On the Cheap listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com.
WEDNESDAY 3
“Fuck the Fourth Sale” AK Press Warehouse, 674-A 23rd St, Oakl; www.akpress.org. 4-8pm, free. Need a little inspiration to face tomorrow’s flag-waving masses? The publisher of anarchist and radical books opens up its warehouse for it annual summer sale: 25 percent off everything, plus a sale table of tomes going for $1-5.
“Salsa in the Square” Union Square between Post, Geary, Powell, and Stockton, SF; www.ybgf.org. 2-4pm, free. Cuban-born, Bay Area-based Fito Reinoso brings the party to Union Square in conjunction with the Yerba Buena Gardens festival and Union Square Live.
THURSDAY 4
Fourth of July at the Berkeley Marina 201 University, Berk; www.anotherbullwinkelshow.com. Noon-10pm, free. Doesn’t get more American than pony rides for kids, but Berkeley throws down the gauntlet with even more fun stuff: performances by the Blue Yonders, the John Brothers Piano Company, juggling and magic acts, and more, plus arts and crafts, dragon boats, and (obviously) fireworks.
Fourth of July at Pier 39 SF; www.pier39.com. Noon, free. If you dare to surf the crowds of tourists, turn up early in the day for kid rockers WJM (noon-2pm) and 1980s cover band Tainted Love (4-7pm). The reason for the season starts booming in the sky around 9:30pm, so get yourself situated at your favorite viewing spot and pray to the weather gods that fog doesn’t hide the whole show.
FRIDAY 5
“Oakland Art Murmur First Friday Gallery Walk” Various venues, Oakl; www.oaklandartmurmur.org. 6-9pm, free. Galleries and mixed-use art spaces in Oakland’s downtown, uptown, and Jack London Square areas open for evening hours; visit the event website for a map of venues.
SATURDAY 6
“Beast Crawl” Various uptown venues, Oakl; beastcrawl.weebly.com. 5-9pm, free. This second annual literary festival boasts the participation of over 140 writers at 26 venues (bars, galleries, cafés, etc.) Plan your crawl (and don’t miss any must-see readings) by picking up a map on “leg one” of the event (5-6pm).
SUNDAY 7
Poetry Unbound Art House Gallery and Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 472-3170. 5pm (sign-up; reading begins at 5:15pm), $5-10 donation (no one turned away for lack of funds). Wordsmiths John Curl, Clara Hsu, and Eanlai Cronin read, followed by a brief open mic.
TUESDAY 9
“Carol Tarlen Tribute” City Lights Books, 261 Columbus, SF; www.citylights.com. 7pm, free. Laborfest 2013 hosts this celebration of the release of Every Day Is an Act of Resistance: Selected Poems by Carol Tarlen, with Aggie Falk, Jack Hirschman, David Joseph, and others reading work by the late activist, a longtime North Beach resident.
Nina Schuyler Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF; www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. The NorCal author reads from her latest, The Translator, about a woman who forgets her native language after a head injury and can understand only Japanese.