Art Melt, Swamp Pop Festival, Irish films on tap for weekend

The eighth annual Art Melt, the state’s largest juried art exhibition, will be held from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Louisiana State Museum. This is the second year the event has been held at the museum, and works from nearly 100 artists will be on display. Art Melt is one of the summer’s biggest social gatherings, with numerous events surrounding the show, such as performances from the Mike Foster Project Brass Band, the DeBose Foundation and Baton Rouge Ballet. Forum 35 will also hold an Art Melt preview party from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. tonight at the museum. The preview will give guests a chance to put in the first bids for the artwork on display, while enjoying food, drinks from an open bar, and performances by King James and the Special Men and dance troupe Of Moving Colors. Tickets for the preview show are $75 and available at the door. For more information, go to artmelt.org. … For something with a little more grit and mud, head to Gonzales’s Lamar-Dixon Expo Center Friday and Saturday for the 2011 Swamp Pop Music Festival. The festival starts from T.K. Hulin & GG Shinn, Van Broussard & The Bayou Boogie Band, and Jamie Bergeron & the Kickin’ Cajuns. Along with the live music, there will be Cajun food and a classic car show. Admission is $12 Friday, $10 Saturday; and all proceeds from the festival benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. For more details, visit swamppopmusicfest.com. … The Baton Rouge Irish Club will present the third annual Irish Film Festival from noon to 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the Manship Theatre, featuring three acclaimed films about Irish people and culture. From Into the West, a poignant drama about a poverty-stricken Dublin family, to An Everlasting Piece, a gently funny comedy about a Protestant-Catholic business partnership, the festival’s films represent a broad range of Irish experience. Tickets are $8.50 for each screening; and there will be Irish dancing, live music, food and a cash bar. For more information, go to batonrougeirishfilmfestival.com. For more events to jazz up your weekend, visit 225 Select here.