Weekend spotlight: Drag shows, alligators and ice cream

July 7, 2011

San Luis Obispo County started summer off with its fair amount of “June gloom,” but July has brought the shining sun, a free concert by Taylor Dayne, a block party featuring a 300 pound ice cream sandwich and a wild animal show at a local theater.

Head down to Doc Burnstein’s in Arroyo Grande on Sunday. As part of the city’s centennial celebration, Doc Burnstein is going to attempt to make the world’s largest ice cream sandwich. The sandwich is slated to be 100 inches in diameter, weigh approximately 300 pounds and feed more than 1,600 people. The event will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Stick around the Village afterwards for all the music and fun and the fireworks, scheduled for dusk as the centennial celebration continues.

Before indulging in all that ice cream fun, backtrack a few miles up the coast to San Luis Obispo to see the reggae-rock stylings of Hermosa Beach natives Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds at SLO Brewing Co. with the help of openers The Supervillains on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

If indulging in your wild side at a concert wasn’t enough, look no further than Atascadero on Saturday morning for a special screening of the new Kevin James comedy “Zookeeper,” featuring the voices of Sylvester Stallone, Adam Sandler and Cher.

Prior to the screening at the new Galaxy Cinemas in Atascadero, when doors open at 8:30 a.m., local zookeepers will awe the audience with live appearances by a Great Horned Owl, an alligator and a blue-tongued skink (more commonly identified by its lizard heritage), along with various other zoo residents.

Tickets are $8 and all proceeds will benefit the Charles Paddock Zoo, as well as its red panda exhibit.

If your schedule calls for a little more music and entertainment, celebrate 15 Years of Pride with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast (GALA).

Drag Divas Live will take over SLO Brewing Co. with a drag show to remember. It will feature stars of RuPaul’s Drag U and Drag Race Friday on Friday at 6:30 p.m. immediately after the event at 10 p.m., SLO Brewing Co. will host a “Pride Dance Party.”

GALA will close out its 15 Years of Pride with “Pride in the Plaza” on Sunday in downtown San Luis Obispo at Mission Plaza from noon to 5:30 p.m. with music by Taylor Dayne, Cassidy Haley, Trusting Lucy and Levi Kreis.