Featured Events in Wollongong in August, 2025 (July Updated)

How did ordinary people achieve such extraordinary accomplishments? At its heart, A Higher Purpose explores what becomes possible when people align their lives with something greater than themselves. Join us for an inspiring film screening in our beautiful meditation garden with director Barry Schieber. Seats limited, please reserve your place. We look forward to seeing you there! When : August 1, 2025 from 8:00 pm to 9:45 pm What : Join us for vegetarian sushi and a cheeseboard, film screening, and Q&A with the director. Where : Nyingma Institute's garden; please dress warmly, heat lamps and blankets provided. This event is in-person only, please note that our historic hillside venue has many stairs. Information Source: Nyingma Institute | eventbrite

Welcome to the OTF Spring Hill Back to School Member Social ! Join us for a fun-filled evening at BoomBozz Craft Pizza & Taphouse - Spring Hill . This in-person event is the perfect opportunity to reconnect with fellow members and kick off the new school year in style. Don't miss out on delicious food, refreshing drinks, and great company. Let's make some memories together as we celebrate the start of a new season. See you there! Information Source: eventbrite

Join us for a series of painting workshops inspired by Patrick Pound, facilitated by Dr Michelle Cawthorn. Working from still life formations inspired by the installations in Patrick Pound’s Dream Vitrine, this series of painting workshops will cover observation techniques, preliminary sketching and understandings of composition and perspective. The series is designed to be drop in, but you are encouraged to book in for more than one session to develop your work. Materials will be provided but you are also welcome to bring your own. You will have the opportunity to exhibit the work you create in these workshops in Wollongong Art Gallery’s Community Gallery space between 5 - 28 September. The official opening of this exhibition will be Saturday 6 September 1pm. The workshops will be facilitated by Michelle Cawthorn, a Dharawal/Sydney-based artist whose multidisciplinary practice invokes personal and collective memory through her distinctive visual language of repetitive mark-making. Michelle teaches drawing and painting at the National Art School and at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery. Bookings are essential. The workshops are on every Tuesday evening in August: 5, 12, 19, 26 --- Image: Patrick Pound, The circle game, 2025 (detail), site specific installation with found objects, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist Darren Knight Gallery and STATION. Commissioned and presented by Wollongong Art Gallery. Photo: Silversalt. Information Source: Wollongong Art Gallery | eventbrite

The Claremont Hotel is a familiar landmark, but it also marks the entrance to an East Bay Regional Park: Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. It’s surprising how many people are unfamiliar with this amazing resource that, quite literally, lies in our backyard. The 208-acre preserve comprises both sides of upper Claremont Avenue. Panoramic Hill rises steeply, 1,600 feet, on the north to stunning views of the Bay. The wooded Gwin Canyon rises more gently on the south and includes of Claremont Creek. Hiking trails pass through a variety of vegetation, from grasslands and coastal scrub, to stands of live oak, California bay, and eucalyptus. Visitors may spot black-tailed deer, coyote, gray fox, red-tailed hawk, or a garter snake or two. Dozens of varieties of wild flowers bloom every spring, and denizens know where to find chanterelles and other edible mushrooms after winter rains. Additional areas in the upper canyon are managed by the University of California and the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The City of Oakland owns Garber Park , a 13-acre woodland on the south side, above the hotel. Taken as whole, it is the largest, relatively undeveloped canyon on the western slope of the Oakland-Berkeley hills.  Jerry Kent, a local treasure himself, has long known the importance of Claremont Canyon and the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). He has been called a walking encyclopedia of all things related to both.  In an illustrated presentation at Arts & Culture, on Wednesday, August 6, at 7 p.m., Jerry will explain the history and many attributes of Claremont Canyon as well as the important work of the Claremont Canyon Conservancy (CCC), which formed after the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm. Tickets for this program are $5 for club members and students and $10 for non-members. Please register early so we can be sure to accommodate everyone comfortably.  Since its founding as a nonprofit, citizen-run organization, the CCC has tried to  ensure the best possible stewardship of the entire canyon. The Conservancy works with canyon stakeholders “to preserve or restore a healthy native ecosystem, reduce wildfire hazards, and foster education and research.”  Maps of the canyon and its trails will be available the evening of Jerry’s talk. “More than anyone else I know,” says Jon  Kaufman, CCC president, “Jerry Kent understands how the combination of the vegetation, topography, weather, real estate development, and climate change is affecting us as residents of the East  Bay hills. He’s also an authority on what we can do to prevent wildfire and when to get out of its way when we can’t.” Jerry’s relationship with the East Bay hills extends more than a half century. He says he had a “front-row-seat” during the expansion of the Park District, from six parks that totaled 6,000 acres in 1962 to 65 parks and 98,000 acres in 2003, when he retired. (Today there are 73 parks covering 126,809 acres.) He was involved in all aspects of management and formulating policy for the District and still volunteers every Wednesday to organize and preserve its historic records.  In his retirement, Jerry continues to advocate for expanding parklands, preserving their ecosystems, and making them resistant to wildfires. In addition to the CCC board, Jerry belongs to the Sierra Club Chapter Vegetation Management Task Force , the Regional Parks Association, the EBRPD Retirees Association, and the East Bay Fire Safe Alliance, which advises the East Bay Wildfire Coalition of Governments. Whether you have hiked in Claremont Canyon for years or merely driven through it but never left your car, you are sure to come away from Jerry’s talk with a new appreciation for the area. Invite your friends and neighbors to join you! Information Source: Berkeley City Club | eventbrite

Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser for Caring K9s Come join us for a delicious spaghetti dinner to support our furry friends at Caring K9s ! The event will be held in person at The Residence at Timber Pines . Enjoy a hearty meal while helping out a great cause. Bring your friends and family for a night of food, fun, and fundraising! Let's show our love for our four-legged companions. Dinner to include spaghetti with meat sauce or marinara, salad, bread and dessert. Two complimentary glasses of wine included per person. 50/50 drawing- $1 per ticket. See you there! Information Source: The Residence at Timber Pines | eventbrite

Inspirational Whirling with Live Music (Ayin-i-Cem Sema) Sema is a gathering rooted in the Sufi tradition that combines devotional chanting, live music, and whirling dance meditation. This whirling dervish tradition was founded by the 13th-century mystic poet Rumi , whose poems of love and union with the divine spirit remain widely celebrated today. The Whirling Practice Through spinning movement and focussing on the music, you allow the ego to subside. The tangible world begins to melt away, tuning you into a greater unity. A sense of peace develops within. You remember that the divine life force is an inherent part of everything. The experience can be described as blissful, ecstatic, bewildering—definitely an altered state. Step out of the self and return feeling lighter, more at ease, and peaceful. The Ziker Practice Ziker is a physical practice that uses body movements and chanting to open the heart and experience the Unity of Love in the human body. Evening Flow The evening begins with a short explanation and demonstration of how to whirl and what the chants mean.We will have one hour of instruction in Sufi whirling techniques. Then we open the circle with invocations, the musicians start playing, and the whirling begins. Many first-time participants choose to take it slow, walking in meditation around the circle. This portion lasts around two hours. We’ll close with conversation, tea, and a chance to share reflections on the Sufi path. This event is in-person only. Everyone is welcome. If cost is prohibitive, please reach out to eventbrite@berkeleyalembic.org Come in peace with an open heart and mind—even if you’ve never whirled before. How to Prepare for Our Sema Events Bring passion, patience, comfortable clothing, good socks, and a snack to share. Please eat lightly beforehand. “Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you. Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” — Rumi Aziz Abbatiello was raised in an American Mevlevi family and continues to walk the path of the mystics in the Sufi tradition. He was initiated as a Semazen (Sufi whirling dancer) in 1996 and has participated in Sema ceremonies with various Sufi groups in the United States and abroad. Anna Whirling is originally from Ukraine. At the start of the war, she moved to Turkey and later relocated to the United States. Anna has been practicing whirling since childhood and has performed on stage with various groups for over 20 years. Information Source: The Berkeley Alembic Foundation | eventbrite

Calling all I-House alumni! We're excited to host the third annual Alumni Reunion Brunch at International House on August 10, 2025. Gather your I-House friends and meet at I-House Berkeley for Sunday brunch in the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Dining Commons! Together we'll share memories, catch up, and celebrate our global community that continues to grow each year. We'll greet you with morning mimosas from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. on the Von Kaschnitz Patio in front of I-House. Brunch is served in the Dining Commons from 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. (You can arrive to brunch at any time during those hours.) The cost is $30/person. This year, we'll offer an I-House tour at 10:00 a.m., a short program at noon, and a second tour at 1:30p.m. Information Source: International House at UC Berkeley | eventbrite

Welcome to ULTRA StrongFest 3! Come join us at Ultra Fitness and Strength on Sat Aug 23, 2025 and Sun Aug 24, 2025 for days filled with fun and challenges. Get ready to push your limits, meet new friends, and have a blast! At ULTRA StrongFest 3, you can expect exciting competitions and prizes to be won. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or just starting out, there's something for everyone. Don't miss out on this opportunity to test your strength, endurance, and determination. Mark your calendars and get ready for an unforgettable experience at ULTRA StrongFest 3! Information Source: Ultra Fitness & Strength | eventbrite

Tender Hooks (1988) is Mary Callaghan's first feature; an edgy inner-city romance full of unexpected pleasures and featuring a marvellous central performance by Jo Kennedy. When two young lovers discover their love has become an obsession, contact becomes a matter of survival. Tender Hooks is a bold debut feature by Callaghan: a new wave, pop cult, love story set in Sydney. Join us for this special screening of Tender Hooks to mark the closing of Greetings From Wollongong. Free, all welcome. Registrations appreciated. This special presentation of Tender Hooks is made possible with the support of Ronin Films and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. --- Image: Tender Hooks (Dir. Mary Callaghan, 1988). Courtesy of Ronin Films. Information Source: Wollongong Art Gallery | eventbrite