Folklorico Filipino is one of several performing arts groups that will be featured at this year's Savannah Asian Festival.

In every issue, we'll highlight five area events, or more, and besides providing details - the who, what, where, when and why - we'll also give you tips on how to explore the event with your kids and suggest ways to make the events more memorable. Have an idea for a future columns - or tips for exploring a regional event or festival. See details at the end of this column about how you can contribute.


June 21, 8th Annual Savannah Asian Festival
Savannah Civic Center Arena,
11 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Savannah Asian community showcases its arts, culture and foods as volunteers from many Asian organizations - Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indian, Korean, Thai, Pakistani, Japanese, and more - plan and put on this public festival.

The festival features family-style education and entertainment. Popular activities include food booths selling Asian delicacies; cultural booths with demonstrations, information and art for sale; educational hands-on workshops in Chinese calligraphy and painting, Henna skin decoration, Korean games, bonsai workshops, and Filipino bamboo pole dancing.

A variety of performances - dance, music and martial arts - will be headlined by Folklorico Filipino from New York, Shafatullah Khan, the Chinese-American Cultural Performing Group.

Sponsored by the City of Savannah, admission to the festival is FREE and open to the public.

For more information, contact the Department of Cultural Affairs at (912) 651-6417.

How to explore this event This is one of the city's most interactive festivals - meaning it'll be hard not to become involved! Lots of hands-on activities - for kids and adults - allow visitors to this festival to experience Asian art, culture and food as presented by volunteers from the Asian community. Take and open mind, plenty of enthusiasm and a camera!


May 24, War of Jenkins' Ear
Wormsloe Historic Site, 7601 Skidaway Road,
11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Observance of the war between England and Spain of 1739-45 and the military aspects of Colonial Georgia.

The War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1742), which began in Europe on Oct. 19, 1739, and a year later merged into the War of Austrian Succession, had its repercussions in the southern colonies. England went to war with Spain over the mistreatment of English seamen whom the Spaniards accused of smuggling. The war took its name from Robert Jenkins, captain of the ship Rebecca, who claimed Spanish coast guards had cut off his ear in 1731. He exhibited the ear in the House of Commons and so aroused public opinion that the government of the British Prime Minister Robert Walpole reluctantly declared war on Oct. 23, 1739. The other cause of the war was the continued dispute over the boundary of Spanish Florida in relation to Georgia. As soon as war was declared, Gov. James Edward Oglethorpe called on the citizens of Georgia and South Carolina to join in an invasion of Florida. The Spanish retaliated by attempting to invade those colonies by sea.

How to explore this event

First, this is an exciting and different chapter in the life of Gen. Oglethorpe - and one your children may not have learned. The Wormsloe program will demonstrate musket firing, clothing and lifestyles of the time period - as well as reveal different aspects of the war's era. Ask re-enactors about their clothing, their weapons - and how they compare to modern weapons - and what a day in the life of an early 18th century militiaman was like. Kids will get to recreate a drill. Take your camera - and maybe a list of questions you put together in advance.

Regular admission. (912) 353-3023.


July 4, Independence Day

Start the day off with a bang at the Meridian Musket Salute at noon inside Fort Pulaski. Muskets will be fired in honor of Independence Day - then bring along a picnic lunch to enjoy on the surrounding grounds.

Entrance Fee charged. (912) 786-5787.

Get even more bang for your buck during Independence Day at Old Fort Jackson. The fort will recognize Independence Day with a celebration of cannon firings and soldier interpretive programs at 1 Fort Jackson Road. (912) 232-3945.

How to explore the events:

Ask questions about the significance of weapons being fired as salutes, and, after the firing of the cannon at Fort Jackson, ask the re-enactors about their clothing, the specific drill of cannon firing and what life was like during the fort's hey-day. Take your camera, video camera and plenty of questions - these historic re-enactors really know their stuff!

Want more Independence Day fun?

Check out the Fireworks on the River July 4 and 5. Arts and crafts, food and fun on the Savannah River.

The approximately 35-minute fireworks show will begin around 9:30 p.m. July 4 and will be preceded by a performance of the 35-member Air National Guard Band of the South, from 7-9 p.m. (912) 234-0295 or www.savriverstreet.com.


Every Thursday, 2 p.m.,
Native Americans on the Sea Islands Tour

This Coastal Discovery Museum tour traces thousands of years of occupation as evidenced by many sites on Hilton Head Island and includes all Native American occupation on the island with a visit to the Mississippian site of Green's Shell Enclosure. $5 per person.

How to explore this event:

Ask about Native American diet - what they ate and how they collected or gathered food. You'll see the shell wall that protected the Mississippian Indians who lived along the salt marsh and learn what archaeology reveals about the native people - as well as get a great view of local plant, animal and bird life of the salt marsh. Bring your camera and plenty of bug spray for this walking tour!

The museum offers a variety of hands-on experiences and tours exploring the history, wildlife and heritage of Coastal Carolina. Participation fees vary.

100 William Hilton Parkway, Hilton Head Island, S.C. (843) 689-6767. Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For online information and reservations, go to www.coastaldiscovery.org


Do you have an idea for a "Five Things To Do..." activity? Do you and your family have a special experience exploring a special event, attraction or festival in the coastal Georgia area? Send your idea or details of your exploring tips to us for inclusion in future columns. Have pictures of your family exploring an event together? Send those too! Mail to: Coastal Parent, P.O. Box 1088, Savannah GA 31402, or e-mail to tmruther@savannahnow.com