September 25, 2015: Inside the Plans for Tonight’s State Dinner, What It Takes to Put Together Life Is Beautiful, How Security Officials Are Preparing Central Park for Pope Francis

1. INSIDE THE PLANS FOR TONIGHT’S STATE DINNER: The White House gave a glimpse of the menu, decor, and entertainment at tonight’s state dinner in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The R&B singer and songwriter Ne-Yo, who has Chinese heritage, will perform, although the room will not have a dance floor. White House executive chef Cris Comerford and executive pastry chef Susie Morrison will serve an autumn-inspired menu along with New York-based chef Anita Lo. Washington Post: “Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, will be surrounded on all sides by varying shades of salmon, coral and deep pinks. The rose, according to the White House, ‘serves as the emblem of this State Dinner.’ Giant cascading centerpieces will dominate the East Room tables, swathed in dusky-pink tablecloths with matching chair covers. The room will also feature ‘two roses calligraphed on a 16-foot hand-printed silk scroll’ to ‘signify a complete meeting of minds.’” http://wapo.st/1VbqCgD

2. WHAT IT TAKES TO PUT TOGETHER LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL: The Life Is Beautiful festival in Las Vegas, which begins today, is the kind of event that other event promoters appreciate. Mixing music, food, and the arts and showing off the city’s developing downtown was all part of festival founder Rehan Choudhry’s vision. Las Vegas Review-Journal: "I think that it's given people in the city something to rally around," Choudhry says. "Festivals are great. I mean, people love them, but a lot of festivals have bad stigmas associated with them, because they're built around … a lot of them are built around partying for the sake of partying, right? There's a tremendous amount of risk associated with them. But in our case, we're such an integral community event, I think that's really come through to people locally, that we're actually a part of their city, as opposed to an outside promoter coming in to do an event." http://bit.ly/1Jsh5FJ

3. HOW SECURITY OFFICIALS ARE PREPARING CENTRAL PARK FOR POPE FRANCIS: In preparation for Pope Francis’s procession through Central Park today, security officials are erecting an eight-foot-tall security fence along two sections of the park. The fence will help separate ticket holders who won the chance to view the pope in a lottery and is part of a security strategy that also covers protecting the air space over Manhattan and the Hudson and East rivers. The New York Times: “Secret Service officials have said in the past that the fencing, which they have deployed at national political conventions, served to separate people who had been screened via metal detectors from those who had not. … The fence will not stay around for long. Just as quickly as it went up, the fence will come down — starting shortly after the pope exits the park. Then the Central Park Conservancy, which operates the 843-acre park on behalf of the city, will face another crowd-control challenge: the 60,000 people expected Saturday night on the Great Lawn for the Global Citizen concert, a charity event featuring Beyoncé, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Pearl Jam and Sting.” http://nyti.ms/1iPJIrv

* LOCAL NEWS *

AUSTIN:  Oskar Blues, a Colorado-based brewery and restaurant chain, plans to open a 50,000-square-foot brewery with a 5,000-square-foot taproom and music venue in North Austin. Austin Business Journal: http://bit.ly/1YEerbj

BOSTON:  The Boston Calling music festival takes place today through Sunday. Headliners include Alabama Shakes and the Avett Brothers; there will also be public art exhibitions.

The Boston Hot Pink Luncheon & Symposium will take place October 23 at the Boston Harbor Hotel. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation event will include a fashion presentation featuring clothes from the Neiman Marcus Fall 2015 collection.

CHICAGO:  The first WhirlyCruz Cup will take place October 3 at WhirlyBall. The tournament will benefit the 100 Club of Chicago, and the night will kick off with a round of WhirlyBall played by the casts of Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.

DENVER:  The Grand Hyatt Denver and Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center have finished a redesign of 60,000 square feet of meeting space, including four ballrooms, as well as updates to 1,600 guest rooms between the two properties.

LAS VEGAS:  Lyft celebrated its official Las Vegas launch at Tao Nightclub on September 24.

IMEX America attendees can participate in the first IMEXrun Las Vegas, organized by Sports by TLC and sponsored by Embratur and RioTur, on October 14.

LOS ANGELES:  Mindfulness meditation organization InsightLA will host the “Living With a Joyful Spirit and a Wise Heart” event November 15 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

Local event listings from the new Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Live music venue El Tucán Miami will celebrate its grand opening October 2-3. Along with a lineup of international bands and DJs, the venue will house a resident 12-piece Latin orchestra.

NEW YORK:  The Turtle Ball, an annual benefit auction for the Turtle Conservancy, will take place Monday at the Bowery Hotel. The event will be hosted by Naomi Watts, Liev Schrieber, Eric Goode, Rick Ridgeway, and Susan Rockefeller, and will honor Robert Kennedy Jr. for his conservation work.

Italian basketball team EA7 Emporium Armani Olimpia Milano will play against Israeli basketball team Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv during the second leg of the inaugural Euro Classic Tournament October 4 at Madison Square Garden.

Gabrielle's Angel Foundation's Angel Ball will take place October 19 at Cipriani Wall Street. The event will be hosted by philanthropist Denise Rich and honor individuals including Heidi Klum, and Amy and Brian France.

The College Park Jazzfest will take place October 17 along Edgewater Drive. The festival is expected to attract more than 10,000 people. Orlando Sentinel: http://bit.ly/1LQysSq

Local event listings from the new Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

SAN FRANCISCO:  Mina Test Kitchen's next pop-up restaurant, Little Italy, will launch October 31. Featuring classic Italian dishes served family style, the pop-up will run through at least the end of the year. SFGate: http://bit.ly/1iOPNog

TORONTO:  The InterContinental Toronto Centre is offering a special “Boogie Down” package in honor of the play Motown the Musical (currently running at the Princess of Wales Theatre.) The package includes tickets to the show, sweets, and a bottle of sparkling wine.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  Director Julie Taymor will be honored with the William Shakespeare Award at the Harman Center for the Arts Annual Gala on November 1. The event is hosted by the Shakespeare Theatre Company and will take place at the Sidney Harman Hall and the National Building Museum. Additionally, JM Zell Partners will receive the Sidney Harman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts.

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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, Anna Sekula, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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