• BENEFITS

TODAY

Fashionable Giving for Life Fashion Show, benefit for Family Crisis Services, Avant Dance & Event Center, Westbrook. $10, $20 at door. 329-6318. 5:30 to 9 p.m.

“Evening in Spain,” dinner/auction benefitting McAuley Residence, Italian Heritage Center, Portland. $50. 879-3486. 6 to 9 p.m.

SATURDAY

Costume Sale, benefits drama club activities, Deering High School, Portland. 874-8260. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain date is Sunday).

Boots, Band and BBQ Benefit, food, live music and auction, Riding to the Top Therapeutic Riding Center, Windham. $50. 892-2813. Call for time.

The Toughcats, indie-folk benefit concert for local hunger relief in Unity, Unity Centre for the Performing Arts. $15. 948-7469. 7:30 p.m.

Project FEED Empty Bowl Supper, homemade soups, chowders and dessert, Woodfords Congregational Church, Portland. $10; includes meal and a bowl. 797-4494. 4:30 to 7 p.m.

“Out of the Darkness,” community walk for suicide prevention, Payson Park, Portland. 490-2948. 10 a.m. to noon.

Fair Trade Open House, handmade baskets, jewelry, toys, clothing, puzzles, books, bags and more; benefits developing nation’s artisans; Faith Lutheran Church, Windham. 415-9742. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Lay Down Your Sword and Shield,” music, song and spoken word, benefits War Registers League, Brackett Church, Peaks Island. 664-8037. 7 p.m.

Midnight Explore, dinner and paranormal exploration of the Rufus Flye Building, benefits the Pemaquid Watershed Association, Salt Bay Cafe, Damariscotta. $45. 380-4677. 9 p.m.

SUNDAY

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, non-competitive walk to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research, education and advocacy, Monument Square, Portland. (800) 227-2345. 11 a.m.

“Hope in the Key of Pink,” CD-release concert by several female musicians to benefit breast cancer awareness, One Longfellow Square, Portland. $5. onelongfellowsquare.com. 3 p.m.

“Chocolate to the Rescue,” benefits Friends of Feral Felines, Thrifty Kitty Thrift Store, Portland. 797-3014. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fall Foliage Run Ride, 15- and 50-mile distance bicycle rides, benefits Camp Susan Curtis, Northport Business Park, Portland. $35 to $90. susancurtisfoundation.org. 8 a.m.

• FAIRS/FESTIVALS

York Village Annual Marketfest, parade, historical performances, bluegrass jam, craft fair, market fair and more, York Village Green. yorkvillagemaine.com. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Saco Spirit Annual Pumpkin Harvest Festival, live music, games, costume contests and more, downtown Saco. sacospirit.com. 10 a.m. Saturday.

New Gloucester Community Fair, car show, parade, live music, kids’ tent, crafts tent, fireworks and more, New Gloucester Fairgrounds. Free. newgloucesterfair.com.10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

Fall Festival, hay climbing, horse team demonstrations, pumpkin decorating, hayrides and live music, Wolfe’s Neck Farm, Freeport. $6; $20 per family. 865-4469. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

27th Annual Harvestfest & Kidsfest, live bands, ox roast, 200 vendors, children’s activities, hayrides and more, York Beach. Call for cost: 363-4422. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Annual Harvest Fest, hay rides, scarecrow building, family pumpkin carving, pumpkin bowling, candy-apple making, pony rides, face painting and more, Castonguay Square, downtown Waterville. 680-2055. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Annual Octoberfest, apple-cider making, plowing, rock-splitting, games, wagon rides and more, Abenaki Draft Horse Club, Lyman. $5; $3 for children. 499-7436. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Third Annual Yarmouth Art Festival, works from 75 artists for sale, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Yarmouth. Free admission. yarmouthartfestival.com. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday.’

• SPECIAL EVENTS

TODAY

Dinner with the Pirates, Portland Pirates coaches, players and Ice Girls will be guest servers, Ri Ra Irish Pub, Portland. Menu prices. 761-4446. 7 p.m.

Haunted Hayrides, reservations suggested, next to Scarborough Downs. $13; $9 for children. Call for times: 885-5935.

FRIDAY

Full Dome Double Feature, “Two Small Pieces of Glass” and “IBEX,” shows about the history and science of telescopes and the solar system’s outer edge, USM Southworth Planetarium, Portland. $5, $6. 780-4249. 7 and 8:30 p.m.

“The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow,” Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers performance for kids, Fryeburg Academy. $8; $4 for children. 935-9232. 7 p.m.

“Slant,” Telling Room storytelling series, writers, performers and notable community members tell 10-minute stories to a live audience without notes or props; all ages; Space, Portland Free. space538.org. 7:30 p.m.

“The Jungle Book,” rhythmic reinterpretation performed for and by children, Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, Portland. $8, $9. 828-1234. 4 p.m. Friday; 1 p.m. Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday.

SATURDAY

Met Opera Live, screening of Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena,” Lincoln Theater, Damariscotta. $23; $21 for seniors. atthelincoln.org. 12:55 p.m.; pre-opera talk with Morton Archer at 11:45 a.m.

Met Opera Live, screening of Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena,” Strand Theatre, Rockland. $27. rocklandstrand.com. 12:55 p.m.

Met Opera Live, screening of Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena,” Fryeburg Academy. $18 to $26. 935-9232. 1 p.m.

Maine Paranormal Society Presentation, learn how professionals hunt ghosts, Dyer Library, Saco. Free. dyerlibrarysacomuseum.org. 2 p.m.

“Great American Popular Singers,” WGBH radio host Michael Lund talks about Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Capitol and Decca records and more, Bangor Public Library. Free. 947-8336. 3 p.m.

