HOT PICKS On the waterfront "Pete" is advertised as the most powerful tug on the East Coast. See for yourself when it tests its brawn against other tugs and smaller workboats at Saturday's annual muster at the Charlestown Navy Yard. Find out more about this and other events on our hot picks page.

Shark Day
The shark has his day today at the New England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, when staff members will separate fact from fiction regarding these much-maligned ocean creatures. See New England sharks up close and try to catch a glimpse of a few tropical species, learn how many teeth sharks have, why 70 percent of a shark's brain is devoted to the sense of smell. Visitors are invited to meet with aquarium divers at 10 and 11:15 a.m., 1:15, 2:30, 3:30, 5:30, and 7:15 p.m. to learn what it's like to swim with them in the Giant Ocean Tank.
Date: Aug. 20
Time: Aquarium open 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
Price: Seniors $10, ages 3-11 $5.50, children under 3 free
Phone number: 617-973-5200

Chalk One Up for the Arts
Boston's preminent street artist, Sidewalk Sam, will host a day of creative doodling with chalk on City Hall Plaza, Government Center, Boston. The event is in conjuction with today's "Get to Know Boston Arts" Fair, also on the plaza. Cultural organizations will be on hand to preview their fall programming, the BankBoston Chorus will sing, Improv Boston will yuk it up, and children's storyteller Tony Toledo will share tales.
Dates: Aug 20 (rain date is Aug. 21)
Time: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Price: Chalk event: $20 per sidewalk square with chalk, artists $5
Phone number: 617-244-3171

131st Marshfield Fair
One of state's biggest agricultural fairs opens today at the Fairgrounds, Route 3A (Main Street), Marshfield. There's a midway, petting zoo, balloon magic, giant pumpkin contests, fireworks Saturdays at 9 p.m., music and arts festivals, the Kriz six-horse hitch, two days of monster truck action, thrill shows, all-star wrestling, and demolition derby competition.
Dates: Through Aug. 30
Time: Mon.-Fri. noon-10 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Price: $6, seniors $5, ages 6-12 $3, ages 5 and under, free
Phone number: 1-800-FAIR-RT3, 781-834-6629

Bellevue Cadillac
Tennis is the name of the game at this week's MFS Pro Championships tournament at Longwood Cricket Club, 564 Hammond St., Chestnut Hill, but before the play begins Boston's Bellevue Cadillac will play their rockin' blues and swing to benefit Children's Hospital, the Boys & Girls Club of Boston, and the Boston Tennis Council. The 9-piece Boston-based band was founded by Doug "The Professor" Bell, their 1996 debut CD, "Black and White" won wide critical acclaim, and their new CD, "Prozac Nation" was produced by Rob Fraboni, who also produces the Rolling Stones.
Date: Aug. 21
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Price: $25
Phone number: Tickets and information for concert and tournament at 508-620-1847

Essex Music Festival
This outdoor concert of country, blues, folk, and bluegrass music takes place at Centennial Grove, off Route 22, Essex. More than 10 groups will perform to benefit the restoration of the historic lakeside park, including Crabgrass with Daisy Nell, the folk duo Tamarac, folksinger Dave Nappi, The Taters, the rockabilly stylings of Old Cowboy Death, and the good-time music of Cheap Champagne.
Date: Aug. 22
Time: Noon-7:30 p.m
Price: $4, children free
Phone number: 978-468-6581

Southeast Asian Water Festival
The Cambodian and Laotian communities of Lowell celebrate their cultural traditions with a day of boat races, performances, and ethnic delicacies at the Sampas Pavilion, Lowell Heritage State Park, Pawtucket Boulevard, Lowell. Fourteen teams of 16 rowers each will race on the Merrimack River in Cambodian-made boats. Festivities include performances by the Angkor Dance Troupe, environmental games, storytelling, children's activities, and arts and crafts.
Date: Aug. 22
Time: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Price: $5
Phone number: 978-454-4286, 978-934-4677

Poetry Reading
Members of the Powow River Poets will read works written or inspired by poet, Quaker, and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) at the home where he lived for much of his adult life at 86 Friend St., Amesbury. Also a farmer, shoemaker, journalist, and member of the Legislature, Whittier wrote so passionately about human rights issues that he was harassed and burned out of his office by pro-slavery mobs. He is perhaps best known for his classic poem, "Snow Bound."
Date: Aug. 22
Time: 2 p.m.
Price: Free
Phone number: 978-388-1337

Summer Craft Fair
Carved birds, quilts, decorative furniture, and wooden clocks are just a sampling of the handcrafted items featured in this annual juried show sponsored by the Wenham Museum. More than 40 artisans will show and sell their wares at the "Carbarn Lot" across the street from the Wenham Fire Station and in the Museum's Burnham Hall, Route 1A, Wenham.
Dates: Aug. 22
Time: 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Price: Free, includes exhibits
Phone number: 978-468-2377

