Fun first friday

This weekend will be a busy one downtown, especially Friday. Along with the monthly First Friday art walks, the annual River City Music Festival will add some excitement to the typical weekend in Cape Girardeau.

Make sure to wear your Friday best; Southeast Missourian photographers will be out and about Friday night taking pictures. Check semissourian.com Saturday to see if you made the frame! They'll have another gallery up Sunday from Saturday's festivities.

The festival expanded its territory this year to cover Main Street. Volunteers will set up ticket gates at Independence and Broadway, blocking Main Street to traffic at 6 p.m. First Friday patrons, though, will still be able to enjoy the galleries on Main for free.

Let me say that again: First Friday is still free.

Art galleries and the RCMF volunteers have been circulating First Friday tickets for people to get through the gates easily. If you do not have one of these handy tickets, simply tell the people at the gate you want to see the Arts Council, O'Tenem/Westray/Mozaic building or Artist Studio because it's First Friday, and they will let you onto the street.

These tickets are helpful because they eliminate the need to convince the gate workers that you're only there for the galleries. They are not necessary. First Friday is still free.

With that said, don't expect to freeload and cheapskate the RCMF. Each of the venues - which in all will host a reported 50 bands - requires an RCMF wristband, which cost $8 at one of the two aforementioned gates.

If you decide to skip the Friday festival and visit the non-downtown galleries, the options are glittering. Hunter Valley Winery has the work of Jim Parker in October. Anyone who's driven through downtown knows Parker's work. His mural of a steamboat and the Mississippi River was moved to the north side of Mollie's around 2004.

That mural -- dedicated in 1986 -- was the first in a long line of murals around Cape Girardeau. Parker was also founding director of the Southeast Missouri State University Museum, now the Crisp Museum. He's painted for years and got into stitching later, which will be on display at the winery, on Highway V, just off 177.

Edward Bernard Gallery will have their fabulous glass sculptures and have partnered with Primo Vino to present a breast cancer benefit First Friday. Portions of sales will go to a breast cancer research foundation.

For more galleries and their planned activities, make sure to look at Friday's SE Live for the First Friday receptions, and have a great weekend.