Are you Ready for Some Blues?

The Roundhouse Railroad Museum will be filled with the sounds of great blues and the smell of slow-cooked barbecue April 23-24 as the annual Night in Old Savannah Blues & BBQ Festival gets underway.

Friday night's lineup includes Blues Great John Hammond, as well as local favorites Amburgey and Hanson and Jacey Falk. Saturday night's festivities will include performances by bayou blues man Kenny Neal and Australian Geoff Achison, as well as Savannah's Jo Ja Band. The hours for the festival are 6-11 p.m. Admission is free.

How to get more out of this event:
This concert is a great time to just veg out as a family, let the kids make fun of you dancing, pig out on barbecue, and let loose at one of Savannah's coolest family events. Want to know more about the musicians? Hit the website for the concert at www.chsgeorgia.org/.


Lowcountry Air Show

The Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron known as the Blue Angels will touch down in Beaufort April 24-25 for the Lowcountry Blues Festival and Air Show to wow local crowds with their dazzling aerial performance.

Admission to the Air Show is free. Gates will be open to the public at 9 a.m. both days. Aerial Show performances start at approximately noon and will continue until approximately 4 p.m. The flight line ramp area will close at 5 p.m.

Food and drink vendors will be open. Also, air show souvenirs will be on sale at booths around the flight line.

How to get more out of this event:
After an exciting day at the Air Show, cool off with the Lowcountry Blues Festival at Waterfront Park. The free festival will be held April 24 in downtown Beaufort. The festival begins at 5:30 p.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m. Food and drinks will be available.
Also, you can read the history of the Blue Angels before you go at www.blueangels.navy.mil. Sun protection, including hat, sunscreen and insect repellent are recommended.
For more information, go online at www.beaufortairshow.com.


Sidewalk Art Festival

The sidewalks of Savannah's charming Forsyth Park will once again come to life with remarkable original artwork and live music when the Savannah College of Art and Design, in conjunction with Coca-Cola, presents the annual Sidewalk Art Festival, on April 24, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

An annual event that grows each year, the Sidewalk Art Festival draws thousands of visitors to view chalk masterpieces created on the sidewalks of the historic park.

This year, Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary has created a "Gray's Reef Fantastic Fishes Award" for the most imaginative chalk interpretation of the marine environment.

In addition to the traditional chalk art competition, there will be plenty of crafts for children to make. There will also be a special 10 a.m. performance of Pirates of Penzance by SCAD's media and performing arts department.

How to get more out of this event:
After being inspired by the SCAD students, create your own family sidewalk festival at home. Buy some sidewalk chalk in advance. Each family member can plan and create their personal masterpiece on the sidewalk. Primary Art has really nice chalk.


Shakespeare Festival

City Lights Theatre Company presents the 18th Annual Shakespeare Festival, April 30-May 2, in Forsyth Park.

This free event is sponsored by the City of Savannah's Department of Cultural Affairs.

Pre-show entertainment begins at 6:30 p.m. each evening, followed by a production of Shakespeare's "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" at 8 p.m. The play is one of Shakespeare's most delightful comedies of love in many forms. Set in Italy, the play tells the story of Proteus and Valentine, two young gentlemen of Verona who compete for the love of Sylvia, daughter of the Duke of Milan. They are thwarted in their endeavors by various clever servants, comical nurses, and a band of inept outlaws.

Pre-show entertainment is hosted and introduced by folk balladere Jamie Keena. "A Regiment of Women," a short comedy featuring a gathering of many of Shakespeare's female characters will be presented by the St. Andrew's Drama Department. Carnival Choral, a Renaissance choir, will present music from the Renaissance and Romantic Era and Savannah Danse has constructed a short ballet based on "The Two Gentlemen of Verona."

Food and beverage booths will be set up in the park or playgoers may bring their own picnic. For more information, call City Lights at (912) 234-9860.

How to get more out of this event:
Make sure to prep older kids and teach them how to get past the 15th-century English language barrier so they won't get frustrated. The best way for older kids to enjoy the play is the same way you adults learn how to read Joyce or Faulkner - just go with the flow. Tell them not to try and understand every word, to just follow the plot, and soon they'll get a feeling for it, and will instinctively be enjoying it. Little kids should probably stay home - they'll just be bored. However, they probably would enjoy the pre-show.


Celebrate Migratory Bird Day

May 9 is International Migratory Bird day. This a great excuse to get outdoors as a family. Grab your binoculars and your field guide and see how many birds you can find.

Pinckney Wildlife Refuge in Bluffton is a great place to bird watch. Throughout the spring, when wintering songbirds linger just prior to their migration, and breeding birds are arriving, bird watching on the refuge is excellent. Wading bird rookeries located in several of the island's freshwater ponds are noisy with activity, as herons and egrets prepare for the nesting season. Migrating flocks of shorebirds can also be seen in the spring and fall foraging on tidal mudflats or in the high grass of the saltmarsh. Painted Buntings are one of the most easily spotted of Pinckney's breeding songbirds. The blue head, lime green back and red throat and belly of male Painted Buntings is not easily mistaken for any other species. They are commonly observed in edge areas where the live oak and cabbage palm forests meet open grassy fields.

How do you get there? From I-95, take SC Exit 8 and travel east on US Hwy. 278, toward Hilton Head Island, approximately 18 miles to the refuge entrance on the left. From Hilton Head Island, exit the island via US 278 west, and the refuge entrance will be on your right approximately 1/2 mile. More info is oneline, pinckneyisland.fws.gov.

Or if you desire a guided birding tour, Diana Churchill is offering a birding walk on May 9 at the Savannah Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center. For more information, you can contact her at birderseyeview@bellsouth.net.

How to get more out of this day:
You can order a Smithsonian Kids Field Guide or a Catalyst for Conservation Activity and Coloring Book from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation at www.birdday.org.
Also, go to ebird.org and check out the "most wanted" birds. You can hunt for these birds and if you see any, you can add to their research based website, and participate in this community conservation project.