Chinese psychedelic rock band Nova Heart and cutting-edge contemporary dance troupe Tao Dance Theatre will headline the closing weekend of the OzAsia Festival. Other weekend picks include a showcase of songs from the Vietnam War era, International Grenache Day celebrations, a new exhibition of photos from Canada’s arctic, and an antiques (gardening) roadshow.

Rolling Thunder Vietnam

Subtitled Songs That Defined a Generation, this touring concert showcases songs from the Vietnam War era as well as highlighting the experiences of Australian soldiers who fought in the conflict. You can expect to hear music from the likes of Steppenwolf, Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Rolling Stones, performed by young musicians including Wes Carr against a backdrop of projected images and historic footage. Rolling Thunder Vietnam will play at the Thebarton Theatre tonight (Friday) and Saturday nights. Click here to read InDaily’s interview with show writer Bruce Hallett about the production and his research, including interviews with Vietnam veterans.

OzAsia Festival

China’s acclaimed Tao Dance Theatre (pictured right) is presenting a double bill of choreographer Tao Ye’s latest works, 6 and 7, at the Dunstan Playhouse this weekend as part of the OzAsia Festival. Ye names his shows for the number of dancers in each piece, and is said to follow no script or formula in the presentation of “unique movement techniques” and “spine-tingling dance theatre”. Beijing rock star Helen Feng and her four-piece psych-rock band Nova Heart will be performing in the Space Theatre tonight (Friday) and Saturday night. At the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (CACSA), you can see a free exhibition of video and new media works by Chinese artist Cao Fei titled Theatrical Mirror: Living in Between the Real and the Unreal.

OzAsia on Screen

The final weekend of OzAsia on Screen at the Mercury Cinema will feature screenings of Faith Connection, an Indian documentary about the largest spiritual gathering the world (read InDaily review here); Bangladeshi satire Television; mouth-watering Indian romance/drama The Lunchbox (review), and Australian director Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s Ruin, about two lovers who escape into the Cambodian jungle after a brutal murder. Click here to view the full program.

Canada’s Artic – Vibrant and Thriving

Inukshuk, by Michelle Valberg

Opening at the South Australian Museum on Saturday, this exhibition features contemporary photographs showing nature and life in the Arctic. It continues until October 12, and is accompanied by a selection of Inuit carvings from the museum’s collection, as well as a continuous screening of Kinngait: Riding Light into the World, a Canadian documentary about how the isolated Inuit community of Cape Dorset became a celebrated art capital. The exhibition coincides with a series of “Canada Down Under” events being presented by the High Commission of Canada in Adelaide next week, including a free public screening at the UniSA City West campus on Monday of another documentary, The Wings of Johnny May, about the first Inuit bush pilot.

International Grenache Day

More than 20 McLaren Vale wineries will be showcasing their wines alongside Peking duck and other Chinese dishes in Chinatown’s Moonta Street from 4.30pm until 7pm today (Friday) in a pop-up event celebrating International Grenache Day. Edinburgh Cellars at Mitcham is hosting The Grenache Cup on Sunday, with tastings of more than 60 Grenache and Grenache blend wines, while Serafino winery in McLaren Vale is hosting a free Grenache Tasting and Tweet event, and Fall From Grace at Willunga is presenting “Art of Dodgy” – a tasting of releases from Dodgy Bros and Dabblebrook wines. Details in The Forager.

Tool Quest

There will be nostalgia in spades at this antique roadshow featuring garden tools and implements at the Carrick Hill Stables (46 Carrick Hill Drive, Springfield). The free event runs from 11am until 3pm  on Sunday, and will include displays of tools from the Australian Museum of Gardening and the SA Historic Tool Association, as well as “mystery objects” from the collections of garden writer Trevor Nottle, tool expert Richard Bird, and Carrick Hill director Richard Heathcote (a tyre swan collector). There will also be short talks by tool experts, a plant stall and licensed café, and visitors can explore the property’s gardens. You can take along any old or unusual tools for appraisal.

Beethoven Fest

The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s festival exploring the work of Ludwig van Beethoven ends this weekend with two concerts (Friday and Saturday evenings) at the Adelaide Town Hall. Conducted by Nicholas McGegan and featuring American pianist Robert Levin, they will comprise Beethoven’s second Leonore Overture, Piano Concerto No 1, and Symphony No 8 – referred to by the composer as his “little symphony”. There will be a post-concert coda following Saturday’s performance. Concert details here.

Shimmer Photographic Biennale

A photography market will be held at the Arts Centre in Port Noarlunga from 10am until 4pm on Sunday as part of Shimmer, with the promise of items for sale ranging from vintage treasures to digital equipment, as well as networking opportunities. Shimmer is a month-long photography festival run by the City of Onkaparinga which features events, exhibitions, tours and workshops. The work of more than 40 artists is being shown across 32 venues. There will be a bus trip to some of the photo exhibition spaces on Sunday, leaving from Port Noarlunga. The full program, including exhibition details, can be downloaded here.

AdYO Northern Lights concert

The final concert in the Adelaide Youth Orchestra’s 2014 Maestro Series at Elder Hall will feature a performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2 with guest pianist Konstantin Shamray. The program also includes the premiere of Adelaide composer John Polglase’s Lux Nova: A Concert Overture for Orchestra and Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No 2.  The performance begins at 6.30pm on Sunday; tickets can be bought from the Elder Hall box office from 5.30pm.

JamGrass on the Road

This touring bluegrass festival comes to The Gov on Saturday, featuring a line-up of local, interstate and national artists including Casey Driessen, Marlon Williams, The Bakers Digest, Astro Cobalt, James Kenyon Music and The Cherry Pickers. JamGrass promises a “full-throttle party”, with doors opening at 7.30pm.

The Last Continent – Unseen Theatre

“The Last Continent is under construction using all the left over bits and pieces from other continents. Basically it is being held together with spit. If this is not a big enough problem, there is also something going on with the space/time continuum. Probably something to do with those pesky wizards at the Unseen University.” Welcome to Sir Terry Pratchett’s The Last Continent, a novel adapted for the stage by Unseen Theatre Company’s Pamela Munt. Six years after it first presented the satire, Adelaide-based Unseen Theatre is bringing it back to the Bakehouse Theatre – the season opens on Saturday and continues until October 4.

Langhorne Creek Writers’ Festival

Food historian and writer Barbara Santich will be among the guests at Saturday’s Langhorne Creek Writers’ Festival, where she will speak on Writing about Food, Writing about Life, as well as taking part in a writing panel. Other features of the festival – which runs from 10am until 4pm at The Winehouse – include a workshop by poet Jude Aquilina about the power of metaphor in poetry, and a guide to successful ebook publishing. Go here for details and registration.

Misalliance – Adelaide Repertory Theatre

George Bernard Shaw’s Misalliance takes place entirely on a Saturday afternoon when an airplane crashes through the conservatory of the noveau-riche Tarleton family, bringing two unexpected guests who shake up the household.  Adelaide Repertory is presenting it at the Arts Theatre in Angas Street until September 20.

Warakurna exhibition

This travelling exhibition currently at the South Australian Museum features paintings by Aboriginal artists from the Western Australian community of Warakurna. The paintings are said to combine familiar Western Desert symbols and dots with a more figurative style to recount current and historical events ranging from the impact of weapons testing and mining to a visit by Midnight Oil. Warakurna: All the Stories Got into our Minds and Eyes will be at the museum until November 30.

On screen

See InDaily’s reviews of the latest films screening in Adelaide:

We Are the Best
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
What We Do in the Shadows
Boyhood
Predestination
Magic in the Moonlight