What's Happening: Mark Your Calendars With the Best Events of April
What's Happening, which you can also find in the front of our Mar-Apr, rounds up some of the most notable events for the coming months.
Apr 5: Qingming Festival
Dust off your brooms because Tomb Sweeping Day is here! A time to celebrate life and commemorate the dead, Qingming also marks the nascent spring warmth. In order to pay proper homage to the deceased, tidy an ancestors’ grave and engage in rituals like burning incense (or paper money) to bring auspiciousness to your loved ones in the afterlife.
Apr 30: Grammy Fest
With an absolute scorcher of a line-up, the inaugural Grammy Festival Beijing in Changyang Park looks to start this year’s festival season off with a bang. The one-day event will see globally renowned musicians Pharrell Williams, Carly Rae Jepson, Phoenix, Macy Gray, among others, serenade audiences for the reasonable (presale) price of RMB 580. 2-10pm. RMB 880, RMB 580 (advance). Changyang Music Theme Park
Until Jun 17: Paul McCarthy - ‘Innocence’
M Woods exhibits 43 video works by the playful yet cutting LA artist Paul McCarthy. Filmed over the past 40 years, McCarthy’s art is recognizable for its warped take on mainstream American media and often features pop culture characters that eschew their usual smiles-all-around veneer for something altogether more unsettling. 10.30am-6pm. RMB 60. M Woods
Apr 15-22: The Eighth Beijing International Film Festival
This year's Beijing International Film Festival touches down with a tantalizing mix of award season favorites such as Get Out, The Disaster Artist, and The Florida Project as well as this year’s special programs, which pay tribute to female filmmakers as well as several acclaimed directors, including Ingmar Bergman (a still from his iconic The Seventh Seal is pictured above), Wong Kar-wai, Wes Anderson, and Pedro Almodovar. There’ll also be a section dedicated to the X-Men franchise as well as showings of all four Jurassic Park movies. Various venues and prices. www.bjiff.com
Apr 14: The Hormones
Leading up to the release of their debut album, Beckon, The Hormones wrap up a 20-date China tour with one final date in Beijing. These four ladies from Chengdu are making waves in the country’s post-punk scene and have only matured since their founding in 2011, recently working to hone their craft with Tim DeWit, former producer and drummer of New York’s Gang Gang Dance (who also happens to be on the bill). Expect a renewed focus and songs that are sultry and melancholic as much as they are barbed and fraught when they touch down in the capital. 8.30pm. Price TBA. Yugong Yishan
See all of these events and more on our Events page here.
Images courtesy of Fake Music Media, steemit.com, The Urban Silhouette, courtesy of M Woods, ingmarbergmen.se
