Previously published in July 2011 issue. Of course Eddie Vedder plays the ukulele as well as an electric guitar. Pearl Jam’s front man could make sweet music with an out-of-tune kazoo. For his new solo album, Ukulele Songs, Vedder performs original work and covers—including a uke version of Pearl Jam’s “Can’t Keep”—which he’ll showcase in two sold-out concerts at Benaroya Hall on July 15 and 16. (Glen Hansard of the Swell Season and the Frames joins.) If you miss Vedder this month, there’s always the Cameron Crowe–directed Pearl Jam documentary airing on PBS in October, the band’s 20th-anniversary festival in Wisconsin, plus the follow-up to 2009’s Backspacer in the works…

Other weekend picks:

FESTIVALS Enjoy a feast of food truck offerings at Picnic at the Park in Olympic Sculpture Park (July 14), tipple at Kirkland Uncorked (July 15-17), and sample small bites from dozens of local restaurants at the Comcast Bite of Seattle (July 15-17). For the adventurous: Try the alligator on a stick from the New Orleans Creole Restaurant.

CLASSICAL & MORE Enjoy Opera in the Park at UW’s Sylvan Grove Theater, when a group of rising sopranos and the fresh-faced Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra breathe new life into two ancient stories of love and tragedy. July 15-23.

OTHER PEOPLE’S HOLIDAYS Today is, of course, Bastille Day, which is a good excuse to eat frites, drink French 75s, and shout “Vive la France” as you storm the barricades of your favorite bistro. July 14.

THEATER What’s left in a postapocalyptic world? The Simpsons. Seattle Rep stages a reading of new play Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play. July 15 & 16.

CONCERT After some serious self-examination on his 2009 album Curse Your Branches, Seattle singer-songwriter David Bazan turns his attention to society’s woes on his new record Strange Negotiations. It may sound dire, but at least it’s uptempo; see Bazan with his band at Showbox at the Market on Saturday. July 16.

FILM Tonight’s the last night to see Harry Shearer’s feature-length documentary The Big Uneasy —about his native New Orleans and its (possibly flawed) recovery from Hurricane Katrina—at Northwest Film Forum. July 14.

But let’s be honest: If you’re going to see a movie this weekend, you’re at the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. With just a day left until a decade of Harry Potter films comes to a close (sob), it’s time to brush up on your Hogwarts history. Check back tomorrow for my review of the film. In theaters July 15.