Giant Book Sale, Falmouth Memorial Library. 781-2351. 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Michael Cooper, Masked Marvel,” masks, mime and storytelling, UMaine Lincoln Auditorium, Farmington. $10; $5 ages 16 and under. 778-3722. 7 p.m.

Second Annual Pumpkin Patch Express, train ride, hayride, cider, cookies and pumpkins, Boothbay Railway Village. $10. 633-4727. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Moon Witch,” Halloween show for the entire family, UMaine Southworth Planetarium, Portland. $4, $6. 780-4249. 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Cat Show and Christmas Craft Fair, Nasson Community Center, Springvale. $5; $4 for ages 6 to 12. 373-0470. 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

SUNDAY

Dinner in the Forest, three-course dinner featuring locally grown and themed cuisine, Viles Arboretum, Augusta. $50. 626-7989. 3 to 6 p.m.

125th Anniversary Celebration of the Benz, demonstrations of 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen and more, Seal Cove Auto Museum. $5; $2 for ages 12 and under. sealcoveautomuseum.org. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Farm to Farm Ultra Run, long-distance road-running event in Brunswick and Freeport, starts at Wolfe’s Neck Farm, Freeport. farmtofarmultrarun.com. 10 a.m.

TUESDAY

Port Veritas Spoken Word Night, New Hampshire poet Derek Avila and open-mic poetry, Local Sprouts Cooperative, Portland. $3, $5. www.localsprouts.coop. 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

Earth Science Day, Maine State Museum, Augusta. Free. 287-2301. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• FILMS

TODAY

“In Good Time: The Piano Jazz of Marian McPartland” (2011), Portland film premiere of documentary, Hannaford Hall, USM, Portland. $10. usm.maine.edu/music. 6:30 p.m.

Reel Rock Film Tour, Big Easy, Portland. $10, $12. 775-2266. 6 to 9 p.m.

“The Interrupters” (2011), documentary about violence in our cities, Space, Portland. $7. space538.org. 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY

“Life in a Day” (2011), user-generated, feature-length documentary shot on a single day, Portland Museum of Art. $7. space538.org. 7 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Through Oct. 30.

SATURDAY

Banned Book Film Festival: “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962), Portland Public Library. Free. portlandlibrary.com. 1:30 p.m.

SUNDAY

“The Boys of St. Columb’s” (2009), film screening and lecture with filmmaker Maurice Fitzpatrick, Maine Irish Heritage Center, Portland. Free/donation. 232-2001. 2 p.m.

MONDAY

Ann Arbor Film Festival, international shorts, College of the Atlantic (McCormick Lecture Hall), Bar Harbor. Free. 288-5015. 8 p.m.

“Orbit” (2011), 80-minute movie about the solar system, USM Southworth Planetarium, Portland. $8; $6 for ages 12 and under. space538.org. 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday. Through Oct. 23.

“The Boys of St. Columb’s” (2009), film screening and lecture with filmmaker Maurice Fitzpatrick, St. Joseph’s College (Viola George Auditorium), Standish. Free. 839-7723. 7 p.m.

• BOOKS/AUTHORS

TODAY

Language Arts Live, fiction reading by Laura Van Den Berg, Bates College (Edmund S. Muskie Archives), Lewiston. Free. 786-6256. 7:30 p.m.

Mystery Month of Maine Crime Authors, featuring Dorothy Cannell, author of “She Shoots to Conquer,” Lithgow Public Library, Augusta. Free. 626-2415. 6:30 p.m.

Lily King, author of “Father of the Rain,” North Yarmouth Academy, Higgins Hall, Yarmouth. nya.org. 7 p.m.

SATURDAY

John McDonald, best-selling author, storyteller and radio personality, Muskie Community Center, Waterville. $10. 873-4745. 7 p.m.

Book Launch Party with Kate Shaffer, author of “Desserted: Recipes and Tales from an Island Chocolatier,” Fairwinds Florist, Blue Hill. 374-5621. 4 to 6 p.m.

Joyce Stoddard Adrian, author of “Now I’ve Seen Everything: Growing up in Maine in the 1940s and 1950s,” Methodist Church, West Cumberland. 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

SUNDAY

Five Authors Reading from “A Maine Haiku Anthology,” Camden Public Library. 236-3440. 2 p.m.

MONDAY

“Let’s Talk About It,” monthly book and discussion group; topic: “Civil War Fiction,” Portland Public Library. Free. 871-1700, Ext. 728. 5 to 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

Mystery Author Series, featuring Vicki Doudera, author of the Darby Farr Mystery Series, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick. 725-5242. 7 p.m.

Poetry Reading, by Roger Finch, Maine senior poet laureate, York Public Library. Free. 363-2818. 7 p.m.

Maine Poet Laureate Wesley McNair, Thornton Oaks, Brunswick. 729-8033. 4 p.m.

Geoffrey Wolff, author of “The Hard Way Around: The Passage of Joshua Slocum,” Patten Free Library, Bath. 443-9451. 7 p.m.

Carolyn Cooke, author of “Daughters of the Revolution,” College of the Atlantic (McCormick Lecture Hall), Bar Harbor. 288-5015. 4:10 p.m.

• DANCE

Contradance, Town Hall, Bowdoinham. $9. 666-3090. 8 to 11 p.m. (beginner’s lesson at 7:30 p.m.) Saturday.

Ecstatic Dance, with DJ, The Awake Collective, Portland. $10 to $20. theawakecollective.com. 10 a.m. to noon Sunday.

Community Folk Dance, traditional music and dance from the Balkans, Israel, France and Greece, Mallett Hall, Pownal. $5. 688-2293. Family dance at 5:30 p.m.; folk dance at 7 p.m. Sunday.