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Jazz festival 
Soak up some great jazz this holiday weekend during the Low Country Jazz Festival. The festivities kick off with a meet-and-greet with live entertainment from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at Aloft hotel. There is no charge to attend. On Saturday, head to the North Charleston Performing Arts Center to hear saxophonist Boney James (pictured) , pianist Alex Bugnon and guitarist Matt Marshak in a 7:30 p.m. concert. Tickets are $35-$45 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster or at the box office. The festival finishes up with a Sunday brunch at the Embassy Suites Hotel in North Charleston. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., enjoy food and jazz guitarist Terence Young. Tickets are $39 and can be purchased online. This inaugural festival benefits Closing the Gap in Health Care.
Lowcountry favorites 
Boone Hall Plantation has a full lineup on tap Sunday at the annual Barbecue Championship and Bluegrass Festival . Enjoy activities, food and music from noon to 9 p.m. Four bluegrass bands will be playing: Jimmy Stone and the Southland Boys, Homeboy Reunion Bluegrass Band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (pictured). Between bands, catch the bull-riding competition, celebrity dunking booth and barbecue. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate. Kids ages 6-12 are $8 in advance, $10 at the gate, and no charge for kids younger than 6.
Sand and stars
Dig your toes into the sand, enjoy a cold beer and mingle under the moonlight Friday at the Edwin S. Taylor Folly Beach Fishing Pier. From 7 to 11 p.m., DJ Rob Duren will play oldies and beach music. Drinks and food will be available for purchase. Tickets for the Moonlight Mixer are $10, or $8 for Charleston County residents. Rain date is Saturday. For more information, go online or call 843-795-4FUN.
Fine wine and craft beer
Knowing you have Monday off, enjoy a relaxing Sunday night with wine and craft beer. The Lowcountry Wine and Beer Festival at Freshfields Village will bring top wines from around the world, plus food and craft beer, to aficionados. Guests will receive a wine glass specially designed for the tastings as a souvenir. The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m. and will include drawings, a live and silent auction and jazz music by the Cobblestone Trio. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the gate. They may be purchased at the Barrier Islands medical clinic on Johns Island, Schoen Ace Hardware, Rosebank Farms Cafe, Resort Quest, Indigo Books, Freshfields Village, Seabrook Island Real Estate, the Town of Kiawah office and Kiawah Island Real Estate. Proceeds will go to the Barrier Islands clinic. For more information, call 843-243-9200.
Latin heat
The Charleston Jazz Orchestra is heating up its fall season with Latin Night on Friday. The evening will include Latin-themed music and compositions, with recognizable favorites and a few surprises played by Quentin Baxter, Ann Caldwell, Kevin Hamilton, Chuck Dalton and many others. The musicians will be directed by Charlton Singleton. Tickets are $30 in advance or $40 the day of; student tickets are $15. The performance starts at 7 p.m. at Charleston Music Hall. For more information or to purchase tickets, go online or call 843-853-2252. (pictured is special guest Duda Lucena)
Play on
Saturday marks the start of the Greater Park Circle Play Fest, which features six full-length plays by playwrights from across the country. Plays will be performed each weekend in September, starting with Like Heaven at 6 p.m. Saturday. Like Heaven , written by Elaine Romero, is a comedic story about Sapphire, a West Coast transplant who lands in a small town in Kansas. Tickets are $7.50 per play, $20 for three plays and $39 for all six. For more information or to purchase tickets, go online.
New art 
Art studios across the peninsula are hosting opening receptions Friday, many coinciding with First Fridays on Broad from 5 to 8 p.m. At Carolina Galleries, Julyan Davis is opening New Paintings of the South. At Robert Lange Studios, Lange's Measure: Creatures Great + Small (left) opens Friday. The display features paintings playing on the size of animals. At Scoop Studios, Scott Debus' exhibit Up (right) is opening. Debus, curator of Kulture Klash, starts paintings with pure color and then morphs them into faces and figures.
Bird day 
The Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw is celebrating International Vulture Awareness Day on Saturday with a slate of activities from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Explore this intriguing bird through a guided walking tour specific to vultures, vulture flying demonstrations, a video presentation and discussion of vultures in crisis, and a visit to the "Vulture Restaurant," where Animal Control brings deer and other animals killed on the road for the vultures at the center. Also see the debut of the newest vultures, a pair of yellow chicks. Tickets are $12, $10 for youths and no charge for kids younger than 6.
Shakespeare in school
The Theatre Department at the College of Charleston is bringing one of Shakespeare's earliest works - The Comedy of Errors - to the stage this weekend. The play tells the humorous story of two sets of separated identical twins who all end up in the same city. Cases of mistaken identity and all kinds of mishaps ensue in this farce. The play is going up at the Emmett Robinson Theatre at the Simons Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday. General admission is $15, or $10 for CofC students, faculty and staff. To purchase tickets, call 843-953-5604. For more information, go online.
Season wrap-up
The Charleston RiverDogs are finishing up their 2009 season with a five-game homestand against the Savannah Sand Gnats. Thirsty Thursday's game has $1 beer and a wrestling match after the game, On Red Shirt Friday, get $1 off admission if you wear a red shirt and stay for the fireworks after the game. Saturday offers a paint-it-yourself bobblehead giveaway, Sunday is Family Day with complimentary kids meals and activities and Monday is Fan Appreciation Day with giveaways and season finale fireworks. Tickets range from $5 for general admission up to $12 for box seats. For more information, go online.
Eastside Surfblog
The Governor's Cup was last weekend, and you know what that means for the surf - or do you? Check out the Surfblogger's latest post here, drop him a note ... or, better yet, go surf!
Coming soon
Golf Tournament: Sept. 16 at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. Roper St. Francis Healthcare and Post and Courier writer Ken Burger are teaming up to present the Burger Prostate Challenge Golf Tournament. Entry fee is $2,000 for a foursome. To register or get more information, call 843-724-2734.
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