Here are 3 things to do for the weekend of April 4-6, 2025, curated by WGLT's Lauren Warnecke. You can find more coverage on our Datebook - Arts & Music page or by subscribing to WGLT's Weekend Scoop email newsletter, which goes out every Friday.
Leave no trace: Kick off Earth Month with a trash clean-up day at the ISU Farm in Lexington—where town of Normal yard waste gets composted.
The event has since been moved to April 12 due to muddy grounds.
Gloves, grabbers and bags are provided (bring your own healthy back). If Sugar Creek is more your jam, Ecology Action Center will host another clean up on Constitution Trail from Chateau West to Audobon Gardens on April 26. 10 a.m. Saturday; registration required at ecologyactioncenter.org.
A toast to voting rights: To cap election week, dig your formal wear out of the closet for a fancy gala cutting the ribbon on the Project XV Museum’s signature exhibit. David Strother’s Barbershop in El Paso highlights the life and career of the first Black man to vote in Illinois. Keynote speaker Courtney Ulrich will speak on the importance of rural civics education. 7 p.m. Saturday; $85 at projectxvmuseum.com.
Get serenaded: Illinois Symphony’s final chamber concert of the season is an all-strings program of soul-stirring selections. The most familiar will be Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for String Orchestra, which choreographer George Balanchine used to create his first ballet in America. Keeping the cross-cultural vibes going, there’s American composer William Grant Still’s interpretation of folk dances from Panama and 20th century Japanese composer Yasushi Akutagawa’s Triptyque for Strings. 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington; tickets $30 at 309-438-2535 and ilsymphony.org.
