The 12th Annual Taste of Cleveland rolls out the eats in grand style. This year more than 30 local restaurants and other food providers will offer a range of ethnic and American foods so everyone in the family can find something they like. In addition there's a full lineup of music headliners and local bands, ethnic dancers and singers, the Style Network Makeover Bus, an appearance by food and wine expert Ted Allen on Saturday and the Cuyahoga County Mayors' Dessert Cup Challenge at 1 p.m. Saturday. It opens today and runs through Monday with free admission today and $7 adults, children under 12 free the rest of the weekend. Go to cleveland.com/tasteofcleveland for info. - Anastasia Pantsios

THURSDAY AUGUST 30

Great Geauga County Fair

They call it the "Great" Geauga County Fair for a reason: It's old - one of the US's oldest agricultural fairs, now in its 185th year - and it's big - its slogan is "You can't see it all in a day." So you have five days - today through Labor Day - from 8 a.m.-midnight to take in the multitude of attractions spread across the sprawling Geauga County Fairgrounds in Burton. There are demolition derbies, bull riding, tractor pulls, hot-air balloons, skydivers, harness racing, a petting farm, a milking parlor, chicken-flying with weatherman Dick Goddard, magic shows, clowns, music, rides, food and the usual displays of produce, livestock, flowers, crafts, and cooking and baking. Oh, and "raccoon hound water races." We don't know what that is but we do know that the word "Geauga" means "raccoon," so perhaps it celebrates one of the county's most abundant animal residents. Admission: $6, kids under 12 free, some grandstand events extra. Call 440.834.1846 or go to geaugafair.com. - AP

FRIDAY AUGUST 31

Berea Octoberfest

Achtung! Many local events aspire to herald the End of Summer, but few accomplish it with such joie de vivre as the annual Berea Oktoberfest, held at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Beer-ea, um, we mean Berea. It's a long weekend of Teutonic brews, music and food, with live entertainment provided by the olde worlde puppeteering of the Frisch Marionette Company, elaborate Germanic sand sculptures by Carl Jara, and the Weiner Dog 50 dachshund races. Bands scheduled to appear include Al Nowak and his Edelweiss Orchestra, Dan Zola, Don Wojtila, Hank Haller, and Fred Ziwich and the International Sound Machine, bringing on the polkas and the Bavarian slap-dancers. There's also a "Leakoil" Volkswagen-oriented car show, a bier garden and related 5K run (to where, the bathroom?), Prussian cuisine, and guest dance ensembles representing Mexico, Italy, Russia, Greece, Ireland and China. Traditionally, a local celebrity will tap the first keg. Admission is $8, children under 12 free; free parking. Hours: 5-11 p.m. today, noon-11 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday; and noon-9 p.m. Monday. For information check out bereaoktoberfest.com or call 440.954.4051. - Charles Cassady Jr.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 1

National Air Show

To air is human at the 2007 Cleveland National Air Show, taking place today through Monday. This Labor Day tradition traces its heritage back to the first 1929 National Air Races in Cleveland. Held since 1964 at Burke Lakefront Airport, the air show hosts magnificent men in their flying machines of all sorts, from old-fashioned wing-walkers and barnstormers in stunt biplanes, to space-age NASA Glenn exhibits and state-of-the-art White House-approved death-dealing military hardware. The latter is why, in recent years, the Cleveland Peace Show has hung out its competing tie-dyed shingle on Labor Day (noon-6 p.m.) at East Ninth and Lakeside to promote non-violent conflict resolution instead. But - whoa! Which side has the cooler toys? Air show highlights this year include a fly-by of the Polish "Iskra TS-11" trainer aircraft; the US Air Force Thunderbirds jet demo team, marking the 60th anniversary of the USAF; the gargantuan C-130 Hercules; the Golden Knights precision parachute team; a display by the Tri-City Skybusters model rocketry club; and more things that go up, come down, hover and boom. Admission: $17 adults, $10 children, $25 box seats. For information call 216.781.0747 or go to clevelandairshow.com. - CC

Dragon Boat Festival

Sea monster sightings near Lake Erie are nothing out of the ordinary for the semi-regular Cleveland Dragon Boat Festival, piloted today and tomorrow on the Cuyahoga River by the Cleveland Rowing Foundation. Dragon boats, which date back 3,000 years to China, are "the world's largest flat-water racing canoes," traditionally manned by 20 oarsmen, one steerer and one drummer to keep time. Best of all, they're brightly painted with scales and an oriental dragon's head in the bow, a tail on the stern. Neat! Maybe if NASCAR tumbled onto imagery like that they'd finally be popular, too. Cleveland's dragon-o-rama is a two-day racing regatta through the Flats, accompanied by martial-arts demos and acrobatics, and Asian cuisine. Be at the Nautica Entertainment Complex for opening ceremonies at 11 a.m. and the race action noon-5 p.m. both days. Admission is free; novice rowers can enter right up to the day before the festival. For info call 440.808.2288 or log onto clevelanddragonboatfestival.com. - CC

MONDAY SEPTENBER 3

National Air Show - The US Air Force Thunderbirds do their thing.

Cleveland Peace Show

For the last five years, while the military planes of the National Air Show are doing their rolls and loops overhead, dedicated peace activists have gathered at Willard Park by the Free Stamp at E. Ninth and Lakeside for the annual Cleveland Peace Show. It's intended to remind people, in a gentle way, of the results of unchecked war-mongering. As people head down E. Ninth to the air show, they can stop for a little bit and contemplate peace through the music of Cleveland reggae legends I-Tal as well as numerous other music acts on the main stage. This year there's also a kids' stage with poets, dancers and musicians. Information tables, food and lemonade from Algebra Tea House, a "peace plane launch" and a special presentation of Eyes Wide Open, an exhibit honoring the soldiers killed in Iraq and reminding viewers of the real, human cost of war, are among the many activities taking place from noon-6 p.m. It's free; rain site is Pilgrim Church (2592 W. 14th St., Tremont). - AP

Western Reserve Academy Antiques Festival

Those looking for more gentile Labor Day activities than eat-and-drink crowd scenes have the annual Western Reserve Academy Antiques Festival, a fundraising event for the Hudson school. Now in its 26th year, it offers 120 regional exhibitors with a wide range of Americana, folk art, furniture, toys and other collectible items. A preview breakfast from 8:30-10 a.m. at Ellsworth Hall on campus (Route 91 just north of downtown Hudson) is $20. The dealers lining College and Chapel streets will be open for business from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: $8, 18 and under free. Go to antiquesfestival.com for info. - AP

11th District Picnic and Parade

One of the biggest summer events in the black community, the 11th District Caucus annual parade and picnic, was started by the venerable Congressman Louis Stokes and continued by his ebullient successor Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Following the noon parade down Kinsman, politicians, families and neighbors mingle in Luke Easter Park at E. 116th and Kinsman to eat barbecue, browse crafts and information booths and listen to music. It's free. - AP

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 4

Improv Jams restart

Lakewood's Bassa Vita was home to a thriving local comedy /improv scene but it closed in July, leaving the Tuesday night Improv Jams homeless. Never fear; they're back and more centrally located. They kick off from 8-10 tonight at the Powerhouse Pub (2000 Sycamore, West Bank of the Flats). Anyone can join in the fun too by showing up at 7:30 to register. Novices will find themselves ad libbing with some of the area's most talented and experienced comedians and actors, so it's a great way for aspiring SNL cast members to get their feet wet. It's free. Go to clevelandimprovinstitute.com for more info. - AP