Mother's Day is Sunday and the weekend feels like the city showing off: 10,000 rubber ducks racing in Allegheny Commons for charity, Wynton Marsalis with the Pittsburgh Symphony at Heinz Hall, August Wilson's birthday turning Bedford Avenue into a block party for the 10th year in a row, and pierogies on the Southside at St. Vladimir's. Brunch reservations are mostly gone, but the rest of the weekend is wide open.

Let's get to it.

Madison

🌸 May Market is at Phipps Conservatory Friday and Saturday, the spring plant sale that turns the conservatory into a working flower market with garden vendors, food, and the kind of Mother's Day energy you cannot fake.

🎩 Jared Kopf in We Phantom Figures runs through May 17 at Liberty Magic, the Cultural Trust's intimate downtown magic theater. Close-up sleight of hand, small room, the kind of night that survives in your group text for a week.

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Stand-up comic Dina Hashem headlines Friday night at Millvale's Food + Energy Hub, courtesy of Handsome Man Comedy. Worth the drive across the river.

Pittonkatonk's Mayday brass picnic kicks off Friday night with a Balkan dinner fundraiser at the Vietnam Veterans Pavilion in Schenley Park: Chef Stephan and Rosie's homemade Serbian ćevapi served with pickled vegetables, hummus, ajvar, and pita, then three live acts taking the pavilion until 10 p.m.

Joshua Quimby and Matt Pless take the Club Cafe stage on the South Side, the kind of small-room show where the songs land.

10,000 rubber ducks get launched into Allegheny Commons Park around 1 p.m. and race for prizes that benefit Partners For Quality. Fifth annual, free to watch, kid magnet, classic North Side weekend energy. Adopt a duck if you want a horse in the race.

The PA Brewery Running Series stops at Aslin Beer Co for a Saturday 5K that ends, fittingly, with a beer in your hand.

St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the Southside opens its doors Saturday for pierogies, holubtsi (stuffed cabbage), halushky, and kobasy on a stick. The kind of neighborhood-church festival where the menu is the whole pitch.

The Frick's Café puts on a high tea Mother's Day weekend, three days running with two seatings each day. Saturday is the last shot: small room, tea menu, the historic Frick estate on the other side of the door.

The PSO performs Wynton Marsalis' All Rise in a single-performance concert at Heinz Hall.

The August Wilson House throws its 10th anniversary block party on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District: 215+ vendors, a foam party, a mac and cheese contest, a poetry slam, and a lip sync battle. Free and open to the public, all day.

The cult musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch runs at the Greer Cabaret Theater through June 7. Saturday is just one of many chances to catch it, but the cabaret seating fills, so book ahead.

The Children's Museum is set up for portraits with mom, grandma, caregiver, or whoever the mother figure is in the picture. Drop-in, included with regular admission, the kind of Sunday morning where the kids do most of the work.

Brunch with the parrots, two seatings on Mother's Day, in the Garden Room overlooking Lake Elizabeth and the historic Rose Garden. General admission to the Aviary is included.

The Neighborhood Flea takes over SouthSide Works on Sunday with 130 sellers, vintage and handmade and food and plants, dog-friendly, free to walk. The classic Mother's Day move that doubles as brunch logistics, since the SouthSide brunch spots are right there.

Babes & Bubbles returns to The Strip District Terminal: 40+ women-owned businesses, live music on the Women Who Rock pop-up stage, and bubbly tasting from City Winery in the 18th Street Passageway. First 50 attendees at the Women Who Rock table get a free Babes & Bubbles tote.

J.R. Carroll plays Club Cafe Sunday night with Coltt Winter Lepley and Mindy Miller as special guests, an early-evening show that wraps the weekend.

🏙️ Walnut Capital is taking over The Terminal in the Strip District, the Post-Gazette reports. Same Terminal hosting Babes & Bubbles on Sunday.

🚚 The Post-Gazette covered Aurora, the Pittsburgh-based autonomous trucking company, expanding its driverless freight runs across Sun Belt states.

🌟 An enigma machine is tucked away somewhere in Oakland, and NEXTpittsburgh's Yinzer Backstage Pass went looking for why.

🍴 NEXTpittsburgh went inside Pittsburgh's zero-waste meal staged after the NFL Draft.

🍺 Pittsburgh City Paper's weekly food rundown covers a beer run, a week of vegan eats, and other food news.

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