5 Things To Do This Weekend, Feb. 22-24: Bright lights, small cities.

1. The first weekend in two weeks that isn’t a blizzard! Golly gee willikers. It’s also the last weekend of February, which means that in a few short weeks winter will be all but over. Celebrate the impending arrival of spring with some shenanigans in Bangor this weekend, starting with Pecha Kucha night, set for Friday at Bagel Central in downtown; doors at 6 p.m., presentations at 6:30. Also on Friday is alt-folk duo Him & Her at Nocturnem Drafthaus, Jacob Augustine at Paddy Murphy’s, rockers the Blast Addicts at Phoenix Pub, the Skatstitutes at Woodman’s in Orono, and mighty, all-original funk band Big Time at the Big Easy. Moving onto Saturday, check out the 220s at Ipanema, Trisha Mason at Paddy’s, Paradigm Blues at Woodman’s, and the Bangor debut of rockabilly band the Crown Vics at Nocturnem. Wrap it all up at 3 p.m. on Sunday with the world-renowned violinist Jennifer Koh at Minsky Recital Hall at the University of Maine.

2. Enjoy the sweet sounds of local bluegrass with the Ghost of Paul Revere (pictured) and Whitehorse on Friday at Empire in Portland; also on Friday is El Grande and Model Airplane at the Big Easy, the Barra Mcneills at One Longfellow Square, and I Barbarian, Coalsack in Crux, Hessian and Motorcreeps at Geno’s. Saturday night there’s the annual 48 Hour Music Festival at the Space Gallery, in which groups of local musicians group up to write and perform an entire set of brand new music in less than 48 hours. Also on Saturday are Twiddle and the Trickle Down at Empire; Turkuaz at the Big Easy; Steve Forbert at One Longfellow; Harbor, Ill Born, Rat Trap at Geno’s, and at the Oak and the Ax in Biddeford there’s Micah Blue Smadone, Caethua and the Lord Dog Bird.

3. It’s a great weekend to be on the coast – whether it’s the Midcoast or it’s Downeast. On the Downeast side of things, you can check out the 220s at Chummies on Friday, the Crown Vics at Mainely Meat in Ellsworth on Friday, and finally, the Darthia Farm Front Porch Band at the First Friday Coffeehouse at Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor; you can also hear bluegrass wildmen the Tricky Britches (pictured) on Saturday night at the Lompoc Cafe in Bar Harbor. In the Midcoast, you can hear the sweet sounds of hot jazz with Gypsy Caravan on Saturday at the Aarhus Gallery on Belfast, followed by DJ Southpaw spinning sweet reggae jams at Three Tides that very same night. The Myrtle Street Tavern in Rockland hosts Whoopy Kat.

4. The OG musical theater guys – Gilbert and Sullivan – are kept alive by the G&S Society of Maine, who this weekend will perform “The Mikado” at the Bangor Opera House, with shows set for 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Also in the Bangor area is the University of Maine’s School of Performing Arts production of “Spring Awakening,” the popular new musical;  performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Hauck Auditorium on campus.

5. Oscar weekend! It’s my superbowl. In addition to the big Oscar dress up parties set for Reel Pizza Cinerama in Bar Harbor and the Strand Theatre in Rockland, there’s still a chance to see some of the nominees before the big night. The heartwarming and hilarious “Silver Linings Playbook” and the astoundingly depressing but beautiful “Amour” are both at  Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville, as well as at the Nickelodeon in Portland. At Movie Magic in Bangor you can see “Lincoln,” “Les Miserables” and “Zero Dark Thirty” all for $3. Or, if you couldn’t give a flying flamingo about any of the Oscar flicks, you could see the incredibly entertaining-looking “Beautiful Creatures” at any first-run theater.

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.