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May 14, 2026
Patio season, Rita Moreno, and a community read-in in Lafayette
Patio season, Rita Moreno, and a community read-in in Lafayette
00:00
05:21
Transcript
0:00
If you've been waiting for that stretch of real Lamorinda spring weather where everyone suddenly remembers patios exist again, this is probably the week. This is Lamorinda Life.
0:10
I'm Rajiv, and this is your quick rundown of what's happening around Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda this week.
0:17
We've got Rita Moreno coming to Lafayette, a community read-in at the library amphitheater, live music all over town, a restaurant stroll taking over downtown Tuesday night, and honestly, just a really good week to get outside locally.
0:30
Let's get into it. Thursday night is probably the biggest marquee event of the week. Rita Moreno is speaking at the Lafayette Library, which still feels kind of surreal to say out loud.
0:40
She's obviously one of the all-time entertainment legends, EGOT winner, West Side Story, decades in film and television. But what makes this event interesting is the setting. It's not some giant arena thing.
0:53
It's at the library, and it sounds more conversational and personal, especially with her daughter joining her on stage. If you already have tickets, great.
1:01
If not, it's still one of those reminders that Lamorinda occasionally gets these unexpectedly cool cultural events tucked into very normal places. Also, Thursday, the Contra Costa County Fair starts up in Antioch.
1:14
That runs through the weekend. Rides, fried food, rodeo stuff, live entertainment, dinosaurs for some reason, just classic county fair energy.
1:24
Definitely more of a family outing or let's just go wander around for a few hours kind of thing.
1:30
Then on Saturday morning, probably my favorite event of the week, personally, there's the Great Lafayette Read-In at the Lafayette Library Amphitheater, and the concept is basically exactly what it sounds like.
1:41
Bring a book, sit outside, read with other people. There's coffee, book recommendations, crafts, community summer reading lists, all that kind of stuff. I don't know.
1:51
There's just something very Lamorinda about a community event centered around quietly reading outdoors together. It feels low pressure in the best way, especially with the weather this weekend. It sounds kind of perfect.
2:04
Saturday also has a surprisingly strong lineup overall. Vanessa Hua is at Orinda Books talking about her new novel, Coyote Land.
2:13
She's local, so that one should feel pretty community-oriented rather than a generic author stop.
2:19
If you like independent bookstores, local writing, or just literary events that don't feel overly formal, that's probably worth checking out.
2:28
There's also a Family Flow event at Creekside Commons focused on nervous system tools for parents and kids, which honestly feels extremely relevant right now for a lot of families.
2:39
It mixes movement, breathing, sound baths, calming techniques, that whole world. Definitely more wellness-focused, but it sounds thoughtfully put together.
2:50
And then Saturday night, if you have teenagers or know teenagers who constantly claim there's nothing to do, Lamorinda Improv Theater is doing a teen improv party with pizza, games, and low pressure improv stuff for ages fourteen to eighteen.
3:06
That one feels refreshingly social and offline. Sunday keeps the outdoor streak going.
3:12
The Lafayette Community Garden is hosting an open house with tours, crafts, gardening advice, and access to the trails and Miwok Village area.
3:21
That feels like one of those events where people show up for twenty minutes and accidentally stay for two hours.
3:27
And then Sunday afternoon at the Orinda Theater, there's '60s Mania, which is basically a giant multimedia nineteen-sixties tribute show: music, visuals, nostalgia, all of it.
3:39
If you grew up with that music, or honestly, if your parents did, that could be a really fun one. One thing I wanted to specifically call out this week is Wine Thieves in Lafayette.
3:49
The longtime local wine shop has new owners, Dan and Jenny Gorbach, who were apparently already regular customers before taking over the business, and I think that matters because places like Wine Thieves only really work when they feel genuinely local and community-driven.
4:06
They're keeping the wine flights, patio hangouts, Thirsty Thursdays, live music, all the stuff people already loved about the place, and it sounds like they want to lean even more into the gathering space side of it this summer.
4:20
Honestly, with the weather we've got coming up, that patio is going to be busy. A few quick hits before we wrap up. Tuesday night is the Taste of Lafayette Restaurant Stroll.
4:31
Tickets are officially sold out, but downtown Lafayette should still be lively because the plaza area stays open for music, drinks, and hanging out from five to seven PM.
4:42
Moraga's Livable Moraga Road walking tour is happening Saturday morning if you want to actually see and discuss the proposed road changes in person with town staff.
4:52
And we also just published a new guide to outdoor bars, breweries, and patios around Lamorinda, which felt very necessary the second temperatures started hitting the eighties again. That's it for this week.
5:06
As always, the full calendar, weather, and local guides are up at Lamorinda Life. And honestly, this feels like one of the better weeks in a while to stay local and just enjoy where we live a little bit. All right.
5:19
Have a good week, and I'll talk to you next time.
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