This weekend, it’s going to be a little hard not to get your Preak on. Or hail Kegasus. Or whatever you really want to call it. Maryland’s Christmas of horse racing is in town this Saturday, and all eyes will be on Animal Kingdom to win the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course.

If you’d rather just watch the Preakness Stakes festivities from home, there are other events to enjoy too:

As part of the Preakness Celebration, hot air balloons start Thursday at Turf Valley and go until Saturday at 6 p.m. Admission is free, while tethered ballon rides cost a small fee.

And the Children’s Hospital at Johns Hopkins will hold its 80th annual turtle derby Friday. For a small fee, spectators can name a turtle and enter it to win a cash prize. Races begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Preclinical Teaching Building courtyard on the Johns Hopkins medical campus.

And if you’re looking for something more refined than the infield, there’s the annual Wine in the Woods event at Symphony Woods in Columbia. Going on both Saturday and Sunday, wine tasters can enter for $25 to $30, designated drivers can join for $10 to $15, and children older than 3 years get in for $5. (The super underage set gets in for free.)

The Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival is also going on this weekend at Sandy Point State Park Saturday and Sunday. Tickets cost $55 to $120 and all the action starts at 11 a.m. The lineup includes The Lee Boys, John Mayall, Chris Isaak, Dana Fuchs, Little Feat and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

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It’s back again! The Maryland Film Festival is here for our viewing pleasure Thursday through Sunday. Tickets are $10 for most screenings, so get them soon after checking out the great schedule.

John Waters will be presenting “Domaine,” while Animal Collective presents “Boxer’s Omen.” So, if nothing else, you’ll see some local celebrities there, and Harry Belafonte for the closing night special documentary. Speaking of movies, Belafonte’s very name always evokes this scene in my head.

Now, free comic books. Head to Atomic Books in Hampden to get free comics and to celebrate the debut of the third issue of Mutant. You can also jump over to the Collectors Corner in Parkville for free comics, free pizza, a trivia contest and appearances by comic creators and characters.

And it’s Flowermart this weekend! Both Friday and Saturday, the festival will go on from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Mt. Vernon’s parks near the Washington Monument. Check out dance performances, contests, music, parades, food and of course, flowers.

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First thing: after yesterday’s Art Donovan post, my “crack research team” finally found the glorious moment in which Mr. Donovan can be found in that Pete and Pete episode. About 1:30 in of part 3 of the episode. Also, a young Steve Buscemi! Who knew? Thanks, crack research team.

So, if you’re not jetting off to Scotland and some exotic island for your honeymoon like these folks are, then you might be in need of some weekend plans. Festivals are kicking off this weekend, meaning plenty of food and music for all.

There’s the always interesting Towsontown spring festival on Saturday and Sunday. Entering the festival is free, but there’s plenty to do and see between the live music, food, pony rides, magic shows, NASCAR displays and other carnival-type stuff.

And while we’re on festivals, the Sweetlife Festival will be at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia on Sunday. The annual celebration brings music and food from local farmers. Some of the festival’s musical acts are pretty big names too: The Strokes, Girl Talk, Ra Ra Riot and Lupe Fiasco, among a bunch more. Tickets are $55 for general admission, a bit high, but goers will see a neat littany of artists and get some local and organic food.

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This weekend the weather should be a bit better than last weekend’s, and more suitable for letting the kiddies loose on the lawn for Easter egg hunting.

But if you’re looking for a more fun venue this year, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is having their Bunny Bonanzoo. Free with zoo admission, children can go egg hunting in the fields of Waterfowl Lake Pavilion near the zoo’s main gate entrance.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., children who find five different eggs will receive Mary Sue candy treats. And if your child isn’t up for egg hunting, the festival also has games, crafts and children’s entertainers, as well as food vendors. The excitement starts Friday and lasts through Sunday.

For some Easter brunches, Langermann’s in Baltimore, The Rumor Mill in Ellicott City and Donna’s in Cross Keys and Columbia have good offerings for that Sunday. (Sorry for the unintentional pun.)

And if you feel pretty (oh so pretty) and want to step out for a night on the town, “West Side Story” will be at the Hippodrome for the weekend and is a good excuse to get out. The musical will run Friday through Sunday at different times, and tickets range from $22 to $77. So check out the Hippodrome’s site for more details.

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This weekend, Baltimore will commemorate 150 years since the Pratt Street Riot in 1861.

Friday will kick off with a symposium by the Maryland Historical Society titled, “Land of the Free? The Fate of Civil Liberties in Baltimore in 1861.” It’s free to the public.

Exhibitions at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum and Sports Legends at Historic Camden Station open this weekend focused on President Abraham Lincoln’s arrival to Camden Station and the sites’ significance in the Civil War.

Saturday’s celebration will feature a rededication of President Street Station as a city landmark and events at Fort McHenry that reflect the events of 1861. (Yes, there will be cannon firings.) A grand procession will start at 11 a.m. commemorating the Pratt Street Riot and first bloodshed of the war, complete with fife and drum corps. Events will be going on through the entire weekend, so check out the itinerary online.

While you’re downtown, the Baltimore Convention Center is hopping with the third annual Baltimore Fine Furnishings and Fine Craft Show this weekend. About 50 exhibitors from the mid-Atlantic will show off their best designed and handcrafted furniture, accessories, fine art and crafts.

