Get Off The Couch: Hubfest, baseball, beer up this week

BARRY COURTER: Lisa, happy Cinco de Mayo. Always happy to celebrate a reason to drink a beer.

LISA DENTON: Funny how that works. Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day, Mexican on Cinco de Mayo.

I'm not suggesting you need to drink all week to prepare for it, but you'll get another chance to hoist a mug Saturday when Terminal Brewhouse presents the second annual Chattanooga Craft Beer Festival at First Tennessee Pavilion.

Tickets are $50, or you can pay $75 to get beer and food pairings. Designated drivers get in for $15, which includes snacks and nonalcoholic beverages.

BARRY: This is the time of year when it feels like summer begins to rev up. Most of the farmers markets have now been open a couple of weeks, and a new one, Wednesday Market at First Tennessee Pavilion, starts this week. Nightfall got underway last Friday. This Friday, the headliner is Packway Handle Band. I have no idea what a Packway Handle is, but the band "serves up a dark and passionate folk aesthetic ... with a side of blood," according to jambase.com.

LISA: Dark, passionate, bloody. Sounds like the night I tried out my new chainsaw. I don't know about "aesthetic," but there was "anesthetic" involved.

BARRY: I've always considered you to be dark and passionate folk, but I think they refer to the musical genre.

Hubfest, the annual community party with vendors and lots of things for the kids to do, is back at Heritage Park in East Brainerd on Saturday, and Mother's Day is Sunday. I wonder if my mom would like a pony ride.

LISA: Maybe after she stops at the face-painting booth. If she'd rather not ride (although I'd pay to see that), there's a horse she can paint. And not one on canvas. Apparently, people take turns leaving colorful swipes and handprints on an actual horse. Once the horse is fully covered, its hide is rinsed off and the art starts again. It probably feels like a massage to the horse, but it would probably be best not to show "Old Paint" the new paint in the mirror.

BARRY: Ooooh, that painting thing might have legs, but since this is a family paper, I'll leave it at that.

The Lookouts return to town Saturday for a five-game home stand with Huntsville at AT&T Field. These cooler temps make it just about perfect at the ball park. They have beer there, too, in case you forgot.

LISA: I haven't forgotten. And you're right about the weather. If I could see through the pollen, I'd have no complaints at all.

BARRY: And even though the shows are sold out, we should mention that Chris Tucker is at The Comedy Catch this weekend. His movies with Jackie Chan make me laugh.

Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.

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