Save the Date: Tulips, lilacs, stars and paddles take spring festival spotlight

Fields of spring color await visitors for the opening weekend of the Woodland Tulip Festival today and Sunday in Woodland. Visitors can tour the show field or create a bouquet from the U-pick fields. There also will be vendors, tulip bulbs for purchase, music and the annual cutest baby photo contest this weekend and next. For those who enjoy watching races, the Blooms to Brews Marathon kicks off at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, with race routes swinging by the bulb farm. Admission to the tulip festival is free. Blooms are 50 cents each from the U-pick field. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this weekend and April 16 and 17 at Holland America Bulb Farms, 1066 S. Pekin Road. 360-225-4512 or www.woodlandtulipshabf.com

The blooming flowers continue with Lilac Days, April 16 through May 8 at Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens. Tour the gardens and the historic 1880s Victorian farmhouse of lilac hybridizer Hulda Klager, who created new varieties of the flower. An exhibit of “Children’s Toys in Yesteryear” will be on display inside the farmhouse. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at 115 S. Pekin Road in Woodland. Admission is $3, free for ages 12 and younger. 360-606-7359 or www.lilacgardens.com

Pearson Air Museum is set to take flight for Yuri’s Night, a world space party in commemoration of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, from 5 to 9 p.m. April 16 at , 1115 E. Fifth St. in Vancouver. The free celebration will feature creating and launching pressure bottle rockets, information about space exploration from the Oregon L5 Society, and Cameron Smith presenting his high-altitude helium balloon and pressure suit. There also will be a ranger-led stargazing tour, weather permitting. 360-816-6230 or www.nps.gov/fova

Celebrate Earth Day with the Clark Public Utilities StreamTeam and its Earth Day Fest. The event will feature hands-on activities for all ages, along with live music, entertainment, nature walks, live bird shows and information from local organizations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 16 at Klineline Pond, Salmon Creek Park, 1482 N.E. 117th St., Vancouver. Participants also can sign up for the tree planting and garlic mustard weed pull from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers must register in advance. 360-992-8585 or www.clarkpublicutilities.com/index.cfm/our-environment/stream-team

The Shimmy Shake and Share International Dance Show will benefit the homeless and the Winter Hospitality Overflow program. There will be a belly-dance showcase featuring soloists and troupes performing in different styles from noon to 5 p.m. The International Dance Show begins at 6:30 p.m., and will be accompanied by dessert, vendors and a raffle at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 5607 N.E. Gher Road in Vancouver. Tickets are $7 for the showcase and $10 for the dance show. 360-953-7387 or www.shimmyshakeshare.weebly.com

Alder Creek Kayak’s annual Spring Paddle Festival offers something for beginning boaters and advanced paddlers. The free event will feature more than 100 kayaks, canoes and paddle boards for visitors to try, along with clinics, demonstrations and lake tours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 23 and 24 at Vancouver Lake Regional Park, 6801 N.W. Lower River Road in Vancouver. 503-285-0464 or aldercreek.com/spring-paddle-festival

Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 30 at Vintage Books, 6613 E. Mill Plain Blvd. in Vancouver. The event will include activities throughout the day, author readings, story time, giveaways and merchandise. Dan Strawn, Victoria Lindstrom and Adam Copeland are the featured authors. 360-694-9519 or www.vintage-books.net