33rd Annual New Jersey Folk Festival to be held on April 28

Folk music fans of all ages can enjoy traditional folk dancing, music, storytelling and much more at the 33rd Annual New Jersey Folk Festival. The family event will take place rain or shine April 28, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the grounds of the Eagleton Institute, George Street and Ryders Lane, on the Douglass campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

The festival will include entertainment on three stages, featuring Mike Rafferty, an 80-year-old Irish flute player, who will also be honored as the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner; Yaya, a nine-member female Dominican a cappella group; Reed Island Rounders, an old-time Appalachian Mountain music trio that features banjo and fiddle; and Conjunto Folklorico of Alianza Dominicana, a Dominican folk dance troupe.

Other entertainment will include Call to Worship; Elin Skoglund and Edward Anderzon; The Delaware Valley Celtic Harp Orchestra; and the Goodman Family. Returning Festival favorites include musicians Spook Handy, Roger Deitz and Jim Albertson.

A new addition to this year's festival will be kicked off by bluegrass band Mountain Heritage, who will lead an organized jamming session in the morning after the band performs its set. Other organized jams will be held throughout the day. All who attend are encouraged to bring their own instruments.

The festival will also provide demonstrations (including harps, dulcimers and classical guitars), food and craft markets (more than 80 booths) and children's crafts and games.

Cultural exhibitions will honor New Jersey's Tuckerton Seaport in Belford, and commercial fishermen sharing stories of their trade. Free admission. Details: njfolkfest. Rutgers.edu or call (732) 932-5775, (732) 932-INFO.

Festival in Art, the Laurelton Art Society's annual juried spring show, is being held at the Brick Cultural Arts Center on Herbertsville Road. The exhibit will run the entire month of April and will be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The following enrichment programs will take place during the show: "Plen-Air Artists" will feature a number of artists painting on site April 28, 1-3 p.m.; "Working with Garden Flowers" will include demonstrations of ways to enhance homes and backyard gardens by the Brick Garden Club's gardeners April 29, 1-2:30 p.m.

Visitors are welcome to walk around the gardens and grounds of the museum and cultural center and visit with the artists as they work. Details: (732) 886-3337.

Jackson Civic Chorus invites everyone aboard as they set sail on a musical journey "Beyond the Sea With Music From Distant Shores." The concert will be held April 28 at 8 p.m. and April 29 at 3 p.m. at the Jackson United Methodist Church, 68 Bennetts Mills Road, Jackson.

Under the direction of Margaret Eisenschmied and accompanied by Will Vanderburg, the chorus will perform selections such as "April in Paris," "River in Judea," "It's a Small World," "Beyond the Sea," "Danny Boy" and others.

The Jackson Youth Chorus, a select group of sixth- through eighth-graders will join the Civic Chorus on stage for the opening and finale. They will also perform two selections on their own. Suggested donations for tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for seniors and students. Details: (732) 833-1277, (732) 905-2418 or e-mail Marge419@optonline.net.

A Gala Art Auction sponsored by Monmouth Academy, 152 Lanes Mill Road, Howell, will take place April 28 at the school's gymnasium. A preview of the artwork, sports and music memorabilia will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the auction set to begin at 8 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the students of Monmouth Academy. Tickets are $25 per person and include a door prize, raffle prizes, hors d'oeuvres, dessert and coffee. Details: (609) 443-4344.

Fans of East Asian films may take part in the East Asian Film Series slated to be held Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the International Center in Brookdale Community College's MAN building, Room 105, at the Lincroft main campus in Middletown. Parking is most convenient in lots 6, 7 and 1.

The first film, "Shower," directed by Zhang Yang, will be shown May 1. The film depicts a Shanghai businessman who returns home to help out in his father's bathhouse. This heartwarming film explores the impact of China's rapid modernization on the traditions of a Beijing neighborhood. The film is in Chinese with English subtitles. Details: 732) 224-2799 or internationalcenter.brookdalecc.edu.