IS YOUR TYKE THE NEXT great blues harmonica player? Find out at the D.C. Blues Society's D.C. Blues Festival. For 20 years, the society has brought some of the biggest names in the genre to Washington while promoting new, local acts and educating the public. This year is no exception. In addition to...

WASHINGTONIANS, BALTIMOREANS AND RICHMONDERS have whipped out their paintbrushes, sharpened their colored pencils and booted up their computers to go head-to-head in one of the highest-paying local art contests. Check out the 15 best visual artists the area has to offer at the Trawick Prize: The...

What is it about the end of summer that makes us yearn, like kids dreading school, for just one more day of carefree, joyful freedom? (See cover story on Page 23).

There are so many reasons to love college football: rivalries, tailgating, grown men painting their faces, singing the school's fight song, even if you never went there.

Don Cheadle is the best part of the disappointing, formulaic thriller "Traitor."

T he buzz: Not long ago, all a sports bar needed was a couple of satellite sports packages, flat-screen TVs showing the games, cold beers and a menu with decent wings and a good burger. Anything else -- signed memorabilia, appearances by Redskins cheerleaders, trivia nights -- was just gravy.

I f you wanted to reach singer Erin McKeown this summer, she certainly never made it easy.

Prices listed where available "GILBERT AND SULLIVAN SING-OUT" Friday 7 to 11; Saturday 9 to noon, 1 to 5 and 7 to 11; Su nday 9 to noon. Victorian Lyric Opera Company hosts the fourth annual singing event, which allows audiences to listen or sing along to the composers' 13 intact operettas....

DAYSAHEAD Friday at 5. West Building Garden Court, National Gallery of Art, 600 Constitution Ave. NW. 202-842-6941, 202-737-4215 or http://www.nga.gov . Free.

Prices listed where available AVENUE Allure Fridays, Friday; College Night, Thursday. 649 New York Ave. NW. 202-347-8100.

BLACKSALT The George Oakley Trio, Sunday. 4883 MacArthur Blvd. NW. 202-342-9101.

THE WESTCHESTER RESTAURANT (Unrated) 4000 Cathedral Ave. NW;

What kid, or kid in all of us, can resist a huge pile of Lego bricks? Very few.

"LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD & THE 3 LITTLE PIGS" What's so bad about the Big Bad Wolf? At last B.B. Wolf tells his side of the two classic children's stories. Friday at 10 and 11:30, Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 and 1. Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. 301-320-6668 or...

Sometimes Cathy Corker's "Starlight Canoe Tours" on Lake Anna run a little long, but no one ever seems to mind.

The hourglass is ominous. Turned to summer just a blink ago, its sinking sand now rushes to the end. To the end of fresh corn, shucked on the back step over laughter and lemonade. The end of tank-top tan lines, alfresco Friday nights and after-dinner bike rides to get ice cream. Of staying up lat...

Let's say you want to travel back in time this weekend, but Williamsburg and Gettysburg seem just a bit too far for an easy day trip.

Seven years ago, Arena Stage hosted a conference to consider this question: "Who needs new plays?"

The Appalachian Trail: 2,175 miles from Georgia to Maine.

Those exchange rates aren't doing us any favors in the European-vacation department.

What would you give for a handcrafted necklace made of a dozen royal blue, heart-shaped stones? Let's say you knew it was Iranian, a gift from an aunt to a niece who left the country 30 years ago, at age 14, and has never gone back.

"SNOOPY AS THE WORLD WAR I FLYING ACE," Saturday through Nov. 30 at the College Park Aviation Museum, 1985 Cpl. Frank Scott Dr., College Park. 301-864-6029.

PAINT THE TOWN ART SHOW AND SALE Saturday and Sunday noon to 4, Monday 9:30 to 4. Fifty local artists will show and sell their art at this Labor Day tradition. As part of the show, there will be a plein-air painting event Saturday: Anyone who pays the $5 registration fee is invited to paint...

After Sept. 11, 2001, Steve Martin had an idea for a political thriller.

"Misanthrope seeks misanthrope. Honestly, if you respond to this ad, you're probably not the kind of woman I'd go out with."

Once again there are terrorists in our midst, and once again they are Muslims, hiding in sleeper cells, waiting to cause mayhem. Heroic action is needed.

The opening shot of "Frozen River" ends with a close-up of actress Melissa Leo, whose face resembles a Depression-era Dorothea Lange portrait in its hard grief. As Ray Eddy, a single mother of two living in a trailer in Upstate New York, Leo delivers a tough, utterly mesmerizing performance as a...

"Are you guys bored?" Darby Crash, the suicidal lead singer of the Germs, asked the audience at a performance in 1979. His prescription: "Hit the person next to you."

Quick: How many branches of government rule America? By some lights, the country is properly governed by four: the executive, the judiciary, Congress and the people themselves.

Vin Diesel plays a veteran-turned-mercenary escorting a young woman from Eastern Europe to the United States. What he doesn't know is that she is the host for an organism that could become the next Messiah. Not surprisingly, every bad guy in the world wants to get his hands on her. Also not...

Capsule reviews of recent releases playing in area theaters. For older movies, see the Movie Directory. A star (*) denotes a movie recommended by our critics.

The ghoulish, stop-motion-animated sights in Halloween Town have never looked sharper than in "Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas: 2-Disc Collector's Edition" ($32.99), released on DVD this week. The delightfully macabre tale, whose style can best be described as Rankin-Bass meets "Beetl...

1. "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" 2. "Street Kings"

New DVDs you can watch this weekend: · Chicago 10 (R) This film by Brett Morgen chronicles the antiwar demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and uses animation to reenact the trial that followed. The Post's Ann Hornaday loved it, saying that "viewers are plunged...

I'm a sucker for games with flashy graphics, block-rockin' audio and tons of things to do. But sometimes you just want to play for 15 minutes or so, and that's where casual games become an important part of your diet. They're fast, they're easy to learn and, perhaps most important, they're...

As an inquisitive and energetic 11-year-old, Dalton Harrod often dreams of life's many possibilities. He could become a rock star, like Chris Martin of Coldplay, he thinks. Or perhaps he might play baseball, just like David Wright, third baseman for his favorite team, the New York Mets.

A star (*) denotes a show recommended by our critics.

1984 Catalyst Theater Company presents George Orwell's classic tale, through Oct. 5. Friday at 8, Saturday at 8, Sunday at 2, Thursday at 8. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. 202-399-7993.

"WINGS OF FANCY" Open daily 10 to 4 through Sept. 21. Exhibition of live butterflies in the South Conservatory. Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton. 301-962-1400 or 301-962-1453. $5, ages 3 to 12 $4, younger free.

The wait is almost over! If you have been missing the Kreeger Museum , which was closed earlier this month, plan to spend Sept. 7 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. having fun at its open house. In addition to the reopening of the museum, there will be gallery talks with docents, art and drumming workshops,...

NATIONALS Friday at 7:35, Saturday at 7:10 and Sunday at 1:35 against the Atlanta Braves. Monday at 3:05, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:10 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Nationals Park, 1500 South Capitol St. SE. 202-397-7328. $5-$130.

AFI SILVER THEATRE "A Passage to India," Friday at 3:30, Sunday and Monday at 1. "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," Friday at 7, Saturday at 4:15 and 7, Monday at 7:45, Wednesday at 6:30 and Thursday at 3:45 and 6:30. "Aliens," Friday and Saturday at 9:30, Sunday at 9:45, Wednesday and Thursday...