Fiesta Atlanta
Music, food, Mexican folk dancing, youth soccer clinics, 5K road race. Noon-7 p.m. May 3. Free. Centennial Olympic Park, 265 Park Ave. W. N.W., Atlanta. fiestaatlanta.com.
Georgia Renaissance Festival
Zip back to a 16th-century English village for the fest's 30th anniversary. You'll find activities such as live jousting, comedy troupes, animal exhibits, arts and crafts, and hands-on archery. You'll find our guide to the Georgia Renaissance Festival here. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and Memorial Day, Through June 7. $22, $10 ages 6-12, $20 ages 60 and older, free ages 5 and younger. 6905 Virlyn B. Smith Road, Fairburn. garenfest.com.
For more fairs and festivals in our area, click here.
WORTH NOTING
Atlanta Botanical’s ‘Light in the Garden’
With the coming of warm weather each year, the Atlanta Botanical Garden morphs into an “outdoor museum” dotted with art. This spring and summer’s exhibit, “Bruce Munro: Light in the Garden,” will be a nighttime experience, running May 2-Oct. 3.
A British artist famed for using light as an artistic medium, Munro will create six site-specific installations around the garden and its conservatories, some set to music. The largest installation, “Forest of Light,” will feature more than 30,000 flowerlike light stems blanketing Storza Woods — a display that visitors will be able to experience from the forest floor or from the Canopy Walk high above. Another installation, “Water Towers,” includes massive cylindrical sculptures made of thousands of lighted, water-filled 1-liter recyclable bottles.
6-11 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. Tickets: $22.95, $15.95 ages 3-12 on Fridays-Saturdays; $19.95, $13.95 children on Wednesdays-Thursdays and Sundays. 1345 Piedmont Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-876-5859, www.atlantabg.org.
If that's not enough for one weekend (and you want to go a little farther from home), the satellite Atlanta Botanical Garden, Gainesville, featuring five acres of display gardens, a model train garden, a visitor center and a 2,000-seat amphitheater, also will open May 2. The 168-acre site was donated in 2002 by Lessie Smithgall and her late husband Charles, and $21 million went into first-phase development alone.
Grand opening (with live entertainment, games, crafts, face painting and more): 11 a.m.-3 p.m. May 2-3. Summer hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays; winter hours to be determined. $8, $5 ages 3-12. 1911 Sweetbay Drive, Gainesville. 404-876-5859, www.atlantabg.org/visit/gainesville.
For plays, comedy shows and more, click here.
For visual arts offerings in our area, click here.
CONCERTS
The Doobie Brothers. The band now falls into that "perennially touring" category, but hey, as long as fans keep coming to hear well-worn radio classics such as "China Grove" and "Long Train Runnin'," the band will keep flexing its muscles. This summer, they'll be joined by former Eagles guitarist — and one of the nicest guys in rock 'n' roll — Don Felder. 7:30 p.m. May 2. $19.50-$99.50. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, 2200 Encore Parkway, Alpharetta. 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.
The Whispers with Stephanie Mills and Angela Winbush. It's a dream bill for fans of classic R&B. The Whispers recently released the gospel album "Thankful," but will surely break out hits including "And the Beat Goes On" and "Rock Steady," while Mills, the voice behind "Never Knew Love Like This Before" and "("You're Puttin') A Rush on Me," has her own heady catalog from which to draw. 7 p.m. May 2. $35-$90. Wolf Creek Amphitheatre, 3024 Merk Road S.W., Atlanta. 1-877-725-8849, www.ticketalternative.com.
For more concerts in our area, click here.
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