Friday

Asilomar Conference Center becomes the Emerald City at the end of the Yellow Brick Road this weekend as it plays host to the International Wizard of Oz club’s 45th Winkie Convention. The festival includes presentations by L. Frank Baum expert Michael O. Riley, award-winning illustrator/writer Eric Shanower, and antique record expert Virginia Hawthorn; a ten-minute ballet; costume contests; trivia games; an auction; and displays of Wizard of Oz memorabilia. No rain predicted this weekend, so the Wicked Witch is safe to attend. Tickets range from $25/day for meeting sessions only to $201 for the whole weekend, including meals and all programs.

If you’re an antiques or collectibles buff, don’t miss the 52nd Annual Antiques and Collectibles Show and Sale at St. Mary’s Church in Pacific Grove, today through Sunday. 10am-5pm, $6.

It’s the opening night for Jazz at the Plaza at Carmel Plaza! Tonight enjoy wine from Pierce Ranch Vineyards while listening to the soulful jazz of singer Neal Banks and noshing on food from Bistro Beaujolais. 5pm-7pm, $15.

Modesto’s Fat Skeletons bring their early-Pink-Floyd-esque brand of indie to Jose’s on Wave Street in Monterey. Salinas female-led rockers My Refuge open, Terrence McManus headlines. 9pm, $5.

Saturday

The 52nd Annual Antiques and Collectibles Show and Sale continues at St. Mary’s Church in Pacific Grove. 10am-5pm, $6.

Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley offers a demonstration of lavender harvesting and a guided stroll through their gardens and vineyards, followed by a lavender-themed lunch. 11am-2pm, $85 includes lunch.

It’s the 25th anniversary of Earthbound Farm! Because it started as a raspberry farm, they’re celebrating with raspberry themed food and cooking demonstrations. There will also be games and crafts for the kids, as well as farm tours and live music. 11am-3pm, free.

Try four newly released wines, eat great barbecue and enjoy the music of Trusting Lucy at the Blackstone Bash BBQ, right off the 101 in the Salinas Valley. Noon-3pm. $10, call 866-626-WINE to reserve.

Get some exercise, learn about area history and do a good deed, all at the same time! On the Cooper Trail History Hike at Garland Ranch Regional Park, you’ll get the chance to learn the fascinating lore of the area as you beautify the signs and benches along the hike. 12:30pm, free. Meets at Garland Ranch Regional Park Visitor Center.

Spend an evening strolling through the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s exhibits while sipping wine or beer and listening to live jazz at Evenings by the Bay. You can even make dinner reservations for the Portola Restaurant. 6-8pm, included in the cost of admission.

’70s rock legend Poco plays Monterey’s Golden State Theatre. 8pm, $29, $39 and $59.

Buzzy lo-fi, jangly San Francisco indie act Photons sound a little like Arcade Fire and a little like the Magnetic Fields, with a splash of Modest Mouse and a dollop of Pianosaurus. They’ve been getting a lot of press buzz, and they appear tonight at Jose’s on Wave Street with local indie band Beezle. 9pm, $5.

Funky groovemeister Dave Stein plays Fernwood in Big Sur at 9pm.

Sunday

Get a preview of the Carmel Bach Festival’s lineup with a performance from baritone Tim Krol at All Saints Episcopal Church. 10:30am. Free.

The 52nd Annual Antiques and Collectibles Show and Sale wraps up at St. Mary’s Church in Pacific Grove. 11am-4pm, $6.

The Big Sur River Inn’s Sunday Music Series hosts Carlson Rae, who sound like a country-influenced Indigo Girls. 1pm.

Start warming up for the California Rodeo Salinas with the Cowboys and Cabernet Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Sherwood Hall in Salinas. The wine tasting begins at 1pm; open mic poetry begins at 1:45pm, and the professionals take to the stage at 2:30pm. $30 for the poetry, $10 for four wine tasting tickets, $5 for children 12 and under.

Blues singer Barbara Morrison headlines Seaside’s family-friendly Blues in the Park weekly event, kicking off today. Local artists Red Beans & Rice round out the bill. Dine on food from local vendors while cruising the arts and crafts on display. Laguna Grande Park, 1-4:30pm. Free.

The Henry Miller Library Second Sunday Concert Series continues with Santa Cruz psychedelic funksters Byron Space Circus, Oakland surf rockers The Pentacles, Tegan and Sara-influenced Los Angeles indie act The Lynx Technique and Ye Olde Panthers. 2pm.

Wrap up your weekend with a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Evenings by the Bay for jazz, wine and those amazing exhibits. 6-8pm, included in the cost of admission.

Still not enough to keep you busy? Discover even more events on the Monterey County Weekly’s calendar.

Travel website Kathika just named the Monterey Bay Aquarium one of the best aquariums for shark viewing, and with good reason. If you want to see sharks up close and personal, there’s no better place to do it than at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is the only aquarium that has ever exhibited either a great white shark or (as seen a few weeks ago) a rare prickly shark.

If you’re a shark fan, you’ll want to head over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and check out its new resident, a male sevengill shark. This shark, over seven feet long, resides in the Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit. (Check out this video of an aquarist feeding a shark of the same breed!) Sevengill sharks will eat almost anything, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but can go for weeks without eating.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is giving visitors an extra chance to admire the sevengill shark with its Evenings by the Bay, every Saturday and Sunday night from 6-8pm now through September 6. Enjoy wine or a beer, snacks, and live jazz music while wandering the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s exhibits. On Saturday nights, guests can also make reservations for dinner at the Portola Restaurant overlooking Monterey Bay.