Happy countdown to the farmers’ market week!

This week, the Central Iowa Symphony’s season concludes with a special performance by pianist Mei-Hsuan Huang, who will perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Elsewhere, the Main Street Farmers’ Market returns, EcoTheatre Lab presents a new festival of works, Stephens Auditorium is Raising Treble, jazz night looks toward the sun, Iowa State music groups gather for a Masterworks, transportation history gets the lecture spotlight and the Ames Choral Society reminisces.

Co-Editors: Anthony Capps & Amber Mohmand
[email protected]

Event Spotlight

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Calendar of Events

Ongoing

🎥 Cyclone Cinema: Avatar: Fire and Ash
7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday | Carver 101

Jake and Neytiri’s family grapples with grief, encountering a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe, the Ash People, who are led by the fiery Varang, as the conflict on Pandora escalates and a new moral focus emerges.

FREE

🎭 In Our Backyard: A New Eco-Play Festival
7 p.m. Friday; 10:30 a.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday | Labyrinth Coffee (Friday and Sunday), Ames Public Library (Saturday)

Four unique events, featuring eight new plays by local playwrights, new music by local singer-songwriters, and neighborhood resiliency conversations facilitated by the Ames Climate Action Team.

FREE

Tuesday, April 28

🌽 From Local Roots to Global Impact: Women in Agriculture
5:30 p.m. | 1148 Gerdin

Pam Johnson is a sixth‑generation Northern Iowa farmer and longtime advocate for agriculture and rural communities. She has served with the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, the National Corn Growers Association and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. Johnson has been a key voice in securing congressional support for agricultural research, advancing the 2014 Farm Bill and strengthening global market opportunities.

FREE

🩺 Telehealth and the Quality of Care
6 p.m. | 2630 Memorial Union

Farzane Omidi, assistant teaching professor in interior design at Iowa State, explores how the physical and digital design of telehealth affects the doctor-patient bond. She shares research on how to maintain emotional connection through a screen.

FREE

🎤 The Goldfinch Room featuring Lojo Russo
7 p.m. | Stephens Auditorium

Lojo Russo has been making music along the muddy waters of the Mississippi since she first picked up a guitar at age 10. With a self-taught approach to music, Russo has developed a unique understanding of genres and songwriting.

$40 per table

Wednesday, April 29

👨‍🏫 A Fresh Look at Anthropogenic Climate Change
6 p.m. | Sun Room, Memorial Union

David R. Legates, a research fellow at the think tank Independent Institute, offers a deep dive into the latest data and perspectives on human-driven climate shifts.

FREE

🎷 Jazz Night "Sól"
7:30 p.m. | Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall, Music Hall

jazzONE and the ISU Jazz Combos play tunes to connect with the fiery ball of energy that is the sun. Featured works include those by Danilo Perez, Bill Evans, Lucky Thompson, Christine Jensen, Soundgarden, Martha Kato, Stan Kenton and Jerome Sabbagh.

$10 public, free for students

Thursday, April 30

📀 Why Do Fans Buy Albums They Can't Play?
6 p.m. | 2630 Memorial Union

An intriguing look at the economics and psychology behind modern vinyl and physical media collections by Seongyeob Kim, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at Iowa State.

FREE

🎤 Big Richard w/ Casey Joe & The Foxes
7 p.m. | Alluvial Brewing

The all-female bluegrass powerhouse Big Richard is known for virtuosic playing and biting wit. They are joined by local favorites Casey Joe & The Foxes for a major spring highlight.

$15+

Friday, May 1

🚗 America 250: Insights Into Iowa’s Transportation History
2:30 p.m. | Ames Public Library

Join Bill Whittaker, Brennan Dolan, Ray Werner and Libby Wielenga for insights into Iowa’s transportation history, covering pre-settlement roads, early Highway Commission history, the Good Roads Movement and key innovations.

FREE

🚂 America 250: Streamliners Across Iowa
4 p.m. | Ames Public Library

Sleek railroad Streamliners criss-crossed Iowa from the mid-1930s through the 1950s. Transportation consultant Bob Bourne will cover some of the important design elements characteristic of railroad streamlining and talk about the memorable trains that ran through Iowa on several railroads. There will be an emphasis on the Streamliners of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad through central Iowa.

FREE

Saturday, May 2

🥗 Ames Main Street Farmers Market
8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | Main Street

The weekly summer event with food and entertainment returns. The first performer of the season is Jake Doty.

🚚 Food Truck Parc Season Opener
Noon to 2 p.m. | The Parc, 202 E. Lincoln Way

Come out to enjoy unforgettable food trucks to kick off the 2026 season. It’ll have fun for the whole family — yard games, a bounce house, caricature artist, live music by Royce Johns and much more.

🎤 Raising Treble Voices Festival
3 p.m. | Stephen Auditorium

The first Raising Treble Voices Festival brings together six central Iowa treble voice choirs — Waukee, Waukee NW and Webster City High Schools plus ISU Cantamus and Lyrica and the Ames women’s choir Good Company — and the ISU orchestra. The festival features a joint performance of It Is Happiness, a choral suite of the poems of Mary Oliver by renowned composer Joan Szymko.

$15, free for students

🎤 Live at The Railyard: Matt Woods
6 p.m. | Cornbred Barbeque

Come on out to see blues band Matt Woods as the first full band night. The band specializes in old school urban electric blues.

🎻 Fireworks Fiesta
7:30 p.m. | Ames City Auditorium

Pianist Mei-Hsuan Huang performs the beloved Second Piano Concerto by Sergei Rachmaninoff. This extraordinary display of virtuosity is perfectly matched with a trio of brilliant dance works by Mexican composers that bring the season to a dazzling conclusion.

$20 general, free for students

Sunday, May 3

🌱 Native Plant Day + Sale
Noon to 3 p.m. | McFarland Park

This event’s goal is to make native Iowa, local eco-type plants more accessible to the community while providing education on a variety of related topics. At noon, Sarah Nizzi, pollinator conservation specialist with the Xerces Society, will present “How Small Spaces Can Make a Difference for Pollinators.”

🎶 Masterworks Concert
3 p.m. | Stephens Auditorium

The Iowa State Singers, the Iowa Statesmen, the ISU Orchestra, a chamber orchestra and the Des Moines Choral Society will join to present two large works. The main feature will be Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, a 35-minute masterwork that decries war and pleads for peace. Texts come from both Walt Whitman and Scripture. The Iowa State Singers will perform Jake Runestad’s Footprints, a 30-minute work for choir and chamber orchestra.

$15, free for students

🎶 Memory: Music From “Cats,” Mozart and “Lord of the Rings”
7 p.m. | St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 209 Colorado Ave.

The Ames Choral Society’s spring concert will feature music from iconic moments and masterworks of the past that are sure to have you reminiscing.

$15 adults, $5 youth

Upcoming events on our radar

🛒 May 7: Parking Lot Bingo and Food Drive, Daisy’s Dog House

🎶 May 15: Across the Water, Collegiate Presbyterian Church

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