Everybody loves Art Walk week

It's First Friday and galleries galore will be open throughout Portland. I'll give you just a few highlights to check out and they you're on your own. 1. If you haven't seen what's up at Salt yet, now's the time. The show is Future/Past and it's work both taken from the archives and from Salt grads who are out and about in the world making big names for themselves. Don't miss the Studebaker or the aerial work of Alex Cohn (shown). 2. There's also a photo show at the Meg Perry Center. Jan Pieter van Voorst van Beest's work is a documentary project depicting "new Mainers." 3. At SPACE you can check out "Carving the Floors," the work of Bowdoin College's advanced printmaking class. They ganged up on the floors of the old Brunswick High School (which will be torn down in May) and their work will be shown in print, video and photo documentation. 4. And don't forget the Biennial is still up at Portland Museum of Art. And admission is free tonight.

Need other option? Well, you could head up to Bath tonight where Friday Night Jazz is on the menu at Solo Bistro. Jesse Feinberg will be on the keyboards from 6:30-9:30 and if you don't have the money to spend on dinner you can probably get away with nursing a glass of wine for the better part of three hours.

Every First Friday the Portland Playback Theatre gets together at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church for a 7:30 pm show. The entry fee is just $5 and the acting crew makes theater out of stories from the audience. This week they're looking for "Animal Allies."

And if none of that works for you, maybe you need a little help from above. Head to Southworth Planetarium and tune into some celestial poetry with "Beltane Fires." Local poets will be reading prose in the star dome theater. You can help celebrate life, love and the universe and admission is by donation.

Saturday is Derby Day. Maybe you only watch one horse race a year, but this one - the Kentucky Derby - has to be it. The race goes off around 6 pm (and lasts about 2 minutes), but the celebration starts well before that at Dock Fore's 25th Annual Kentucky Derby Party at 4 pm. The pints will cost you just $1.95 until 7 pm. Ladies: wear a big, poofy, frilly, Kentucky kind of hat and you may win a prize.

As long as there's no rain, it'll be a good day to get a little exercise. A great place to check out is Fore River Sanctuary, an 85-acre preserve of woodlands, marshes and wildlife right in the city. Get your bike, or leash up the dog and go for a hike. If you walk far enough you'll be rewarded with a viewing of Jewell Falls.

If you've got your yard work under control, it would be great if you showed your community how much you care. Both Spirits Alive at the Eastern Cemetery and residents of Portland's East End are holding clean-up days today from 9 am-noon. If you pick the East End, meet at East End Beach parking lot ready to work. If you pick the cemetery, you may learn a thing or two that can help you out at home. Landscape architect Barry Hosmer is expected to be part of the work crew. Don't forget your gloves.

Lets hope for good weather on Sunday because the Taste of Old Orchard is happening in Old Orchard Beach. From noon-5 pm there will be vendors along Old Orchard Street, artists showing their wares and music filling the air. Of course the beautiful Atlantic will make the perfect backdrop for it all.

Here's something you don't get to do - legally, anyway - every weekend. There's a drag race planned at Sanford Regional Airport (yes, there's an airport in Sanford) and it costs just $5 to get in. This is the real deal, officiated by the North East Off Road Vehicle Competition Association and, best of all, it's a benefit for WABAN. The engines start revving at 9:30 am.

Can't think of anything you really want to do? Go fly a kite. At Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth. The wind is always ready for you there and there's some pretty nice scenery, too.