In Sunday's Arts and Entertainment section, the wrong phone information number was printed for the Preakness Celebration, May 13-21. The correct number is (410) 837-3030.
The Sun regrets the errors.
When carnival rides and festive banners begin to sprout on the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University, you know the season has arrived -- festival season, that is.
FOR THE RECORD - CORRECTION
Baltimore-area residents traditionally view next weekend's Spring Fair, now in its 23rd year, as the first of several dozen community-based festivals that draw thousands of visitors throughout the spring and summer.
Emilie Salama's introduction to the student-run event at Hopkins came a few years ago, when she was a high-school senior visiting the campus from her Houston home on a "pre-frosh" tour.
"I walked onto campus and it was the week before Spring Fair and I thought, 'Something big is going on here,' " Ms. Salama says. A junior majoring in material sciences engineering, she is co-chair of the 1994 edition of the annual spring event.
The fair offers midway rides, arts and crafts and community booths, a children's area and food in a variety of ethnic flavors. It usually draws more than 100,000 visitors.
"It kind of gives us a chance to say 'Thank you for letting us invade your city for four years,' " Ms. Salama says of the fair, which is planned and operated by some 300 student volunteers. Her co-chair is junior Edward Tobin, a political science major from New York.
A portion of receipts is donated to the Catholic Charities Family Treatment Program.
The planners went to work before Thanksgiving on the 1994 fair, which has been titled Carnaval '94, after the pre-Lenten festival celebrated in many nations. "We were looking for something with a little more color, a little more spice," says Ms. Salama.
Opening ceremonies are planned for noon Friday, with WMAR-TV anchor Beverly Burke as host.
Acoustic guitarist Dave Wilcox headlines the Friday night concert, at 8 o'clock at Shriver Hall. This is the only general public event for which admission is charged; tickets are $16.50 and are available through TicketMaster, (410) 481-7328.
Nighttime entertainment for area college students with valid identification, for a $3 cover charge, is scheduled from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday in the University Union.
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