Thursday, July 31, 2008

The County Fair's Bonanza of Diversions

This year's Howard County Fair offers rides, games, agricultural exhibits, a petting zoo, contests, chain saw carvings, pig races, bingo and entertainment. Fair hours are 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday-Aug. 9. Band schedule: 7:30 and 9 p.m. Saturday, the Back Pages Band; 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Baltimore's Marching Ravens; 7:30 and 9 p.m. Sunday, 21 the Difference; 8 p.m. Tuesday, Big Cam and the Lifters; 7:30 and 9 p.m. Wednesday, Common Clay; 7 p.m. next Thursday, amateur variety talent show; 7:30 p.m. next Thursday, Browningsville Cornet Band; 7:30 and 9 p.m. Aug. 8, Damascus Road; 7:30 and 9 p.m. Aug. 9, Richie Fields and Big Time Country. A livestock sale will be held 6:15 p.m. Aug. 8. Age 62 and older admitted free Aug. 5. Howard County Fairgrounds, 2210 Fairground Rd., West Friendship. $5; age 62 and older, $2; younger than 10, free. 410-442-1022 or http://www.howardcountyfair.org.

The latest research on the shrine of Saint Amandus will be revealed in the exhibition "The Special Dead: A Medieval Reliquary Revealed." The shrine, the only of its kind in the country, is a wooden, church-shaped box encased in metal to house a piece of the saint who converted the pagans of Flanders to Christianity. See how scanning and tree-ring dating helped scientists discover how, when and where the object was made. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays, running Saturday through Jan. 18. The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St., Baltimore. Free. 410-547-9000 or http://www.thewalters.org.

The Geckos, an Annapolis-based calypso band, jump the county line to Howard for the Travelin' Bands concert series sponsored by the Department of Recreation and Parks. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and a picnic (but no alcohol) for a steel drum-infused serving of playful tunes about cooking, swimming, boating and relationships gone awry. 7 p.m. tomorrow. Schooley Mill Park, 12975 Hall Shop Rd., Highland. Free. 410-313-7275; TTY, 410-313-4665; weather cancellation line, 410-313-4452.