And! Don’t forget to support your local record store this Saturday, on Record Store Day. The holiday’s website features a list of participating stores in Maryland, of which there are about 20. So go find one near you and pick up a big ten inch record.

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Come one, come all (creatures, perhaps).  This weekend will be a good one to head over to Westport Waterfront for the new Cirque du Soleil show, “Totem.”

There will be a 4 p.m. show and an 8 p.m. this Saturday, and a 5 p.m. viewing on Sunday, for the show that will focus all sorts of aesthetically bewildering tricks and performances on the evolution of mankind. Tickets range from $49.50 to $225 for the event.

Another viscerally colorful event going on this weekend is the Baltimore Tattoo Arts Convention, going on Friday, April 8 through Sunday April 10 at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel. Tickets are $20-$40, and kids 12 and under are free for admission.

There will be plenty of entertainment going on as well, with music by Lazlo Lee and the Motherless Children and burlesque performances by Rigor Mortis Revue. What’s in a name?

And if you’re looking for something more palatable for everybody, there’s the Grilled Cheese Sandwich Cook-Off! (Grilled cheese is worth the exclamation point.) For $10, you get to hang around the Mt. Washington Tavern to watch top chefs and home cooks duke it out over one of the best comfort foods, and then you get to eat their handiwork.

The cheesy goodness starts at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

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Photo from Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts website

It isn’t really feeling like spring yet. That’s unfortunate. Nonetheless, Baltimore’s spring-like events are moving forward, rain or shine.

The Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar is opening a month earlier this year, on Sunday. The day starts bright and early at 7 a.m. under the Jones Fall Expressway, and goes until about noon (although some vendors will stay there until they sell most of their produce or goods).

You’ll find all sorts of fruits, vegetables, meats, herbs, flowers, etc.  It was there I once got hooked on wasabi peas, and haven’t since been able to find their equal.

And if you’re too lazy to wake up this Sunday, the market will be there every Sunday until Dec. 18 this year.

For a slightly crazier, hog honkin’ time, the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival is this weekend too. Both Friday night and Saturday afternoon, the event at the Timonium Fairgrounds will have food, music, and unlimited beer and bourbon tastings, complete with food eating contests. Tickets are $25 to $55.

Atomic Books will hold its opening night for “Vinylmore” on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The annual art toy show is free and runs throughout April. Participating artists design, paint and add on sculptural pieces to customize vinyl art toys.

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I saw a post on Twitter today from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra touting half-off tickets to its new “Icarus at the Edge of Time” webumentary. Something about science and the Icarus story and music all in one tweet called to me.

The performance combines science and music, as physicist and author Brian Greene teamed up with American composer (and Baltimore native) Philip Glass. The duo worked with filmmakers to create a multimedia version of Greene’s children’s book “Icarus at the Edge of Time.”

The story is exactly what you mythology buffs imagine it to be: setting the Icarus fable in a more kid-friendly, futuristic setting. Instead of Icarus traveling to the sun, he finds a black hole and Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

To make it even better, director Marin Alsop sets the mythological-esque tale to John Williams’ “Star Wars” suite. Greene also gives a live introduction to the performance.

The BSO has been running these webumentary series since 2007, combining technology with the old pastime of going to concerts. Other webumentaries coming up are The Magic Flute in February and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody in March. Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush in April sounds like a particularly good one for silent film fans.

Tickets for the show go on sale for 50 percent off at 6 p.m. today until 6 a.m. tomorrow. Normally, tickets cost $14 to $61. “Icarus” runs this weekend at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on Friday and Sunday, while the Saturday show will be held at the Music Center at Strathmore.

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Consumer electronics giant Sony said Monday it would no longer make its iconic Walkman, and I immediately thought of Eddy Grant and Thomas Dolby.

Songs by those two pop stars — “Electric Avenue” and “She Blinded Me with Science,” respectively — were in heavy rotation the spring of 1983, when I received a Walkman for my birthday and fired up the headphones for a walk to a nearby baseball field for a pickup game. Yes, the fact that I was walking to play pickup baseball ages me, I know. And yes, I remember these details. That’s because I’m a supreme music geek and not at all ashamed to admit it.

What I remember about that day is not just the portability of the listening experience, but the quality of the sound that was being piped into my ears. Grant’s “Oy!” and what sounded like a revving motorcycle kicking off what would become an unlikely hit for the reggae performer. And the layered synthesizers and electronic drums of Dolby’s novelty hit. Cassettes never sounded so good.

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The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is hosting its first Blogger’s Night in an effort to reach out to the blogging community and connect concert-goers with the media.

The shindig is Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and will begin at 6:30 with bloggers Anne Midgette of the Washington Post, Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun and Charles Downey of ionarts.org, who will share their thoughts on the future of blogging about the arts. Others who write about the arts are encouraged to come and participate.

This forum seems to be reflective of what I heard last week when I wrote about the BSO gala. The BSO’s board chairman, Michael Bronfein, told me that during the past few years the BSO has been moving toward appealing to a younger audience and bringing the orchestra into the modern era. That started with hiring Marin Alsop as the conductor, he said.

“Marin Alsop could be the quintessential modern music director,” he said. “She appreciates that music has to be technically excellent and pleasing but also the experience has to be pleasing. I think she has brought a modern perspective to how symphony orchestras can be relevant to a changing society.”

The bloggers forum will be followed by an 8 p.m. concert.

Do you agree with Bronfein? How is the BSO doing with appealing to a modern audience? Do events like this forum keep it relevant?

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