Outdoor concerts are on the schedule this weekend, with an ’80s Night in the Park at Bailey Road Park Saturday night and a Davidson Concert on the Green Sunday night. Indoors, the North Mecklenburg Community Chorus has “Bella Notte,” three nights of Italian-inspired music. Two days of grueling running – if you can call it that – are ahead during the Warrior Dash at Rural Hill Farm in Huntersville. The weekend also brings lots of other live music, Davidson College graduation events, and a day of sailing for special needs people Saturday at the NC Sailing & Rowing Center. The Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center 5K and local food picnic is Saturday morning in downtown Davidson, when the Davidson Farmer’s Market also will be open nearby next to Town Hall. Read the full story

Rough Draft, a variety band whose playlist ranges from Elvis and the Temptations to Prince and the Doobie Brothers, plays the next Davidson Concert on the Green this Sunday night.

The free concert is 6-8 p.m. on the Davidson Village Green, Main Street and Concord Road, Davidson. Bring a chair or blanket and a picnic.

See a full Concerts on the Green schedule below.

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Pushh play a Concert on the Green Sunday at 6 p.m.

The 41st Davidson Town Day and the Town Day 5K race, a day-long musical tribute to the late Professor Robert Whitton, and the annual Charlotte Asian Festival and Dragon Boat Races on Lake Norman are among this weekend’s highlights around the area. It’s beginner’s day at Davidson Elementary School Thursday, and the Lake Norman Rotary will host its annual Wine Cruise. In sports, Lake Norman also will see the Aloha Cub 2012 paddle board races. And Davidson College hosts the National Lacrosse Tournament Friday to Sunday.

Also, see our movie listings at right for Our Town Cinemas, where it’s your last chance to see “The Lucky One” and “Hunger Games,” and “The Avengers” hits the screen. Read the full story

A customized zucchini racer from last year's Zucchini 500 at Stewart-Haas Racing in Kannapolis. This year's event is Saturday, part of the NC Science Festival.

Davidson’s Art on the Green festival is back for another year, running Saturday and Sunday in downtown Davidson. This weekend also brings the season’s first Concert of the Green, a performance by the Davidson College Symphony and Jazz Ensemble on Sunday. The Jazz Ensemble also plays Friday, alongside Latin jazz composer arranger Bernardo Hernandez. The region’s Jewish community gathers at Davidson College Thursday night for Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust Remembrance ceremony. In Huntersville, get on your kilt for the 19th annual Rural Hill Scottish Festival and Loch Norman Highland Games. Saturday morning brings Earth Day activities in Cornelius and around Lake Norman, there’s a breakfast at Davidson Presbyterian Church and the Davidson Farmer’s Market is open until noon. Read on for the details, or see our day-by-day calendar at right on this page. Read the full story

Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy, Chief of Clan Kennedy, and Christopher Kennedy, North American Chief of the Kennedy Society, will be honored guests at this weekend's Rural Hill Scottish Festival.

Get ready for another busy week throughout the area, with a long list of local and regional events – from the 19th annual Rural Hill Scottish Festival and Loch Norman Highland Games to Davidson’s Art on the Green and the season opening Concert on the Green. Also on the schedule: Davidson Community Players’ Connie Company presents “A Bear Named Paddington” while Davidson College students perform a series of one-act plays. Monday brings a Cornelius Town Board meeting and there’s a public hearing in Huntersville Wednesday on the widening of I-77. The region’s Jewish community gathers at Davidson College Thursday for Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust Remembrance ceremony. Several organizations host fund-raising golf tournaments this week, and The Lake Norman Chamber hosts its annual Champions of Diversity Breakfast Wednesday. Read on for the details, or see our day-by-day calendar at right on this page. Read the full story

By BILL KISER
DavidsonNews.net

Davidson Lands Conservancy’s Run for Green and Green Day Festival will be Saturday morning in downtown Davidson. Are you running? Meanwhile, have you seen Davidson Community Players’ production of “The Guys” yet? Anne Nelson’s play about healing after 9/11 in New York City concludes its run this weekend at Armour Street Theatre.

Feeling more like catching some good local music? Davidson’s Summit Coffee will hold its Songwriters Showcase Thursday night, while the Mooresville law firm of Homesley and Wingo will host the Blues and Burritos benefit Saturday evening. Also Saturday, Davidson Local plays a benefit for DavidsonNews.net and CorneliusNews.net at Summit. And the Davidson Symphony and Jazz Ensemble will perform in the final installment of the Davidson Concerts on the Green Sunday. Read the full story