May 18 week lineup spans South Bend, Benton Harbor, Three Oaks
may 18 starts a packed week of festivals and events across South Bend, Benton Harbor, Three Oaks, Shipshewana and Berrien Springs, with film, lectures, an exhibit opening and live theater on the calendar. For readers trying to plan a night out or a daytime stop, the schedule stretches from May 19 through May 24.
Jumanji screens from 6 to 8 p.m. on May 19 at the St. Joseph County Public Library Community Learning Center in South Bend, while the exhibit Listen Up opens the same day at the Civil Rights Heritage Center and stays up through July 31. That gives South Bend two different draws in one evening and one long-running exhibit after the reception ends at 7:30 p.m.
South Bend programs on May 19 and 20
The exhibit brings 10 artwork pieces by 10 different artists to the Civil Rights Heritage Center, giving the opening reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on May 19 a sharper focus than a standard gallery launch. Jumanji adds a different lane for families and filmgoers: the 1995 title is rated PG and comes from Chris Van Allsburg’s 1981 picture book.
Brandon J. Anderson follows on May 20 at 1:30 p.m. with the Studebaker Speaker Series presentation Frank Lloyd Wright & the Automobile at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend. Anderson is the executive director and CEO of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, and the 1:30 p.m. slot turns the museum circuit into a two-city day for people who want both design history and a local stop in the same afternoon.
Benton Harbor and Berrien Springs
Sally Hadden of Western Michigan University speaks from 7 to 9 p.m. on May 19 at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor on State Constitutions of the Revolutionary Era. The free lecture at the college gives the week a scholarly counterweight to the film and arts events, and it lands before the midweek slate of South Bend and Three Oaks programming picks up.
The Berrien County Conservation District’s annual native plant fundraiser sale runs noon to 4 p.m. on May 20 at the Berrien County Youth Fairgrounds in Berrien Springs. At 2 p.m., local authors Tera Baker and her daughter will host a reading and signing for their new children’s book, A Rainbow Striped Field for Fuzz, so the sale doubles as a family-friendly literary stop.
Three Oaks and Shipshewana
The Vickers Theatre in Three Oaks opens with The Devil Wears Prada 2 at 7 p.m. on May 19, then shifts to His Girl Friday at 7 p.m. on May 21 and The Christophers on May 22, 23 and 24 at 4 p.m. It also schedules The Christophers at 7 p.m. on May 22, 23 and 26, plus a 1 p.m. showing on May 24, with tickets set at $12 for adults and $10 for seniors and students.
The Shipshewana Flea Market keeps its own heavier cadence, running every Tuesday and Wednesday through Sept. 30 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine, with more than 600 vendor spaces across 40 acres. On Wednesdays, a weekly auction begins at 9 a.m., giving that stop a built-in draw beyond shopping alone.
Alan Hamlet on May 21
Alan Hamlet, a University of Notre Dame professor, gives a free presentation from 6 to 7 p.m. on May 21 at the Elkhart County Historical Museum on climate change impacts on local waterways. It is the most clearly practical event in the week’s lineup: one speaker, one topic, one hour, and a direct local subject for residents deciding which of the week’s events fits their schedule.
