Springfest

Ocean City Springfest Ocean City 's Springfest sets summer in motion. The four-day event, in its 22nd year, begins May 3 and features live entertainment headlined by The Fabulous Hubcaps, Loretta Lynn, Eddie Money and Survivor. (Loretta Lynn concert is sold out.) The festival takes place in the inlet parking lot at the south end of the boardwalk and includes more than 30 vendors for food and nearly 200 artisans showcasing arts and crafts. Admission is free.

The first of the travel season's "go early, go late" advisories for the Bay Bridge is in effect this weekend as thousands of visitors head for Springfest 2012 in Ocean City . The Maryland Transportation Authority said motorists should avoid high traffic volume Thursday through Sunday by traveling to the annual spring block party during off-peak hours. If eastbound traffic conditions warrant it, the westbound span will operate with two-way traffic. The best times to travel this weekend are: Thursday before 2 p.m. and after 10 p.m.; Friday before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m.; Saturday before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m.; Sunday before 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m. Officials note that full westbound bridge closures, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span, are scheduled during overnight hours Thursday, Friday and Saturday to accommodate maintenance work.

Colorful parachutes and freewheeling kites will brighten the skies over Ocean City this week as the resort celebrates the upcoming summer season with four days of concerts, parades, food and fun during its fourth annual Springfest.As many as 200,000 visitors are expected for the festivities that will begin early Thursday with a boardwalk parade from 14th Street to the inlet and end Sunday evening with a concert by the Guess Who, a classic rock band."Springfest starts the party rolling," says Scott Warren, special events coordinator for the town of Ocean City.

Ocean City Springfest Ocean City 's Springfest sets summer in motion. The four-day event, in its 22nd year, begins May 3 and features live entertainment headlined by The Fabulous Hubcaps, Loretta Lynn, Eddie Money and Survivor. (Loretta Lynn concert is sold out.) The festival takes place in the inlet parking lot at the south end of the boardwalk and includes more than 30 vendors for food and nearly 200 artisans showcasing arts and crafts. Admission is free.

Ocean City will usher in its tourist season this week with its second annual Springfest, a party that will stretch from bay to oceanfront and half way up this 10-mile island.Springfest '92 will get under way Thursday when dozens of classic cars -- from the Fords of the '20s to the street machines of the '60s -- drive down the Boardwalk, carrying Mayor Fish Powell and members of the City Council. The parade of rare, exotic and colorful cars will start at 9:30 a.m. on 13th Street and end at the Inlet where the four-day festival will officially open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Drummers and nature lovers should beat a path to the Senator Theatre tomorrow, as Baltimore's best moviehouse celebrates the sixth annual Belvedere Springfest with a free screening of the film Baraka and a free-form drum circle featuring percussionists of all kinds. Drummers need to assemble in the theater's outer rotunda beginning at noon, and be prepared to pound away. Baraka, director Ron Fricke's wordless celebration of the Earth and all the things that come naturally to it, begins at 1 p.m. Filmed over the course of 14 months, the 1992 film takes viewers around the world.

The first of the travel season's "go early, go late" advisories for the Bay Bridge is in effect this weekend as thousands of visitors head for Springfest 2012 in Ocean City . The Maryland Transportation Authority said motorists should avoid high traffic volume Thursday through Sunday by traveling to the annual spring block party during off-peak hours. If eastbound traffic conditions warrant it, the westbound span will operate with two-way traffic. The best times to travel this weekend are: Thursday before 2 p.m. and after 10 p.m.; Friday before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m.; Saturday before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m.; Sunday before 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m. Officials note that full westbound bridge closures, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span, are scheduled during overnight hours Thursday, Friday and Saturday to accommodate maintenance work.

Senator Theatre owner Tom Kiefaber jokes that when he and Catherine Evans of the Belvedere Improvement Association first cooked up their annual Belvedere SpringFest, "there were tumbleweeds rolling through the site" of Belvedere Square. With Belvedere Square thriving and SpringFest attracting more interest each year, Kiefaber has scheduled special presentations of the Senator's traditional free offering of Baraka (1992) for tomorrow's SpringFest 2004. Baraka's director, Ron Fricke, once called his globe-trotting poetic documentary collage "a journey of rediscovery that plunges into nature, into history, into the human spirit and finally into the realm of the infinite."

