn’t?  It turns into advertising music.  Avoid advertising music and listen to some potent (and listenable) Americana at Syndicate this Saturday.  It’s the sort of music that makes you think of roadtrips without traffic jams.  Read more

The State Ballet of Russia Presents Sleeping Beauty

• January 14 @ 7.30PM
• The Lyric
• $50-60

The Russian ballet company, using choreography by Marius Petipa and directed by award-winning Nikolay Anokhin, presents “the most passionate love story ballet.”  55 of Russia’s brightest ballet stars arrive in Birmingham to tell the classic Brothers Grimms tale.  Read more

New Name New Game

• January 16 @ 5PM
• Good People Brewing
• Cost seems to vary pretty widely, but merch will be available and there’s no cover listed for the announcement

Birmingham has a new home team!  Come celebrate and discover the brand for our new USL team.  Read more

Open Lab

• January 16 @ 6PM
• Red Mountain Makers
• Free!

Have an idea for a DIY project?  Want to talk about your ideas or offer your expertise?  Need to work on fiber optics or circuitry with more specialized tools?  Come down to Red Mountain Makers for their open use night!  Read more