What to do this weekend, including the Howard County Fair and a crab feast

It’s shimmy and shake season, people. This weekend presents tons of opportunities to dance, from Motown to swing and Lindy Hop to house and techno. Find other places to shake your tail feather below, as well as more sedate entertainments, including a gaming convention, a crab feast and a county fair.

Thursday, Aug. 6

WTMD First Thursday Concert

Summer is on its last sunburnt legs, and this is your penultimate opportunity to attend a WTMD First Thursday Concert before they’re over for the season. Expect a massive, good-natured crowd, food trucks, vendors and a lovely waterfront view. Folk-pop duo Late Night Thoughts and local indie rockers Icarus Phoenix open while Philly rhythm and blues musician Son Little headlines. Bring your blanket or lawn chairs and come early.

Time: 5-10 p.m.

Price: Free

Location: Canton Waterfront Park (3001 Boston St., Baltimore)

Family friendly? Yes, but expect a big crowd, and parking can be a pain.

Supernova Gaming Convention

If you know, you know. Supernova is a fan convention and the world’s largest tournament centered on the Nintendo fighting game Super Smash Bros. Esports enthusiasts converge on the city to compete, check out vendors, see electronic music, watch tournaments and view The Smashies, the annual awards ceremony celebrating the accomplishments of Smash Bros afficionados. Also on tap: a cosplay contest and — for some reason — the National Free Throw Championship. If that isn’t enough, check out Feel Good Gaming’s Harbor Fest, a free Pokémon-focused festival sharing the convention center this weekend.

Time: 3 p.m.-midnight, Thursday; 9 a.m.-noon, Friday and Saturday; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday

Price: $20-$115; children 7 and under are free

Location: Baltimore Convention Center (1 W. Pratt St., Baltimore)

Family friendly? Yes

Friday, Aug. 7

A CLLCTIVGive Celebration

Come out to celebrate the success of CLLCTIVGive, Baltimore’s annual day of giving for Black-led organizations, run by local nonprofit CLLCTIVLY. The 24-hour crowdfunding campaign supports local, Black-led social change organizations. It regularly brings in over a million dollars and has supported more than 250 organizations during its tenure. Friday night’s celebration includes three DJs, food tastings, curated drinks and art installations. (The dress code is “summer dandyism”; interpret how you will.)

Pair with a book talk by mitigation specialist Elizabeth Vartkessian, who has written “The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal About American Justice.” The talk is Thursday, 6-7:30 p.m., and purchases benefit CLLCTIVGive (The Ivy Bookshop, 5928 Falls Road, Baltimore).

CLLCTIVGive is also one of the organizations screening the short doc “Baltimore Heirs: The Last Deed Undone,” about how the lack of estate planning contributes to the erosion of generational wealth in the city, premiering Friday at 6:15 pm. (Parkway, 5 W. North Ave., Baltimore).

Time: 8 p.m.-midnight

Price: $75

Location: Baltimore Museum of Industry (1415 Key Highway, Baltimore)

Family friendly? A bit dry for the toddler set.

Annapolis Crab Feast

It’s the world’s largest crab feast, they say. What’s indisputable is that thousands of people come out to the all-you-can-eat Rotary Club of Annapolis Crab Feast, consuming roughly 320 bushels of crabs, 3,400 ears of corn, 100 gallons of crab soup, 1,800 hot dogs and 150 pounds of beef barbeque. When it’s all over, the organizers gather up all the detritus — crab shells, watermelon rinds, plates and all — and compost it to sell back to the public. What’s not to love?

Time: 5-8 p.m.

Price: $95; children 3-12 are $35

Location: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (550 Taylor Ave., Annapolis)

Family friendly? Yes

Opera in the Vineyard

A soprano and a baritone walk into a local winery … No punchline, it’s just First Friday at Boordy Vineyards with the Maryland Opera. Food trucks and, of course, wine will be available and if you’re lucky, you might catch a lovely sunset in this bucolic setting. This month’s program includes pieces by Verdi, Puccini and Bizet as well as several numbers from well-known musicals, including “My Fair Lady” and “South Pacific.”

Time: 7 p.m.

Price: $29; students are $16

Location: Boordy Vineyards (12820 Long Green Pike, Hydes)

Family friendly? Yes

Black August: From Harlem to Havana

Black August, an annual commemoration of Black political prisoners, originated in the prison system in the 1970s. This year local celebrants are hosting an event highlighting international communities, including Cubans, who are currently struggling under American sanctions. The evening will include poetry, jazz and visual art. Food and refreshments will be available across the street at the Baltimore Liberation Center.

Time: 7-10 p.m.

Price: Free

Location: Crow’s Nest (116 W. Mulberry St., Baltimore)

Family friendly? Probably not inappropriate but programming is adult-focused.

Saturday, Aug. 8

The Howard County Fair

Times are hard, but thank goodness we still have county fairs. Where else can you attend — or participate in! — a lawn mower obstacle course? Cornhole tournaments, tractor pulls, pie-eating contests, live music, square dancing, a flower show, a honeybee colony tour, goats and cows and pigs, oh my! And then there are the carnival rides on the midway ($30-$38 for unlimited rides). Advice for the uninitiated: The mule jump is hilarious.