International Cat Show
The hairless Sphynx, huge Maine Coon, and tailess Manx are among more than 40 breeds expected to compete this weekend at the Park Plaza Castle, Arlington Street and Columbus Avenue. Pet supplies from organic cat nip to kitty furniture will be sold; local animal shelters will bring furry friends in need of a good home.
Dates:Aug. 22. and 23
Time: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Price: $7, children and seniors $4
Phone number: 617-436-MEOW

Solisti Veneti
The Venetian-based chamber orchestra makes its Tanglewood debut tonight with an all-Italian program in Ozawa Hall, Lenox. Cimarosa's oboe concerto as well as works by Rossini, Vivaldi, Puccini, and Verdi will be played.
Date:Aug. 23
Time: 8:30 p.m.
Price: $12-$36
Phone number: 888-266-1200

"Hunger and Thirst"
Founded in 1994 by a pair of Harvard graduate students, Les Welter and Barbara Matteau, A Somber Threat Theater Ensemble specializes in producing difficult yet important plays. This Eugene Ionesco play continues through Aug. 30 at the Hasty Pudding Theater, 12 Holyoke St., Cambridge.
Dates: Aug. 23 through Aug. 30
Time: 8 p.m
Price: $10, students, seniors, and those on public assistance $8
Phone number: 617-989-4279

"The Night of the Troubadours"
Double bill of Haitian singer/songwriters at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, at 41 2nd St., Cambridge. Headlining is Beethova Obas, one of Haiti's most popular singers known for his deep lyrics and his lovely, flowing vocal style, which sounds like a combination of Caribbean and Brazilian traditions, with a bit of French thrown in. Sharing the stage will be Gifrants, a frequent visitor to Boston, who plays what he calls "voodoo jazz," a combination of Haitian, samba and jazz.
Dates: Aug. 23
Time: 8 p.m.
Price: $15 advance, $18 at door
Phone number: 617-628-6662

Keith Lockhart with Innuendo
The Boston Pops conductor Lockhart will join his wife, Boston Symphony violinist Lucia Lin, and her quartet for an evening of chamber music by Dvorak, Beethoven, and Wolf in the Music Room of the Seven Hills Country Inn, 40 Plunkett Road, Lenox. He'll sit in as guest pianist at this concert presented as part of the Stockbridge Summer Music Series, which continues through Aug. 25 at the newly renovated mansion.
Dates: Aug. 24
Time: 8 p.m
Price: $20; $40 dinner and concert
Phone number: 413-637-0060

"Shipwrecked!"
Welcome aboard the tallship Liberty where a cast of Boston area singers and performers will treat you to a musical look at the city's martime history complete with pirates and sword play. After a 15-minute on-land skit in front of the Chart House the show continues onboard the two-hour, family-orientated cruise around the harbor departing from Boston's Long Wharf.
Dates: Aug. 24 through Aug. 31
Time: hurs., Sat.- Mon. at 6:45 p.m.; matinees Sat.-Sun. at 2:45 p.m.
Price: $35, age 12 and under $25, reservations required.
Phone number: 617-742-0333

"Brazil"
Boston Public Library, Copley Square closes its "Future Worlds: Utopias-Dystopias" series tonight with the screening of this 1985 fantasy flick starring Robert De Niro, Jonathan Pryce, and Bob Hoskins. A day-dreamer, rebel superhero and a beautiful woman cause quite a stir in a world where the all-powerful government has forbidden emotions on any level.
Dates: Aug. 25
Time: 6 p.m.
Price: Free
Phone number: 617-536-5400 ext 296

"Peter Rabbit"
Beatrix Potter's pesky hare is up to his ears in trouble in this Pumpernickel Puppets performance at Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station St., Brookline Village. Foraging through Farmer McGregor's carrot patch nearly lands him in a kettle of rabbit stew.
Dates: Aug. 26 and 27
Time: Tonight at 7 p.m., tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Price: $6
Phone number: 617-731-6400

"A Little Night Music"
Publick Theatre closes its 28th season of outdoor performances with Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's tale woven around a series of summer love triangles. It's a nostalgic turn-of-the-century comedy set in Austria. Performances, directed by Spiro Veloudos, continue through Sept. 6 at Christian A. Herter Park, Soldiers Field Road, Boston.
Dates: Aug. 26
Time: 8 p.m.
Price: $16-20 depending on day
Phone number: 617-782-5425

- Cheryl Sinapis

The Week is updated every Thursday

Looking for the Calendar's Cheap Thrills and Hit of the Week features? They now have their own pages. Find Hit of the Week under "Dining" in the left navigation. Reach Cheap Thrills via the left navigation's "Listings" section.