It's officially time to go downy ocean again. At least it is as far as officials of the Ocean City Department of Recreation and Parks are concerned. They're the people organizing this weekend's 20 t h annual Springfest, four days (it opened Thursday) of food, frolic and nonstop entertainment that pretty much launches the resort's summer season. And they're hoping this weekend will serve as something of a starting gun. "Absolutely," says John "Sully" Sullivan, the department's special-events director.

Ocean City Springfest Got spring fever? Take a long-weekend trip to Ocean City from Thursday to May 7 for the town's annual Springfest celebration. Live music and entertainment, arts and crafts, Eastern Shore foods and more are on the bill all four days. Visitors can listen to free local and regional musical acts such as Soul Crackers, Tuxedo Park Orchestra, Charm City Sound, Jesse Garron's Tribute to Elvis, JR Booker and many others. There will also be paid-admission performances by headline acts the Fabulous Hubcaps (Thursday)

Parking in downtown Ocean City could cost an additional 50 cents per hour this summer under a proposal being introduced at Monday's town council meeting. The ordinance would increase parking rates for all spaces that are served by pay stations, including street parking and municipal lots, from $1 to $1.50 per hour. From April 1 to May 24, the higher fees would be in effect on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (Also on Thursday before events like Springfest and Cruizin OC.) From May 25 to Sept.

It's officially time to go downy ocean again. At least it is as far as officials of the Ocean City Department of Recreation and Parks are concerned. They're the people organizing this weekend's 20 t h annual Springfest, four days (it opened Thursday) of food, frolic and nonstop entertainment that pretty much launches the resort's summer season. And they're hoping this weekend will serve as something of a starting gun. "Absolutely," says John "Sully" Sullivan, the department's special-events director.

Ocean City's Springfest 2010 runs through Sunday at the Inlet Parking Lot, at the south end of the Boardwalk. Hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, except for Friday night's Country Rat Pack concert ($20-$40) and Saturday's Teen Idols show ($20-$47). Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, 410-481-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Call 800-626-2326. Getting there: By car: Ocean City is about a three-hour drive from Baltimore, depending on the traffic (which can get downright nasty on weekends, especially if the weather is nice)

Ocean City Springfest Got spring fever? Take a long-weekend trip to Ocean City from Thursday to May 7 for the town's annual Springfest celebration. Live music and entertainment, arts and crafts, Eastern Shore foods and more are on the bill all four days. Visitors can listen to free local and regional musical acts such as Soul Crackers, Tuxedo Park Orchestra, Charm City Sound, Jesse Garron's Tribute to Elvis, JR Booker and many others. There will also be paid-admission performances by headline acts the Fabulous Hubcaps (Thursday)

Amid familiar folk tales, lively polka music and heaping helpings of sauerbraten, much of the talk yesterday at the German-American Springfest in Towson was of the Bavarian priest who became Pope Benedict XVI last week. Americans of German descent, regardless of their faith, said yesterday that they take pride that Joseph Ratzinger is the first German to lead the Roman Catholic Church in about 1,000 years. "They say in heaven there's no beer," said Hans Steffen, the festival's wine master and entertainment director.

The Baltimore Kickers, one of the many German heritage clubs in town, say they're bringing a piece of their dear old Vaterland to Towson this weekend. The second annual German-American Springfest will feature oompah bands, frothy German beer and plates full of sausages and schnitzel. German enthusiasts will don lederhosen and dance the polka. Festivities run 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday at Towson Courthouse Square. Admission is $3. "It is like getting a piece of Germany without airfare," said Cecilia League, who is helping to organize the festival.

Eariest AmericaExplore 17th century English and Powhatan Indian cultures at Jamestown Settlement on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the 391st Anniversary Celebration of the founding of America's first permanent English colony during Jamestown Landing Day. "The Legacy of Jamestown" theme will address the historical impact of English settlement in America. Activities include portrayals of English settlers, speeches, town meetings and birthday cake.Jamestown Settlement is on State Route 31 South at the Colonial Parkway.