Mads Tolling Group

Multi-Grammy Award-winning violinist and composer Mads Tolling has performed at prestigious venues across the United States – including in front of Danish royalty – and on Oct. 15 he and his group will perform a free, afternoon, outdoor concert at Palo Alto’s Mitchell Park Bowl. Originally from Copenhagen, trained at the Berklee College of Music and now Bay Area-based, Tolling is a favorite of local promoter Earthwise Productions, which is presenting the concert. Over the course of his career thus far, Tolling’s been known for his fresh takes on jazz classics and his original compositions, including some inspired by Norse mythology. Cait Gjerdrum opens the Palo Alto performance.

Oct. 15, 2-4 p.m., Mitchell Park Bowl, 600 E. Meadow Drive, Palo Alto. Free. eventbrite.com

Google Visitor Experience Opening

Silicon Valley tech campuses have typically been off-limits to the public, as workspaces where sensitive, proprietary products are developed. But as companies build new landmark headquarters, that's changing. Starting Oct. 12, Google is throwing open the doors of its new Visitor Experience Center at its distinctive Gradient Canopy campus in Mountain View and welcoming the public to a variety of spaces. The center includes a cafe, community space, pop-up shop and public art collection. During opening festivities taking place over the next week, visitors can catch music with artists such as DJ Said Adelekan (Oct. 14), DJ Nina Sol (Oct. 20) plus programming from pop-up online radio station Fault Radio. They can also take part in a series of hands-on art workshops led by local artists and arts groups including the South Bay's MACLA and Local Color, enjoy drag story hour (Oct. 15) and attend discussions about the use of AI (Oct. 14) and about the SETI Institute and the quest to put humans on Mars (Oct. 13). The events culminate Oct. 21 in Community Day on the Plaza, with live music, food trucks, local makers and activities.

Opening events take place each day through Oct. 21 at the Google Visitor Experience Center, 2000 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View. Admission and programs are free. A full schedule is available at visit.withgoogle.com.

Zoppé Italian Family Circus

For the 16th consecutive year, Zoppé Italian Family Circus returns to the heart of Redwood City. This season, they're bringing audiences a fresh, vibrant theme: the "Carnavale di Venezia." The entwined histories of the circus and the Italian Commedia go deep, representing two of Italy's most cherished performance arts. With the energy of the Venetian Carnaval at its core, this year’s show fuses tradition and spectacle, with acts that feature acrobatics, clowning and more, all performed in the troupe's signature one-ring tent.

Zoppé Italian Family Circus will be in town Oct. 13-Nov. 27, performing in their big top at the Redwood City Main Library Parking Lot, 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City. Tickets are $15-$35 adults and $10-$25 for youth. redwoodcity.org.

Michelle Branch

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Michelle Branch rose to fame as a teen with her major-label debut album, 2001’s pop-rock record “The Spirit Room,” which spawned several successful singles (some millennials may feel awash in nostalgia when revisiting songs like “Everywhere” and “All You Wanted”), and nabbed a Grammy Award for her 2002 collaboration with Carlos Santana. In the decades since then, she’s remained active on the music scene, including a stint as co-leader of the country duo The Wreckers, and released her latest album, “The Trouble with Fever,” last year. On tour in support of that project, she’ll perform a concert at the Guild on Sunday, Oct. 15. Opening the show will be indie rockers Bad Bad Hats.

Oct. 15, 8 p.m., The Guild Theatre, 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. Tickets are $53 general admission; guildtheatre.com

Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival

The Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival, with its mission of supporting films that showcase “Jewish spirit, culture, traditions and humor,” is back, running Oct. 15-29. The festival will hold several screenings in person this year in Mountain View and Palo Alto, and many more virtually. On opening night, Sunday, Oct. 15, at the ShowPlace ICON Theatre & Kitchen (2575 California St., Mountain View), attendees can catch the documentary “Remembering Gene Wilder” – about the beloved comedian, actor and writer who played such memorable roles as Willy Wonka and Dr. Frederick Frankenstein – followed by a Q&A with the film’s producers and director. Other offerings over the course of the festival include a love story set in 1960s Poland (“March ‘68”), an Israeli comedy about a suburban couple drawn to a charismatic neighbor (“Karaoke”), a documentary about musician Leonard Cohen and his most famous composition (“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song”), a French comedy classic (“The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob”), and a film about Holocaust survivor Eva Libitzky (“The Assembly”) from the multi-talented TheatreWorks’ favorite Hershey Felder, among many others.

Oct. 15-29; screenings held in multiple locations and virtually; svjff.org.