Here are The Courant’s arts picks for the 10 best things to do the week of Aug. 21 to 27:
Summer is a time for traveling and seeing family. On Connecticut stages in late August are two plays about awkward, yet engrossing, family get-togethers — one of them involving a bike trip, the other a backyard barbecue. At the Goodspeed Airport Festival, you can watch people dive out of airplanes and ride in hot air balloons.
Globetrotting singer and songwriter Lorde, who hails from New Zealand, is coming to Mohegan Sun. The magnificent Midwestern pop band Wilco heads east again, to the Westville Music Bowl.
As for big summery gatherings, around a dozen music acts are playing at Talcott Mountain’s Heublein Tower for Hike to the Mic, and nearly that many assemble for the Ghostface Killah show at Toad’s Place, a benefit for Connecticut Mental Health.
Crowds. The outdoors. Squabbling families. Music wafting from everywhere. Sounds like summer.
Ghostface Killah
Toad’s Place, 300 York Street, New Haven
Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah isn’t lonely on his Tour for Life. The Aug. 21 show at Toad’s Place in New Haven starts at 4 p.m. and features at least eight acts: Duece Bug, The L.I.E. Show, Smifhouse Records, Mr King + Heavy Set, Don Blake, Aul Purpis, Alex Anonny, Ghostface Killah of course and maybe even more. All for $34 ($29 in advance). It’s a benefit for Connecticut Mental Health. toadsplace.com.
Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade and Festival
Bushnell Park, Hartford
The Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade starts Aug. 21 at 11 a.m. at the corner of Warwarme and Wethersfield Avenues in Hartford. The parade ends in Bushnell Park at 1 p.m., for the start of the Puerto Rican Day Festival. There are live performances in the park by Charlie Aponte y su Orquesta, Richard “El Flaquito” y Rika Swing; Suvanna y su Grupo Son d Barrio; Joseph Romaldo; Hip Hop Jibarito and more. hartfordprparade.com.
‘4000 Miles’
Westport Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport
The acclaimed drama “4000 Miles” is by Amy Herzog, a Yale (now Geffen) School of Drama grad whose plays “Mary Jane” and “Belleville” both had their world premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre. “4000 Miles” is more than a decade old but still resonates strongly for these times. It’s about a young man who has biked cross-country to stay with his rather isolated grandmother in her New York apartment. Aug. 23 through Sept. 24 at the Westport Country Playhouse. Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. plus a 2 p.m. matinee on Aug. 31. $40-$60. westportplayhouse.org.
‘Barbecue’
Hole in the Wall Theater, 116 Main Street, New Britain
Hole in the Wall Theater continues to choose progressive, edgy projects. Robert O’Hara’s “Barbecue” is a fascinating and foul-mouthed family drama with several serious twists. Aug. 26 through Sept. 10. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. $25, $20 students and seniors. hitw.org.
Magic City Hippies and Willis
Space Ballroom, 295 Treadwell Street, Hamden
Two bands that embrace the word “psychedelic,” Willis from Nashville and headliners Magic City Hippies from, uh, Magic City, are at the Space Ballroom in Hamden. $20. spaceballroom.com.
Lorde
Mohegan Sun Arena, 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville
The legendary New Zealand singer, songwriter and superstar Lorde’s environmentally friendly Solar Power Tour was postponed in April and finally arrives at Mohegan Sun Arena on Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The tour is named for her third album, released last year alongside an EP of some of the same songs translated into the Polynesian language Te Reo Maori. Lorde also published a book last year about touring Antarctica. $125, $99, $69 & $49. mohegansun.com.
Dispatch and O.A.R.
Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, 500 Broad Street, Bridgeport
The rootsy, jammy band Dispatch — founded in Vermont in the mid-’90s, based in Boston since then, broken up from 2004-11 and actively back since then with a new album released last year, are at Bridgeport’s Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. with a like-minded band of similar vintage, Maryland rockers O.A.R. $25-$198.50. livenation.com.
Hike to the Mic
Heublein Tower, Talcott Mountain, 1 Summit Ridge Drive, Simsbury
Hike to the Mic is a festival at the end of a trail walk. It’s worth the hilly stroll: Aug. 27 and 28 from 10 a.m. to sundown at Heublein Tower, Talcott Mountain, 1 Summit Ridge Drive, Simsbury.
Performers include Will Evans, Junior Mack Band, One Time Weekend, Atlas Gray, Penniless Wild, The New Mosaic, The Meadows Brothers, The KC Sisters, POSSM, JK’s Orbit plus a Sunday morning jazz session organized by Chris Casey. Muralist Corey Pane will be doing live painting during the festival. There are also food vendors and a raffle. Proceeds from the festival support the renovation of the Heublein Tower. rosedale1920.com.
Goodspeed Airport Festival
15 Lumberyard Road, East Haddam
The Goodspeed Airport Festival is a different sort of town festival, promising sky-diving demonstrations and tethered hot air balloon rides, alongside the accustomed vendors and food trucks. Aug. 27 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Goodspeed Airport and Seaplane Base in East Haddam. goodspeedairport.com.
Wilco
Westville Music Bowl, 45 Yale Ave, New Haven
American icons Wilco, still led by the inimitable Jeff Tweedy, are New Haven’s Westville Music Bowl on Aug. 27 at 6:30 p.m. This is the band’s Cruel Country tour, named for the album the band released in April. Built to Spill opens. westvillemusicbowl.com.
Christopher Arnott can be reached at carnott@courant.com.