Time: 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily, rides are open until 11 p.m.; runs through Aug. 15

Price: $10 for a day pass; seniors 62 and over are $5; children 12 and under are free

Location: Howard County Fairgrounds (2210 Fairgrounds Road, West Friendship)

Family friendly? It doesn’t get any friendlier.

Buzz of the Bizarre Curiosity Expo

Details are scant on this expo, but it’s a good bet that some quantity of the objects on display will include bones or insect parts. (And some of those insects may be bees: The event is described as “unBEElievable” and it’s sponsored by Charm City Meadworks, which of course knows a thing or two about honey.) The color black may dominate, and you may see some unusual piercings. In any case, the expo’s free, the wares will be local and homemade, and something will no doubt strike you as both weird and wonderful. Plus, beer.

Time: 2 p.m.-8 p.m.

Price: Free

Location: Peabody Heights Brewery (401 E. 30th St., Baltimore)

Family friendly? Yes, unless your kids are freaked out by rogue taxidermy.

Rockburn Open Car Show

If you’re one of those people who spends your weekends babying your car, you’ll likely appreciate the classic antique hot rods and modified cars on display at the Rockburn Open Car Show. Hobnob with other collectors and restorers and enter your own car if you’d like. Awards will be given for the Best American, Best Corvette, Best of Trucks, Best of Import, People’s Choice, Best of Show and the Jay Herbert and Gary J. Arthur Award, named after a founding member of the Elkridge Adult Athletic Association and the former director of the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, respectively.

Time: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Price: Free to attend; car entries are $10 if you pre-register, $15 on-site

Location: Rockburn Branch Park, West Area (6105 Rockburn Branch Park Road, Elkridge)

Family friendly? Yes

The Late Bloomers

Take in some Americana country with this young duo from Nashville who, frankly, look a bit young to be late bloomers. Allie and Jerome reportedly met on stage during a soul blues jam and have been belting out original music ever since. Their work has won songwriting numerous awards. Catch them at their very first ticketed show, the first stop on an East Coast tour.

Time: 8-10 p.m.

Price: $27.50

Location: The Loft at Manor Mill (2029 Monkton Road, Monkton)

Family friendly? Yes

Ravefurrest Baltimore

A roving furry electronic music collective is coming to Baltimore. Ravefurrest originated in Nashville and now tours the country, bringing high energy electronic dance music and an open invitation to wear cosplay, neon or fur suits. Vendors will be selling art on site, and if you arrive wearing a fox head, no one will know it’s you. Should you lean more anime than animal, check out Kawaii Rave, an anime-inspired dance party at Baltimore Soundstage on Friday at 9 p.m. ($23, 124 Market Place, Baltimore).

Time: 8 p.m.-1 a.m.

Price: $27

Location: Le Mondo (406 N. Howard St., Baltimore)

Family friendly? 18 and up only.

Sunday, Aug. 9

BTS in Baltimore

So apparently BTS is kind of a big deal? The mega-famous South Korean boy band comes to M&T Bank Stadium Monday and Tuesday, and their fan base — the ARMY — is prepping hard. On Sunday, Baltimore Soundstage hosts a gathering with goodies, vendors and a DJ (8 p.m., $25, 124 Market Place, Baltimore) and Peabody Heights is holding an Arirang party, 4-7:30 p.m. in honor of the group’s most recent album ($29; kids under 18 are $18 and must have a guardian with them; 401 E. 30th St., Baltimore). A free three-day fan festival will take over Checkerspot Brewing on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (1421 Ridgely St., Baltimore) and BoBaPOP Tea Bar hosts a free cupsleeve event on Sunday, noon-4 p.m. (1114 Light St., Baltimore). And then there’s a free movie night on Saturday at 6 p.m., featuring vendors and a screening of a virtual concert the group put on during the pandemic (The Sound Garden parking lot, 1616 Thames St., Baltimore).

Time: Various.

Price: Various.

Location: Various.

Family friendly? Mostly. See individual events.

Maryland Latino Festival

Save the date for what is likely the region’s biggest Latin American festival of the year. Musical groups include El Chaval de la Bachata, a Dominican star and major figure in international bachata; Los Ilegales de Lempira, a Honduran group specializing in corridos (narrative ballads); and La Sonora Dinamita, one of the first cumbia groups to achieve international success. Food and drink will be available. For more global rhythms, check out the free Haitian Caribbean Festival on Sunday, 4-8 p.m. (Patterson Park Pagoda, 27 S. Patterson Park Ave., Baltimore) or the free Annual Steelpan Music Festival and Awards on Saturday, 5-9 p.m. (Eager Park, 900 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore).

Time: 10 a.m.

Price: $28.88

Location: Maryland State Fairgrounds (2200 York Road, Timonium)

Family friendly? Yes

Summer Funk Concert

On Saturday evening, Quiet Waters Park will be anything but as The Clones of Funk bring the syncopated bass lines, call-and-response and above all the energy of Parliament and Funkadelic to the water’s edge. This 8-piece group is not your average tribute band. They have been performing for nearly three decades and have shared the stage with both George Clinton and Bootsy Collins.

Time: 6-8 p.m.

Price: Free

Location: Quiet Waters Park (600 Quiet Waters Park Road, Annapolis)

Family friendly? Yes

Andrea Appleton is a Baltimore-based writer and journalist.