Lackawanna Station hosts two very different events this weekend: a D&D campaign with a drag Dungeon Master on Friday night and a two-day kids’ bike parade and indoor drive-in on Saturday and Sunday. Beyond the station, there’s a vinyl DJ set at Montclair Brewery, a craft workshop at Wine & Design and a sci-fi book club marking its 150th read in West Orange. Here’s what’s worth your time August 28 through 30.
SF/Fantasy Award-Winning Book Club: Death of the Author
Friday, August 28, 7 p.m. | Sea’s House, 32 Valley Way, West Orange | $8 suggested donation
The SF/Fantasy Award-Winning Book Group, which has met every month since February 2014, marks its 150th book read this Friday with Nnedi Okorafor’s Death of the Author, a 2026 Hugo nominee for best novel about a disabled Nigerian-American writer whose sci-fi book blurs the lines between her life and her fiction. Expect cupcakes. The group meets in West Orange and is capped at 12 members per session; RSVP through Meetup is required. An $8 donation is requested to cover hosting costs; but no one is turned away for inability to pay.
Uptown sound presents summer stage
Friday, August 28, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. | The Episcopal Church of St. James, 518 Valley Road, Montclair | Free
Live music on the road to the Uptown Sound Music Festival continues this Friday with a performance by Simon Cifuentes and Maria Escobar, a local Colombian mother-and-son duo sharing rich harmonies, beautiful vocals and a vibrant mix of Latin favorites and contemporary classics.
D&D Game Night: Who Moved My Gruyere? at The Player Agency
Friday, August 28, 7 p.m. | The Player Agency, Lackawanna Station, 1 Lackawanna Plaza | $20, ages 16+
Montclair D&D Game Nights returns to The Player Agency inside Lackawanna Station on Friday with a new one-shot campaign: Who Moved My Gruyere?, in which a shadowy criminal has stolen the legendary Golden Gruyère from the cheese caves beneath Fromagia’s most famous shop and your party is assembled to find it. The session is facilitated by a drag Dungeon Master and runs about two hours. No experience required; premade character sheets are available. Dice can be purchased in-store at 15% off. LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse players welcome. Register at theeclecticchicboutique.com.
DIY Dried Flower & Resin Charcuterie Board at Wine & Design
Saturday, August 29, 4 p.m. | Wine & Design, 1 Greenwood Ave., Suite 101 | $79, ages 18+
Wine & Design’s Montclair studio hosts artist Rachel for a two-hour hands-on craft session: you’ll paint, flower-arrange and resin-coat a 16-inch round acacia charcuterie board with handle, then leave it at the studio to cure for 24 hours. It’s food-safe after 72 hours. BYOB; wine glasses and opener provided, no hard liquor. Doors open 15 minutes before start.
Montclair Baby Biker Club at Lackawanna Station
Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Lackawanna Station, 1 Lackawanna Plaza | $5 all-weekend pass
Lackawanna Station’s Big Room turns into an indoor track this weekend for the Montclair Baby Biker Club: kids bring their bikes, scooters, balance bikes, skates or any set of wheels and cruise around with races and open riding time throughout the day. At 4 p.m. each day, everyone parks their wheels for a kid-friendly indoor drive-in theater screening. The $5 pass covers both days with come-and-go access. Helmets are required for all riders.
The Vinyl Tap DJs at Montclair Brewery
Sunday, August 30, 3 to 7 p.m. | Montclair Brewery, 101 Walnut St. | Free
Four DJs spin four hours of vinyl-heavy hip-hop, funk, soul and jazz at Montclair Brewery on Sunday afternoon. The lineup: DJ Chef Stress, a record label founder and brewery owner out of Brooklyn; DJ DAINJA of Beatminerz Radio and co-founder of Crafts & Crates in Atlanta; Minister Maestro, founder of Bierwax in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; and DJ Dan C.E., who has been spinning brewery events across NJ, NY, Pittsburgh and Memphis for a decade. No cover.
For the full list of upcoming events in Montclair, visit montclairpod.com/events.
Image credit: Montclair Brewery
