Festivals, concerts, zoo lights and other fun things this weekend around Jacksonville

Tom Szaroleta, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·2 min read

We're going to assume you already know about the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, which brings tons of free music to Metropolitan Park and Daily's Place on Saturday and Sunday, so here are five other fun things to do in Northeast Florida over the long holiday weekend.

Blue Crab Festival

Big crowds come out for the annual Palatka Blue Crab Festival.
Big crowds come out for the annual Palatka Blue Crab Festival.

The St. Johns River waterfront in Palatka comes alive for a weekend of waterski shows, vendors, food trucks, kids’ games and live music from the likes of Mark Wills (Friday night), Trick Daddy (Saturday night) and 95 South (Sunday). The festival opens at 6 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday and Sunday. Info: palatkabluecrabfestival.com

Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire/NF

Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire share a bill Saturday night in Jacksonville.
Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire share a bill Saturday night in Jacksonville.

Traffic is already going to be an issue in downtown Jacksonville Saturday and Sunday with the Jazz Festival at Met Park and Daily's Place, so if you've got tickets to Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire at 8 p.m. Saturday ($57.86-$242.87) or NF at 8 p.m. Sunday ($36.41-106.42) at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, you probably should plan accordingly and leave a little early.

IllumiNights

IllumiNights opens this weekend at the zoo.
IllumiNights opens this weekend at the zoo.

The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens closes every day at 5 p.m., but they'll reopen the gates at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday (and select dates throughout the summer) for the third year of IllumiNights Summer Spectacle. Colorful lighting installations are throughout the zoo grounds, and they'll have live entertainment and animal encounters nightly. $25-$30.

Randy Houser

Randy Houser is playing a concert at a St. Augustine farm this weekend.
Randy Houser is playing a concert at a St. Augustine farm this weekend.

Country singer Randy Houser is playing a show Saturday night in a barn. The Concerts for a Cause show, which is raising money for Jacksonville's Rethreaded organization's fight against human trafficking, starts at 7 p.m. Saturday at Tringali Barn at Heritage Farms at 7310 U.S. 1 in St. Augustine. $100 or $1,000 for an eight-person pod.

Dave Matthews Band

OK, technically this isn't a weekend event. But when you get the Dave Matthews Band, which can sell out just about any arena in the country, playing two shows at a 5,500-seat venue, that's worth the exception. Matthews and guitarist Tim Reynolds were one of the first acts to play at the venue when it opened in 2017 and this won't be the first time the whole band has been back. They play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and there are a handful of tickets available for each of the shows.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Zoo lights, blue crabs and other fun this weekend around Jacksonville