11 Things to Do this Weekend

TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY -- Fair fun: It's the weekend for the THURSTON COUNTY FAIR. The old-fashioned fair features rides, exhibits, animals, entertainment, vendors and, of course, a lot of food. Hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m. today and Saturday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. (Carnival rides don’t open until 11 a.m.) The fairgrounds are at 3054 Carpenter Road S.E., Lacey. Tickets are $7 general admission, $6 for ages 60 and older, $5 for ages 6-14, free for ages 5 and younger. Today is military appreciation day with $2 admission for active and retired military personnel and military dependents with ID. Buttons for $1 off are available at Les Schwab stores. Parking at the fair is $5, but you can park free at Woodland Elementary School, 4630 Carpenter Road S.E., or the North Thurston Bus Barn, 6620 Carpenter Road S.E., and ride a free shuttle. For more information, call 360-786-5453, go to co.thurston.wa.us/fair, or read much more in today's story posted at www.theolympian.com/living. It has details on animal costume contests, baking contests and featured performers. One last reminder: No open-toed shoes or sandals are allowed on the rides.

TONIGHT -- A bonus concert: MUSIC IN THE PARK usually is a Wednesday night deal, but tonight is the season’s bonus free outdoor Friday night concert at the Port Plaza. It will feature a cappella group M-PACT, past Grand National Champs of the Harmony Sweepstakes competition. The singing will begin at 7 p.m. at the plaza. Go to musicintheparkolympia.com.

TONIGHT AND SATURDAY NIGHT -- Movies under the stars: Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater are all offering outdoor movie screenings this weekend.

MOVIES AT THE MANSION offers classic movies for grownups to the State Capital Museum. The fun begins at 8:30 p.m. tonight (and runs every Friday in August), with cinema history talks at 8:45 and features at 9 p.m. The museum is at 211 21st Ave. S.W., Olympia. Admission is free; $2 donation suggested. Bring blankets, chairs and snacks if desired. There will be free coffee and popcorn, and candy for sale. In case of rain, movies will be shown at the Coach House. Tonight's flick is one of the most acclaimed movies of all time, Orson Welles' "CITIZEN KANE." For more information, call 360-753-2580 or go to washingtonhistory.org.

In Tumwater, SCREEN ON THE GREEN shows family friendly flicks on an inflatable screen at the Tumwater Valley Golf Course, 4611 Tumwater Valley Drive. The fun begins at 7:30 p.m. tonight (and three more Fridays in August), with screenings beginning at dusk. Admission is free. Bring snacks, blankets and low-back chairs. There’ll also be snacks for sale, and the River’s Edge Restaurant will be open to serve dinner before the film. Call 360-754-4160 to learn more or go to ci.tumwater.wa.us. Tonight's film is “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL” (PG-13; 2011).

Finally, the city of LACEY'S SUMMER MOVIE SERIES continues Saturday and it offers a concert before each film, too. Concerts start at 7 p.m. followed by films at dusk, at Huntamer Park, corner of Woodland Square Loop and Seventh Avenue, Lacey. Admission is free. On-street parking is permitted on Woodland Square Loop. For more information, call 360-491-0857 or go to ci.lacey.wa.us. Saturday night features the FRECKLES BROWN BAND, which does classic rock, country and originals, and “SOUL SURFER” (PG; 2011), based on a true story about a teenage girl who loses an arm in a shark attack and continues to surf.

TODAY–SUNDAY -- Dueling Shakespeare: Two local productions of Shakespeare continue this weekend:

The Animal Fire Theatre production of Shakespeare’s “HAMLET” finishes out its run this weekend at Priest Point Park, 2600 East Bay Drive, Olympia. Showtimes for the play, which has been condensed to suit a park setting, are 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Admission is free. Bring lawn chairs, blankets and bug repellent for a night of theater among the trees.

Meanwhile, Theater Artists Olympia presents William Shakespeare’s bloodiest play, "TITUS ADRONICUS," with the setting moved to the world of biker gangs in the 1970s. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. today-Sunday at Olympia Little Theatre, 1925 Miller Ave. N.E., Olympia. Tickets are $12. For more information, go to olytheater.com or brownpapertickets.com. And you can watch a trailer at youtube.com/watch?v=h9OkxfDHe5w

TODAY-SUNDAY -- Support youth theater: This is the biggest weekend of the summer for youth musical theater, with both Kids at Play and Creative Theater Experience putting on performances.

The KAP production is the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic “CINDERELLA,” directed by Olympia High School teacher Colleen Powers. Showtimes are 7:30 tonight, Saturday and Sunday, plus 2 p.m. Sunday, at the Minnaert Center for the Arts at South Puget Sound Community College. Tickets are $15 plus a $3 service fee at washingtoncenter.org or 360-753-8586.

Creative Theatre Experience’s summer musical is “HONK! THE MUSICAL,” an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Ugly Duckling.” Performances are at 7 tonight and Saturday, plus a 1 p.m. matinee Saturday, at the Olympia High School Performing Arts Center off Carlyon Avenue. Tickets are $12 and are available from the Olympia High box office or by calling 360-596-7036.

SATURDAY -- Fantastic flute: New York flutist and composer ROBERT DICK will be in Olympia this weekend to perform and lead a master class. The Yale-educated flutist, a professor at New York University, is known for his inventive music and technique. The program will include Dick’s own works for solo and two flutes; Telemann Fantasies, Bach’s flute Sonata in E Flat; and the Chaminade Concertino for Flute. Seattle flutist Paul Taub, on faculty at the Cornish Institute, will join Dick and Olympia’s Art Peterson on piano. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at The United Churches of Olympia at 11th and Capitol. Tickets are $15 and $20. On Sunday, Dick will present a flute master class in west Olympia. All events are presented by the Northwest Flute Consort. Call 360-867-9857 or email nwfluteconsort@earthlink.net.

SATURDAY -- Pop music: THE BYLINES, a Portland art-pop band, brings its carefully crafted and arranged story-songs to Olympia, hometown of pianist and co-songwriter Reece Marshburn. The show starts at 8 p.m. Saturday at the State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia. Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for students. For more information, go to thebylines.com, or see The Bylines perform “Back Burner” at youtube.com/watch?v=A07TGgoyLCg.