Celebrating 175
Mascoutah will have a family picnic and a fireworks display Sunday in Scheve Park to celebrate the city's 175th anniversary.
The picnic starts at 4 p.m. There will be live music and food vendors, but families are encouraged to bring their own picnic baskets.
The fireworks start at 8:30 p.m.
Bands take the field
Twenty high school bands will square off at the Metro East Marching Classic beginning at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at O'Fallon High School.
Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors, free for children 5 and younger.
Local bands and their competition times are: Triad, 6:30 p.m.; Highland, 6:45 p.m.; Granite City, 8:30 p.m.; Collinsville, 9:15 p.m.; Edwardsville, 9:45 p.m.; and Belleville East, 10 p.m.
The O'Fallon Township High School Band will give an exhibition performance at 10:15 p.m. Awards will be presented at 10:30.
The Belleville East Marching Invitational, which is usually the same date as the O'Fallon competition, has been moved to Oct. 27 this year.
Country for vets
You can enjoy 11 hours of country music and support military veterans at Country Music Singing Out for Our Veterans from 1 p.m. to midnight Saturday at Millstadt VFW Post 7980.
Performers include Big Jim, Bert & Friends, 3rd Generation, Tom & Kathy La Quet and Cactus Moon.
Admission is $10; $5 for veterans. All proceeds go to the post's veterans programs.
There will be barbecued pork steaks, hamburgers, brats, hot dogs and drinks available for purchase. Attendance prizes, a silent auction and 5/50 drawings are also part of the action.
For information or donations, call 618-476-1180 or Pat at 314-853-7522. The post is at 200 Veterans Drive in Millstadt.
Fiddles and banjos
National champion fiddler George Portz is at it again with his Appletime Fiddle & Banjo Contest on Saturday at the Murphysboro Apple Festival.
Portz and his Friend of Bluegrass band will get things going with a bluegrass show during registration from 5 to 6 p.m. on the Appletime Stage on South 13th Street. The fiddle and banjo contest is from 6 to 8, with the final round at 8 and awards at 8:30.
The Apple Festival started Wednesday and continues through Saturday with music, food, contests and more.
Earthtones Festival
The 6th Annual Mississippi Earthtones Festival combines art, music and conservation from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday at Alton's Riverfront Amphitheater.
Festivalgoers can visit more than 50 eco-exhibits, nature activities, green vendors and food. Two stages will offer folk, reggae and rock music, storytellers and Tae Kwon Do and Capoeira demonstrations. Other attractions include a climbing wall, a 5,000-gallon fish tank, a dog show, nature arts and crafts and bike rides along the levee.
For more information and a schedule, go to www.RiverfrontAmphitheater.com/Earthtones.
Frontier Days
Caseyville's Frontier Days will feature re-enactors in period-style clothing from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Caseyville Park.
"We're living life like it was 200 years ago," said Bob "Many Hats" Daniel, a re-enactor and one of the organizers.
The re-enators will demonstrate leatherworking, bow and arrows, rugmaking, tomahawk throwing and starting fires with flint. There will be music and cannons from the area's military history plus a children's area with pony rides ($5 per ride, $10 for three rides) and other family activities.
Food will be cooked in a kettle over an open fire throughout both days. There will be a biscuits and gravy breakfast at from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Caseyville VFW.
Admission is free.
