There is a ton of stuff to do in and around Charleston this week, so let’s dive in.

First, my feature pick is the evening of restored Max Fleischer cartoons that will be screened at The Alban Arts Center on Saturday. You can find full details at the Facebook event page, but I’ll let you know a little more about it here with a quote from that very page:

Join Betty Boop, Popeye, Superman, and pals in this rare opportunity to see classic Fleischer Studios cartoons from the 1920s and 1930s on the big screen – featuring all-new, absolutely stunning prints taken from the best surviving sources!  This event is also a fundraiser to help the Fleischers preserve and restore more of their classic animated shorts, in collaboration with Rockin’ Pins and a group of cartoon enthusiasts and collectors.  You may have seen these shorts before, but you’ve never seen them like this!

Admission is ten dollars, with half the proceeds going toward restoring more Fleischer cartoon classics.

Wednesday AEW Wrestling returns to Charleston for a live broadcast of Dynamite, and a taping of Rampage.  Before that action begins at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center, right next door at the Beni Kedem Temple a Mini-Wrestling Convention will be held from 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Admission is free, and fans can pay for autographs and photos with legends like Kurt Angle and Ronnie Garvin.

Also Wednesday, Summerfest kicks off in South Charleston.  For four days you can enjoy music, food vendors, family fun and a car show, on Saturday. Local bands, performing nightly at 6 M, include Non Friction, Hair Supply, The Esquires and City Heat. The music is free, and it’s always a fun time partying around the Mound on D Street.

Thursday, ArtWalk returns to Charleston’s downtown area as galleries open up to show off new works in the early evening.

Live Music is back at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. Friday it’s Matt Mullins. Saturday sees The Parchute Brigade at Charleston’s Bookstore/coffeehouse/art gallery institution.

If you are into GI Joe and don’t mind a long, long drive, this weekend the Hershey Toy Show takes place in Hershey, Pennsylvania. We went a few years ago, and it’s a great time, but we couldn’t make the schedule work to attend this year.

Please remember that the pandemic is not over yet. Many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding  while you’re out.

If you wanna hear something funny,  tune in to The AIR Wednesday night at 11 PM where we will offer up a new episode of The Comedy Vault, this time featuring an hour of Classic material from Richard Pryor.

If you’re up for going out, here are some suggestions for the rest of this week, roughly in order, but not divided by day. Since we’re running this feature early this week, there’s bound to be more cool things pop up…