All hail the tastes of Rhode Island  IMAGE COURTESY TRI ATTENDEES ARE ASKED to bring items for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. During the 20th annual Taste of Rhode Island, food lovers can plan an appetite around the offerings of more than 30 participating restaurants and a variety of vendors. The gustatory delights have been divided into destinations – such as R.I.B.S.: Rhode Island Barbeque Spectacular, and Rhode Island Shore Dinner Hall – that allow attendees to sample appetizer-size portions of Little Rhody cuisine. In the Coastal Wine Garden, visitors can amble through a “vineyard” of wines and sample emerging lines from Mirassou Winery, produced in California by the United States’ oldest winemaking family. If you prefer suds over grapes, there will be an on-site Sam Adams Brew Pub, where attendees will be among the first to taste the 2009 Samuel Adams Brewmaster’s Collection. The event also features an event-within-an-event with The New England Oyster Festival. With so much to eat and drink, of course music and dancing are a must. Forever Young, Ken Lyon and Tombstone will perform on three stages, while between performances will be filled with the sounds of Providence radio station WHJY-FM. Taste of Rhode Island, Newport Yachting Center, 4 Commercial Wharf, Newport. Saturday, Sept. 27; 11 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 28; 11 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Admission $10 for adults; free for children under the age of 12. Tickets can be ordered online; walk-up sales available at the Newport Yachting Center Box Office seven days a week. Web site: www.newportfestivals.com.
  IMAGE COURTESY PRSPF EACH ARTIST’S SPACE on the concrete "canvas" is identified with the stenciled name of a sponsor.Impermanent art can make a lasting impression As summer wanes, a distinctive arts event comes to downtown: the Seventh Annual Providence Rotary Street Painting Festival. The festival brings the talents of more than 200 artists drawing in chalk on the smooth concrete floor of the Bank of America Skating Center. There will be murals, portraits, collages, fairy tales, whimsy, 3D, and just about anything else. When you see what you like best, you can vote for them in the People’s Choice competition. 2 Kennedy Plaza, Providence. Saturday, Sept. 27. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Free and open to the public. Web site: www.ProvidenceStreetPainting.com.
Connecting communities, preserving ports  IMAGE COURTESY WWF THE FESTIVAL celebrates the industry which brings seafood to your plate. The nation’s largest (by value of the catch) commercial fishing port hosts the 2008 Working Waterfront Festival this weekend in New Bedford. This free, family-friendly event opens the waterfront to the public with a rare look into the country’s oldest industry, commercial fishing. Visitors can tour commercial fishing boats, tugboats and historic vessels; listen to the fishing community share stories of their lives, skills and experiences; watch demonstrations of net mending and fish filleting and enjoy performances of music, dance, poetry and theater. The theme of this year’s festival highlights how commercial fishing communities are facing a host of challenges to their traditional way of life. Fisherman’s Pier & Merrill’s Wharf, New Bedford, Mass. Saturday, Sept. 27, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free and open to the public. Web site: www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.
Unplug the TV and connect to the outdoors  IMAGE COURTESY RICHARD LOUV RHODE ISLAND’S abundance of farm land, state parks and coastline makes it easy to get children out of doors. Take the time this weekend to participate in a conversation about your children and their relationship to the outdoors with awarding-winning author and journalist Richard Louv. Louv will be introduced at CCRI’s main campus by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed for a discussion of his book, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.” The author argues that sensationalist media coverage and paranoid parents have literally “scared children straight out of the woods and fields.” He pairs the anecdotes of his travels throughout the country with scientific findings to explain how imaginative nature-play alleviates stress and promotes well-being for children, especially those with disorders, in a way that organized sports cannot. 400 East Ave., Warwick. Saturday, Sept. 27. Discussion begins at 7 p.m. A book signing will follow the speaking program. Books will be available at a 20-percent discount at the event. Free and open to the public; registration required. Web site: rwpzoo.org.
World’s largest ice cream social  IMAGE COURTESY MAKE-A-WISH ENJOY THESE two creations, named after the children that made them.While it isn’t a local dairy making it happen, this ice cream event is perfectly Rhode Island. Cold Stone Creamery stores across the nation, including the seven locations in Rhode Island and Bristol Co., Mass., are taking part in the Seventh Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Tonight for three hours, all patrons will receive a 3-oz. serving of special flavors concocted by two Make-A-Wish children. Emily has combined Nutter Butter® ice cream with white chocolate chips, Kit Kat® pieces and yellow cake, while Jack has smashed together marshmallow ice cream and OREO® cookies, chocolate chips and fudge. All donations will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Cold Stone Creamery: 1000 Chapel View Blvd., Cranston; 1000 Division St., East Greenwich; 258 Bellevue Ave., Newport; 216 Thayer St., Providence; 83C Faunce Corner Mall Road, Dartmouth; 280 School St., Mansfield; 47 Commerce Way, Seekonk. Thursday, Sept. 25. 5 to 8 p.m. Web site: www.coldstonecreamery.com.
