(Lyme) Street party

Clear you calendar for Saturday. And make sure you have Friday night free, too.

Old Lyme Midsummer Festival is back, and it’s got its usual jam-packed mix of activities, leaning heavily on art.

As has become tradition, a free concert will be held Friday on the Florence Griswold Museum lawn to kick off the festival. This year’s show stars Connecticut State Troubadour Nekita Waller, who performs Motown, pop, soul and original music.

Come Saturday, the Lyme Street area is buzzing with activity. Vendors gather on the Lyme Art Association lawn from 10 a.m-4 p.m. A classic car show will run 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Bee & Thistle Inn; the show is the work of the Lyme-Old Lyme Lions Club. A family fun station will be a 10 a.m.-3 p.m. event on the Florence Griswold lawn, where local youth musicians will also perform from noon-3 p.m., in an event presented by MusicNow Foundation.

There’s still more! Mass-ConnFusion plays at 11 a.m. at Old Lyme Inn, the Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library holds its annual book sale, and canines strut their stuff at the Parading Paws Dog Show on the Flo Gris grounds (registration is 10-10:30 a.m., with judging at 10:45).

For a complete list of events and more details, visit www.oldlymeartdistrict.com.

Old Lyme Midsummer Festival, various venues in Lyme Street area, Old Lyme; includes kickoff concerts at 7 p.m. Friday, and festival 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; www. oldlymeartdistrict.com.

PHOTOS BY DANA JENSEN/ THE DAY The Parading Paws Dog Show, on the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum, Above, is an annual event at the Old Lyme Midsummer Festival . On the cover, Rene Dion of Westerly models for Dan Truth of Mystic at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts During last Year's Festival. Truth is an alumnus of the academy.