Summer Fun Continues: Vintage Prom Dresses, Art in a Garden and More

There's so much to do in Walnut Creek this summer. You can hear live concerts that are edgy or soul-soothing, challenge yourself with a killer bike ride up Mount Diablo, or relax with friends with a stroll through a sculpture-filled garden.

There is also plenty for families to do with their kids, including a moonlight July 4 hike and sword-fighting demonstrations at the Lesher Center for the Arts.  Here are the top picks for summer fun in Walnut Creek.  

Vintage prom dresses, Shadelands Ranch Museum, through June 30. See how young women dressed up on the biggest night of their lives with this exhibition of prom and cotillion dresses that go back to the 1920s. www.walnut-creek.org.

Sculpture and succulents: The 16th Annual Sculpture in the Garden exhibition, Ruth Bancroft Garden, through July 18. Walnut Creek's national treasure, the Ruth Bancroft Garden, hosts another wonderful opportunity to view the outstanding work of local sculptors against the backdrop of some unique and breathtakingly beautiful cacti and succulents that call the Ruth Bancroft Garden home.  www.ruthbancroftgarden.org.

The Diablo Trail Endurance Ride, Saturday: Are you ready for this challenge?  This ride, organized by Save Mt. Diablo, offers 30-mile or 50-mile courses that start and finish at Walnut Creek's Castle Rock Park.  You'll climb steep hills and cross creek beds in this course that travels through Diablo Foothills Regional Park and up the slope of Mt. Diablo State Park's Pine Ridge. The 50-mile route offers a stop in Mitchell Canyon. To register, reserve a camp spot, or to attend the awards dinner, go to www.savemountdiablo.org.

Fireworks and moonlight walks: Join ranger-led hikes through Walnut Creek's open spaces after the sun goes down. A special July 4 hike to Lime Ridge gets you to an excellent place to watch fireworks. Other hikes go to the Sugarloaf preserve (June 26), Shell Ridge (for the full moon, July 26), and to Acalanes preserve (for another full moon, August 24). Reservations are required; call Ranger Bruce Weidman at 925-943,5899, ext. 2665.

The art of the book, Bedford Gallery,  July 1-August 22.  The city's public art gallery celebrates the opening of the new downtown library with a special exhibition dedicated to the art of making books, "Unbound: A National Exhibition of Book Art."  The show features artists who make one-of-a-kind art books. www.bedfordgallery.org.

Get your jazz on: Broadway Plaza's  summer jazz concert series, July 8, 15, and 22.  This free series of concerts features guitarists Nick Colionne and Steve Oliver and saxophonist Mindi Abair and takes place in the parking lot across from Stanford's. www.broadwayplaza.com. 

Madama Butterfly, July 10-18. Festival Opera returns to the Lesher Center for its annual summer season.  While most other metropolitan opera houses go silent this time of year, Festival Opera provides opera fans with a summertime fix. The company brings one of the world's best loved operas, Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," to the Lesher Center in July.  The company follows up August 7-15 with"Lucia di Lammermoor," Donizetti's story of love, murder, and crumbling family fortunes. www.lesherartscenter.org. 

Walnut Creek Library Opening Day Festivities, Saturday July 17: The entire community is expected to turn out to visit Walnut Creek's new landmark building, its library in Civic Park. The eco-friendly 42,000-square-foot building features a 6,000-square-foot children's study area, a teen center with small study rooms and a 65-inch flat screen TV, conference rooms for civic groups, a business center, and more than 90 computers. Opening day festivities include puppet shows and storytelling for kids and exhibits by Walnut Creek teens, the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, the Walnut Creek Historical Society, and John Muir Health. Click here to view a time-lapse video of the installation of artist Christian Moeller's Portrait in 12 Volumes of Gray in the library's tower. On June 8, it took nine hours to install the 3,960 sketchbooks that compose this piece. www.newwclibrary.org.

Chevron Family Theatre Festival, Saturday, July 24: For the fourth year in a row,  the entire Lesher Center,  and the sidewalks outside, are given over to performers who provide family-friendly entertainment. Thousands of children and adults have come to previous festivals to enjoy storytelling, puppet shows, kid-friendly music, theater, and sword-fighting demonstrations. Artists appearing include the musical group The Sippy Cups and the theatre company, Fantasy Forum Actor's Ensemble. Activities outside are free. 

Rent, August 20 - Sept 4: To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Contra Costa Musical Theatre presents Rent, a modern, rock opera version of Puccini's "La Boheme." The Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning "Rent" is set amongst filmmakers, dancers, and musicians in New York's East Village who are not just struggling to make ends meet but also with sexuality, homeless, the commercialization of art, and HIV. For tickets, go to www.lesherartscenter.org.