Claremont's Best Free Seats in November Are on Campus

Claremont's public calendar has two big dates this fall, and they are six weeks apart. Village Venture filled the Village on Saturday, October 24. The Holiday Promenade and Tree Lighting comes on Friday, December 4. The Claremont Colleges fill most of the time in between. In November, Pomona College and Scripps College put on a run of free public events: end-of-semester orchestra and band concerts, Friday gallery talks, lunchtime recitals, and a zine fest. Most of it is a short walk from Harvard Avenue. Almost none of it needs a ticket.

The City's Calendar Between Village Venture and December 4

The city's own November dates are quieter. The Veterans Day Ceremony is Wednesday, November 11, at 11 a.m. at Memorial Park, 840 N. Indian Hill Boulevard. The Claremont Farmers & Artisans Market keeps its usual Sunday hours, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, on Harvard Avenue between 1st Street and Bonita Avenue. The next big Village gathering is the Depot tree lighting at 6 p.m. on December 4.

Pomona's music department bills its November schedule as a chance to "catch end-of-semester concerts featuring classical, jazz, and West African ensembles," so the colleges' calendar gets fuller in the same weeks before the Promenade. The campus calendar follows this rhythm:

November 7: The Busiest Free Day of the Month

The first Saturday of November is the one day when several things line up at once. On the first Saturday of every month, the Benton Museum of Art stays open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. for Claremont Art Walk, instead of closing at 6 p.m. like other weekends. This year, that Saturday falls on November 7.

The same day, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Benton and Curious Publishing hold the third annual Over Here Claremont Zine Fest in the museum courtyard. More than 40 exhibitors will sell zines, prints, and art books. The work includes risograph, screen printing, block printing, lithographs, and photography, and there are artist talks and workshops through the day. Curious Publishing is a nonprofit run entirely by artists since 2017. It makes small-run art books featuring artists from San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and the High Desert, so the courtyard will have a strong Inland Empire presence.

Put the two together and you get a long day with no admission fee. Browse the courtyard during fest hours, get dinner in the Village, and walk back to the galleries before 8 p.m. Admission to Benton exhibitions and events is free.

The day before works well too. On Friday, November 6, the Scripps Friday Noon Concert at Balch Auditorium features Rachel Rudich, Ursula Kleinecke, and Gayle Blankenburg from 12:15 to 1 p.m. The Benton's weekly gallery talk follows at 3 p.m.

Sunday at 3 Means Bridges Hall

Pomona College's November concert calendar states the rule at the top: "All performances are free with open seating. No tickets are required unless noted." Most of the month's concerts take place at Bridges Hall of Music, and four of them are on Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m.

The month starts with the program most people won't hear anywhere else. On November 1, Pomona's piano faculty perform Steve Reich's Six Pianos, along with other works for four and eight hands. The orchestra weekend near the end of the month is the most familiar music on the calendar. Its program pairs a Tchaikovsky symphony with Bernard Herrmann's score from Vertigo.

The jazz ensemble is the one show to plan for. The calendar describes it as an afternoon of jazz favorites in Lyman Hall and notes that "Seating is limited – arrive early to claim your seat." At 4:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, it suits a flexible schedule or a late lunch. A standard 9-to-5 workday makes it harder.

The month ends with the West African Music Ensemble on November 30. Led by Nani Agbeli, the program combines percussion, singing, and dancing from Ghana and the surrounding region.

Fridays: Noon at Scripps, 3 p.m. at the Benton

On the first two Fridays of November, campus has two short free events, each well under an hour, so you can drop in without planning your day around them.

Scripps College holds its Friday Noon Concerts at Balch Auditorium, 1030 Columbia Avenue, from 12:15 to 1 p.m. They are free and open to the public. After the November 6 program, the November 13 concert features Jin-Shan Dai and Jennie Jung. That is the same week as the Pomona College Band's Friday evening show, so you could hear both a lunchtime concert and an evening one on November 13.

The Benton's Gallery Talks run every Friday from 3 to 3:30 p.m. The museum describes each one as an informal 20-minute talk about the current exhibitions, followed by Q&A. The speakers rotate among artists, curators, students, faculty, and staff, and the museum posts each week's lineup on Instagram. The next talks are October 30, then November 6, 13, and 20, then December 4 and 11. The events page also lists a talk on Friday, November 27. However, the museum's Visit page says it is closed November 26 and 27, so check before going over Thanksgiving weekend.

What's on the Benton's Walls Through January

The gallery talks and the late first-Saturday hours both lead back to the same three exhibitions, all of which opened August 22, 2026:

• Mavis Pusey Restless: From the Collection of Ian White, on view through January 3, 2027
• "Give Them a Riddle": Gifts from The Saul Steinberg Foundation, on view through January 3, 2027
• Davina Semo: Tender Shield, on view through June 27, 2027

The Pusey and Steinberg shows close in early January. Three first Saturdays fall before they close: November 7, December 5, and January 2. Those are the remaining chances to see them during the extended Art Walk hours. December 5 is the day after the Holiday Promenade. The Semo exhibition runs into summer.

Regular hours are Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday is the only weeknight the museum stays open until 8 p.m., which leaves time for a visit after work.

Getting to Campus

The simplest route is the one the Benton gives on its own Visit page. The Claremont Metrolink station is three blocks from the museum, on the San Bernardino line. If you live near the Village, walking is just as easy.

For drivers, Pomona's concert parking page lists parking on North College Avenue and the city streets west of it, including Bonita Avenue and Fourth Street. It also lists free campus parking in the First Street Parking Structure. Limited Mobility permits are available for concertgoers who don't have disability placards, for spaces on Fourth Street near Bridges Hall of Music. The college's campus safety policy says visitors parking on Pomona property need temporary permits from Campus Safety. The two pages don't say how those rules apply on a concert night, so call Campus Safety before parking on campus for a 3 p.m. Sunday show.

If November's free concerts have you thinking about friends or family who would enjoy a Sunday at Bridges Hall, or you'd like to talk about what's happening around town, Lily Valdivia would be glad to hear from you. Many of her conversations start with a good local calendar. Let's Connect.