Weekend-ist March 27-29: Street festivals, skating and Spears

Spring has finally sprung, bringing with it lots of stuff to do this weekend. Best of all, most of it is free!

All Weekend

• Bluebonnets are in bloom! The flowers are a bit spare this year because of the fall drought but if you want to get away from the Art Festival Madness yet still enjoy a park-like atmosphere, good fields of blue are as close as Navasota or Brenham, about an hour north-east of Houston.
• 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Bayou City Art Festival, all three days. Parking and crowds will be crazy, but it's sure to be fun. Tickets are $10, free for kids under 12. Just don't buy anything ugly.
• 11:45 p.m. — "Hard Day's Night" is the midnight movie at River Oaks both Friday night and Saturday. Even if you aren't a Beatles fan, the experience of seeing this movie in a theater is 100 percent worth it.

Friday

• 8 p.m. — Steel Lounge Underground at the Contemporary Arts Museum, featuring Jaekim, Ceeplus Bad Knives and Young Mammals. Get to hear some of Houston's greatest local bands, surrounded by amazing contemporary art, and all for free.
• 10 p.m. — Disco Expressions at Continental Club. Tickets at the door are usually $10.
• 10 p.m. — Reverberations, the monthly Sixties dance party at Boondocks, 1417 Westheimer Rd. No cover.

Saturday

• 8 a.m. — Help keep Houston clean with the 16th Annual Trash Bash an effort to keep the waterways of Texas free from debris. Yesterday's rain shows just how bad it can get.
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Galveston Bowl Bash, the first skate contest in Galveston in about 20 years. Includes prizes and demos.
• 11 a.m. to ?— Westheimer Block Party. Dozens of locals bands and artists. It's free all day — you only have to buy tickets for the big night shows. We went last fall. It was awesome.
• 1 to 5 p.m. — Workshop Houston's Five Year Anniversary Open House featuring local art, hand-painted t-shirts and an auction, 3625 Sauer Street, 77004.
• 5 to 10 p.m. — Aerosol Warefare and CKC StArt Street & Urban Arts First Student Exhibition, 2110 Jefferson at Hutchins, Suite 113, featuring food and drinks as well as interactive arts.
• 7 p.m. — Thank Heaven For Discovery Green, who will be showing a free screening of the film Gigi in collaboration with the Houston Grand Opera. Gigi won several Oscars, and the award-winning score for the film was written by Andre Previn, who later became director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra.
• PM — Britney Spears Look-A-Like Contest at Rich's, to celebrate the coming concert. Houstonist wonders how many look-a-likes will be men in drag.

Sunday

• 1 p.m. — 10th Anniversary Party at Rienzi, the MFAH's European Decorative Arts show home in River Oaks. It's also family day, featuring the Houston Zoo's Mobile Zoo and birthday cake. Also? Free admission.
• 7 p.m. — Southside Roller Derby Fire Vs. Ice Bout, at Pearwood Skate in Pearland. Tickets are $8 in advance, $12 at the door.
• 7 p.m. — Preview of the film YYOGA by Emmy Award-winning director Arthur Klein, at Jennyyoga Studio, 3641-C Westheimer Rd. The film will be followed with a performance by A Thousand Cranes. Admission is free but donations are appreciated.

Photo courtesy of flickr user p3t3rt