5 Things To Do This Weekend, June 27-29: Show your colors

gaypride4-250x2501. It’s LGBT pride weekend in Bangor, which means there’s all sorts of fun, fabulous stuff happening over the next few days, starting with a Friday night art walk all over downtown Bangor; Saturday morning the pride parade is set for 11 am. on the Bangor Waterfront, followed immediately by the pride festival in Pickering Square from noon until 3 p.m., featuring speakers and dancers and bands including Juicebox, Bizzy Gruntry, Rotating Taps, the Trendy Robots and Random Zero; Saturday night, there’s a big, colorful dance party at Tantrum. Check out the Facebook page for a full listing of events. Other than that, there’s plenty else to do in Bangor this weekend, starting Friday when Stesha Cano plays at Nocturnem Drafthaus, there’s a country music throwdown night at Tantrum, there’s DJ Miss Strange at Paddy Murphy’s, and in Winterport, the Adam Ezra Group takes the stage around 6. On Saturday, touring alt-folk band Vudu Sister is set for Nocturnem, rockers the 220s are at Paddy’s, Tomorrow Morning is set for Ipanema, and out at 4Points, there’s Maine favorites the Mallett Brothers Band. If you’re looking to get a bit more physical, might I suggest on either Saturday wither WWE Live at the Cross Insurance Center, or a big bout featuring the Bangor Roller Derby versus Vermont’s Upper Valley Vixens, set for 5 p.m. at the Skehan Recreation Center in Hampden.

asfastas232. Portland music scene mainstay Spencer Albee (pictured) plays a show Friday night with his friend, fellow talented songwriter Zach Jones, set for Port City Music Hall; it’s also the premiere of another episode of the web series Live at the Studio Portland, this one featuring (naturally) Spencer Albee. Also on Friday is the highly danceable band Soule Monde at One Longfellow Square, and the monthly Penthouse Dance Party at Empire. On Saturday, Bayside Bowl hosts the annual Dirigimus Fest, a full day of indie, experimental and heavy local bands loosely grouped under the Dirigimus Collective umbrella; performers include Sylvia, Video Nasties, Sunrunner, Awaas, Purse, Mouth Washington, Afraid and many, many more; more information and a full schedule can be found online at the Preble Street website. Also on Saturday is a night of contemporary mainstream rock at the Asylum featuring Trapt, Leaving Eden, Righteous Vendetta and Shallow Side; there’s a benefit for cancer research at Port City Music Hall featuring the Hot Tarts and Dirty White Hats, and at St. Lawrence Arts, there’s guitarist and songwriter Ed Gerhard. Sunday, hang onto your palates as the annual Noshbow Block Party, set for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. around 551 Congress St. in Portland, featuring bands like Eldemurr Krimm, Tigerman Whoa, Covered in Bees, Stone Tools and more, skateboard demos, food trucks like Small Axe, Hella Good Tacos, Pizza Pie on the Fly and Bread & Butter Catering and beer from the unparalleled brewers of Oxbow.

Destroy-them-my-Robots-band-1024x7161-600x4193. Expect it to clear up this weekend just in time to enjoy some time on the coast. Friday night in Belfast there’s the Last Friday Art Walk, which is a perfect time to explore Belfast’s beautiful downtown; also happening on Friday night in the Midcoast is Eric Green at the Brickhouse in Searsport and the Kennebunk River Band out on the patio at the Speakeasy in Rockland; on Saturday, enjoy either songwriter Danielle Pease at Rock City Coffee in Rockland, or Cuban band Primo Cubano at the Water Dog Tavern in Thomaston. Across the bay, on Friday night in Hancock County take your pick of either the Blazing Apostles at Second Wind Tapas Bar in Southwest Harbor or 80s cover band Destroy Them My Robots (pictured above) at the Grand Theatre in Ellsworth; on Saturday, there’s either the Pitch Black Ribbons at Thirsty Whale in Bar Harbor, Village of Spaces at the Lompoc Cafe also in Bar Harbor, or songwriter David Raitt at Mainely Meat on Main in Ellsworth. Wrap it up Sunday back on the Midcoast, when songwriter Jonathan Edwards plays a free show at the Savage Oakes Vinyard in Union.

port-fringe4. The Port Fringe Theater Festival kicked off earlier this week, so we’re just catching up with it now; there are more than 40 performances over the course of five days, featuring a vast array of plays, musicals, experimental performance art and children’s theatre in venues all over Portland. Some highlights include “The Brothers Grimm Speculathon,” a wild take on Grimm’s fairies tales, set for 8:30 p.m Thursday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Portland Stage Company studio theatre and 8 p.m. Friday at Empire; “I Come to Bury Caesar,” a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” set for 8:30 Friday at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the PSC Studio; “Off the Coast of North Dakota: a boat ride fantasy,” an adults-only solo storytelling show set for 8 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Saturday at Empire; and “Serial Killers, Country Music and Pickled Punks: Joe Coleman in Vignettes,” featuring painter, performance artists and subversive soul Joe Coleman, set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Geno’s Rock Club. For a full schedule of all the wonderful, challenging, weird stuff at this year’s Port Fringe, check out their website.  

ct-wpf-marquee5. It’s apparently the weekend of tasty Maine food. In Dover-Foxcroft, the sixth annual Whoopie Pie Festival is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, and features a huge tasting pavilion for whoopie pies of all stripes, as well as kid’s activities and bands; you can vote for your favorite whoopie and see who is crowned The Big Whoop. In Portland, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church hosts its annual Greek Festival, which just might be the best opportunity in the state — along with the American Folk Festival in Bangor — to eat real, authentic Greek American soul food, like souvlaki, dolmades, baklava, moussaka and more. Music and dancing, too. It’s set for 11:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the church, located on Pleasant Street.

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.