Concert brings the beat to raise the fund  IMAGE COURTESY MALI HEALTH DID YOU KNOW the world’s deadliest creature is the mosquito? World-renowned singer/guitarist Vieux Farka Toure, who was born in Mali, is teaming up with the Providence nonprofit, Mali Health Organizing Project, for a benefit concert to fight malaria in the West African nation. Farka-Toure, recognized by Rolling Stone magazine and the Billboard Top 100, is known for a blend of rock, funk, reggae, blues and traditional music. Mali Health, started by Brown University students, recently received national recognition with a “Do Something Award” from Fox TV for being one of the top nine youth projects in the United States. The concert hopes to generate $15,000 for a health clinic to serve 60,000 people in Sikoroni, Mali. Brown University Alumnae Hall, 194 Meeting St., Providence. Friday, Sept. 26; concert begins at 8 p.m. Tickets $10 students; $25 general public. Purchase tickets online; group rates available. Web site: www.malihealth.org.
 IMAGE COURTESY PETE CARDOSO VISIT AS220 this weekend for two events within two blocks of one another.Explosion of art prints AS220 is the place to be this weekend if you want to get a fresh take on today’s art. To celebrate its first year as Rhode Island’s only community printshop, the arts nonprofit is holding the First Biennial Print Lottery. Prints or works on paper – including drawings, monoprints, screenprints, etchings, lithographs, woodblocks and more – by 200 artists from all over the world will be on display and then sold through a blind lottery (each ticket to the lottery costs $75). Proceeds will benefit the printshop. In addition, this is the last weekend for Pete Cardoso’s Retrospective: Ten Years of Rock and Roll Posters. Cardoso’s subjects include bands Interpol, Bright Eyes, Mighty Mighty Bostones and the Black Crowes. His work has been seen in movies, magazines, on television and on gallery walls around the world. Biennial Print Lottery, AS220 Main Gallery, 115 Empire St., Providence. Saturday, Sept. 27. Event from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets $75, with each ticketholder guaranteed a print from the exhibition, drawn by blind lottery. Retrospective: Ten Years of Rock and Roll Posters, AS220 Project Space, 93 Matthewson St., Providence. Saturday, Sept. 28. Free to attend. Web sites: www.as220.org/printlottery2008; www.as220.org/calendar.
All works on display  IMAGE COURTESY OF 17 PECK SELECTED WORKS from the recent 17 Peck exhibitions are for sale.Gallery 17 Peck has had a big year so far with a major move, increased gallery showings and more space to showcase art, jewelry and sculpture. Stroll down Atwells Avenue and take a look at the gallery’s new digs on historic Federal Hill. Known for showcasing Native American artwork, locally-based photographers and paintings from established museum-curated shows around the country, Gallery 17 Peck is looking forward to the year ahead. 303 Atwells Ave., Providence. Saturday, September 27; from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Open to the public. Web site: www.17peck.com/gallery.asp.
More than 30 reasons to visit the ocean  IMAGE COURTESY SEA GRANT COASTWEEKS is a nationwide event dedicated to highlighting and promoting the coastal regions of the U.S.Invigorate your aquatic senses with day cruises, kayak tours, beach cleanups, guided hikes and workshops through the 27th annual Coastweeks. The nationwide series takes place between now and October and locally celebrates what Rhode Island’s coast offers its visitors. Tonight, become a commercial Rhode Island fisherman for the day and bring home a fish for supper. On Friday, take a one-and-a-half hour cruise around Newport while feasting on local dining favorites with Gansett Cruises. On Saturday, step out on a guided hike of Watson Farm, the state’s oldest functioning farm just over the Jamestown Bridge. In the evening, you can join the Salt Ponds Coalition for an “interpretive kayak trip” around Point Judith. Erase the “lazy Sunday” blues with a Prudence Island coastal clean up or a trip to explore the many Rhode Island lighthouses. Coastweeks events take place between now and October. Visit the web site, seagrant.gso.uri.edu/, to find event times, locations and costs.
Latin American Film Festival  IMAGE COURTESY PLAFF PUT ON YOUR CINEMATIC THINKING HAT and join the festival for films, panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, music and dance concerts.The 16-year-old Providence Latin American Film Festival brings another round of comedies, dramas, documentaries, shorts and animations to Rhode Island this weekend. Taking place during Hispanic Heritage Month, the Providence festival is one of the few competitive Latin film festivals in the country. Featured works cover a wide geographical range, with filmmakers from Latin America, Spain, Portugal and other Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions of the world – as well as work by North American Latino filmmakers – exhibiting their art at the festival. Venues throughout Providence, including Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Avon Cinema and the Cable Car Cinema. Thursday, Sept. 25, to Sunday Sept. 28. Admission: $8 for the general public; $5 students and senior citizens; free for Brown and RISD students. To view a schedule of films, visit: www.plaff.org/schedule.htm.
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