The annual New York Metro Balloon Festival kicks things off on Friday, with a huge midway featuring rides, games and food. All weekend, there will be concerts and shows for kids -- not to mention the sometimes awe-inspiring hot air balloons that inflate daily between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and again between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Admission for adults is $25, kids between five and eleven are $15 and children under five are free. For a quieter Friday evening, the Long Island Banjo Society is giving a free concert at Sunset Park in Port Washington.

More likely to spark your tween's musical interest this weekend is the Jonas Brothers Band, who are in the area this weekend performing a number of shows. If you missed their free concert in Bryant Park this morning, they'll be performing at Jones Beach on Friday night. If you've got some deep pockets, they will also be performing a benefit concert at the Ross School in East Hampton on Saturday where tickets are $1,500. No, that's not a typo.

Starting on Saturday morning and running all weekend, the Paumanauke Powwow is taking place at Tanner Park in Copaigue. This Native American celebration of Mother Earth will feature music, dancing and food as well as some audience participation shows and a craft fair. Tickets are $8 for adults, $4 for kids over the age of five. Also beginning Saturday and running through Sunday is the Massapequa Summer Festival, where Park Boulevard is closed down for rides, games and entertainment.

If the opening of the Summer Olympics today in China has you in the Olympian spirit, the Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in Smithtown is hosting the Animal Olympics on Saturday morning. Games and activities with an animal theme are intended for children five and over. At Hempstead Lake State Park, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation is sponsoring a freshwater fishing clinic. Kids will get to see presentations on fishing at the lake and get to try their hand at catching a bite. Rods and bait are provided, and there will be contests for casting. For a nice picnic at an outdoor concert, check out Shorefront Park in Patchogue where a number of acts will be performing a show of blues, jazz and folk music starting at 7:00 p.m.

If you're heading for the Balloon Festival on Sunday, you can also check out a pair of events on either side of William Floyd Parkway. To the north, the Brookhaven National Laboratory is running their summer Sundays tours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. To the south, the Long Island Live Steamers are hosting one of their twice-monthly run days at Southaven Park.

The Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages in Stony Brook is hosting a fair called 'A Shore Thing' on Sunday from noon to five. There will be many beach-themed activities including sand castle building and frisbee throwing. There will also be pony rides and a sea creature touch tank. If the horse-drawn carriages at Stony Brook only whet your appetite for early twentieth century Americana, head west to Sagamore Hill where musician Rich Bala will perform traditional American folk music in the shadow of Teddy Roosevelt's home at 2:00 p.m.