Live it up over the long weekend

Monday (Sept. 4) is Labor Day, meaning many readers have a three-day weekend ahead. Greater Lansing has plenty of events to tire you out prior to a restful day off, including a llama show, a national frisbee competition, a chicken wing festival, a daylong celebration of African culture and more.

 For Friday evening’s live music, we have the Wild Honey Collective at Horrocks Farm Market at 5, Tony Thompson at Harrison Roadhouse at 6, Brian Byrnes at The Peanut Barrel at 8 and Jackpine Snag, Flood the Desert and Lucius Fox at The Avenue at 9. Saturday evening, we have Sam Jesh & the Bees at Lansing Shuffle at 8. Ending the weekend is Red Cedar Spirits’ weekly Sunday Jazz show at 6 p.m.

 The Michigan State University Broad Art Museum is hosting a Family Day 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, offering attendees the chance to stack, build and balance different materials to make a hanging sculpture. While you’re there, check out “Shouldn’t You Be Working? 100 Years of Working from Home,” “As we dwell in the fold,”“Resistance Training: Arts, Sports, and Civil Rights” and the newest exhibition, “Beal Botanical Garden: Celebrating 150 Years of People, Plants, and Place,” which opens Saturday.

Other art displays on view this weekend include “Photography: NOW!” at the Neighborhood Empowerment Center on West Maple Street, which is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and “Wholly Integrated,” a painting and sound exhibition “that explores gestation, birth and the Buddhist concepts of death and rebirth through photorealistic figuration and surreal, symbolic imagery,” at the Lansing Art Gallery, which is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Volunteers can help Keys to Manifestation clean up the Lansing River Trail 11 a.m. to noon Friday. Trash bags, hand sanitizer and gloves will be provided, but volunteers are welcome to bring their own gear or extras to donate.

The First United Methodist Church of Mason is holding a rummage sale 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Sunday. Items for sale include clothes, shoes, household goods, toys, books and more. Proceeds help support United Women in Faith, which “connects women through Christian spiritual formation, leadership development, creative fellowship and education so they can inspire, influence and impact local and global communities.”

Members of the LGBTQ+ community can visit Fenner Nature Center 4 p.m. Saturday for a Salus Center Queer Scouts meeting on camp cooking. Attendees will learn how to collect wood, build a campfire and make water safe to drink, then cook and eat a meal.

Michigan State University is hosting Lamafest, one of the largest and longest-running llama shows in the country, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education. On top of the shows, an assortment of vendors will sell items made from animal fibers; there will be demonstrations showing how to spin, felt and weave llama fiber; and local farms will be in attendance to provide information on breeding programs and other offerings.

The United States GUTS Frisbee Open runs 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at Grand Woods Park. Attendees can try out for the organization’s amateur league and view a series of professional frisbee competitions. The winning team will represent the U.S. at the 2024 World Ultimate and GUTS championships in Australia.

The Michigan Chicken Wing Festival, running 2 to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Adado Riverfront Park, will feature a variety of chicken-wing vendors, wing-eating contests, a main stage with musical acts and other live entertainment, a kids’ zone with inflatables, a game trailer, giveaways, a VIP beer-and-wine tent, a people’s choice vendor contest where attendees can vote for the best wings of the weekend and more.

Finally, Capital Afrofest returns for its second year with a daylong series of events 10 a.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday. The festival kicks off with a free block party in the 200 block of South Washington Avenue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., featuring live music, African food tastings, cultural dance performances, booths from African- and Black-owned businesses and African board games. Later, the AfroBall, a ticketed event running from 5 to 10 p.m. at Grewal Hall at 224, features a male excellence pageant, an African fashion show and music, poetry and comedy performances. Afrofest wraps up with an afterparty at Alabosa Bar from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring African music and dancing.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best of weekends.