Weekend event roundup: Streets of fire

By: - Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 3:15pm

IANduostaff (1)Photo courtesy of A Different Spin

As far as things to get drunk and stare at go, fire has to rank right up there with football and a television showing football. Saturday’s Fire & Ice Winter Festival in Union Square features professional fire-spinners A Different Spin, plus ice sculptures and specialty cocktails at area restaurants. Keep reading for more info and the rest of this weekend’s events.

Have a Ball at the Ballet at Harvard Square’s historic Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, with cocktails and a special performance by the company. The fundraiser also fills our weekly quota of one event where you can wear a sport coat, get a little buzz on and feel like a moneyed patron of the arts — essentially a member the Medici family during the Renaissance. 2.27. 6:30 p.m. $25

* Mardi Gras isn’t just about the bars, beads and beignets: It’s about indulging in all those things while backed by a soundtrack of the happiest music in the world. Buckwheat Zydeco brings its unique brand of traditional New Orleans music to the Regattabar, featuring an accordion and that metal washboard percussion thing. I’d probably just play my abs. I have washboard abs. 2.27. 7:30 p.m. $20

* The Brattle’s Almost But Not Quite Entirely Complete Wes Anderson Retrospective celebrates the quirky director’s career, from his debut “Bottle Rocket” to his latest, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (special preview screening next Thursday), missing only “Rushmore.” “Oh, sure, leave out his most popular movie,” you’re thinking. “Stupid film snobs!” Hey, simmer down. The print just wasn’t available. 2.28 to 3.6. Various times. $10

* Like a scrumptious everything bagel, Oberon’s EDM/classical/rock/circus/dance/theater/rave experience AcousticaElectronica somehow melds those disparate elements into something great (EDM is the poppy seeds). The actors and musicians pull audience members onto the dance floor and make them part of the performance, which I’m sold, because I love anything that breaks the fourth wall whether it’s Zack Morris calling a time-out or Frank Underwood shooting a knowing glance at the audience. 2.28. 10:30 p.m. $25

* Reflecting on her 27-foot Gallery 263 installation, “Awake” artist Christina Balch’s Selfies in Feminist Art discussion examines self-portraiture in feminist art and its relationship to the contemporary “selfie” phenomenon. Did Frida Kahlo ever make a duck face? She did not. 3.1. 3 p.m. FREE

* Musician, vinyl collector, and White Stripes archivist Ben Blackwell talks to local music authority Michael Marotta at the Museum of Fine Arts. Yeah, well, if I had a cool alliterative name I’d probably be doing some pretty cool things with my life, too. 3.1. 2 p.m. $10-13

* Union Square’s Fire & Ice Winter Festival. If you figure that ice is just water, that means we’re only two elements away from summoning Captain Planet up in here. 3.1. 3 p.m. FREE 

* Director Harmony Korine will be on hand at the Harvard Film Archive screening of “Spring Breakers,” his film about four college girls gone way too wild, and also the best and only argument for the continued existence of James Franco since “Freaks and Geeks” ended. 3.2. 7 p.m. $12

* The Somerville Builds workshop for kids who are into building and technology features demonstrations and hands-on activities from the Museum of Science, Parts and Crafts, MakerState and more. So I checked and you have to bring a kid if you want to play with this stuff. Can I borrow somebody’s kid? 3.2. 12 p.m. FREE

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