CALENDAR: League of Women Voters to hold 10 candidate forums

Staff reports  | The League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area will hold a series of non-partisan candidate forums before local elections on Nov. 5.  For a full list, click here.  Of particular note:

Oct. 16: Charleston City Council Forum, Districts 1 and 3.  Burke High School Media Center, 244 President St., Charleston. Co-sponsored with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, Charleston Alumnae Chapter, AAUW Charleston.

Oct. 16: North Charleston Mayoral Forum.  City Hall Council Chambers, 2500 City Hall Lane, North Charleston.  Co-sponsored with WCSC Live 5 News.

Oct. 17: Charleston City Council Forum, Districts 5, 7, 9 and 11.  Grace United Methodist Church, 1601 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., Charleston.  Co-sponsored with AAUW Charleston..

Oct. 19: Charleston Mayoral Forum.  Holliday Alumni Center, The Citadel, 69 Hagood Ave., Charleston.  Co-sponsored with the Citadel School of Humanities and Social Sciences, WCSC Live 5 News.

Oct. 21: North Charleston Council Seats, City Hall Council Chambers, 2500 City Hall Lane, North Charleston.

Also on the calendar:

Dungee Center dedication:  10 a.m. Oct. 15, 1099 King St., Charleston.  Mayor John Tecklenburg and members of Charleston City Council will dedicate a community center to honor the Rev. Alma Dungee, who is known for her lifelong work as a community leader and activist. 

Nevermore, the play: Oct. 16 to Nov. 3, Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church St., Charleston.  Charleston Stage will present Nevermore! Voyage Into the Netherworld, a play that speculates on an 1847 voyage by author Edgar Allan Poe after which he was found mad and soon died.  The play features scenes from Poe’s stories and includes information on his real visit to Sullivan’s Island in 1817.  More information.  Tickets are $34 to $67 with some discounts.

Coming to the Gaillard.  Check out these awesome coming events at the Charleston Gaillard Center, 95 Calhoun St., Charleston:

FREE:  Youth Poetry Slam: 2 p.m. Oct. 19.  Artist-in-Residence Marcus Amaker will host this event as part of the Free Verse Festival.  It brings together young poets of all levels for a friendly competition. The top three winners of the slam will have the opportunity to perform later that night for Free Verse, Charleston’s poetry festival. Prizes will also be awarded.  Register.

Chick Corea Trio:  7:30 p.m. Oct. 29.  Jazz impresario Chick Corea will bring together bass powerhouse Christian McBride and drum master Brian Blade in a trio that earned two Grammy Awards for their first outing, 2014’s landmark 3-CD set Trilogy. Learn more about the trio and show here.  Tickets are $36 to $86.

Pictures at an Exhibition: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25 and Oct. 26.  The Charleston Symphony offers  a special collaboration with award-winning watercolorist, Mary Whyte. A Charleston-based artist with an international reputation, Whyte will debut her collection of portraits We the People alongside the Charleston Symphony’s performance of Respighi’s Trittico Botticelliano (“Three Botticelli Pictures”), Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Images of Whyte’s paintings, a portrait of one veteran from each state, will appear on stage throughout the performance. Tickets are $25 to $114.

Free Verse Festival:  Through Oct. 20 in locations around Charleston with a special event Oct. 28.  The third year of the Free Verse Festival, Charleston’s first poetry festival, seeks “to uplift the community by providing eclectic poetry events and workshops at multiple venues in downtown and West Ashley.”  Learn more online.

AFFA Gala 2019: 6 p.m., Nov. 1, The Cedar Room, 701 East Bay St., Charleston.  You can have one of the best nights of the year with this annual fund-raiser for AFFA that is replete with a cocktail hour, silent auction, dinner, live auction and entertainment by the Emerald Empire Band.  Tickets: $180. Learn more now.

Holiday Festival of Lights: Nov. 15 to Dec. 31, James Island County Park.  For the 30th year in a row, the Holiday Festival of Lights returns to make merry magical memories with its vibrant light show is one of Charleston’s most cherished holiday events, featuring an estimated two million dazzling lights. The Holiday Festival of Lights is open every evening, rain or shine, from Nov. 15 – Dec. 31, 2019. The festival opens at 5:30 p.m. nightly and closes at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. More.

Early morning bird walks at Caw Caw:  8:30 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday, Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Ravenel.  You can learn about habitats and birds, butterflies and other organisms in this two-hour session.  Registration is not required, but participants are to be 15 and up. $10 per person or free to Gold Pass holders.  More:  http://www.CharlestonCountyParks.com.

AREA MARKETS

WEDNESDAYS.  The West Ashley Farmers Market is every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Ackerman Park off Sycamore Avenue in West Ashley.  The last week of the market will be the first week of October. More.

FRIDAYS/SATURDAYS:  Night Market.  Every Friday and Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for the rest of the year, you can shop with 108 vendors, including artists and craftsmen, at the night market on Market Street between East Bay and Church streets.  It’s more than four blocks of local shopping and fun. Free.

SATURDAYS:  Johns Island Farmers Market operates each Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. year-round with more than 50 local farmers and vendors, food trucks, music and more.  The market is located on the campus of Charleston Collegiate School, 2024 Academy Road, Johns Island

SATURDAYS: The Charleston Farmers Market is open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Marion Square each Saturday through Nov. 30.  More info.

NOTE: The Mount Pleasant Farmers Market weekly market on Tuesdays finished in September. The next opportunity to shop is a special Dec. 7 holiday market and craft show at the market pavillion at Moultrie Middle School, 645 Coleman Blvd., Mount Pleasant. Time:  11 a.m to 4 p.m. Free parking. Lots of activities. More info.

• If you have an event to list on our calendar, please send it to feedback@charlestoncurrents.com for consideration. The calendar is updated weekly on Mondays.