Weekend Picks -- Free Summer Shows, Mozart, Train Rides, and More

Is it the first weekend of August already? You've got just one month of hazy, crazy days of summer left. Make the most of them. Here are our top event picks for the weekend of August 1-3, 2008:

• Central Park SummerStage -- On Friday, check out the moves of DanceBrazil and Max Pollak and RumbaTap. On Saturday, it's the Ray Hargrove Big Band and Sunday's show features a line-up of urban funk, soul and R&B.



• Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center -- The Mostly Mozart Festival runs through August 23rd. This weekend, catch two performances by the Mostly Mozart Festival orchestra with Christine Oelze. On Sunday, see the NYC debut of British conductor Edward Gardner, leading the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in a concert performance of Mozart’s opera La clemenza di Tito.



• Weekend Street Fairs and Festivals -- Hit the streets this weekend for great street fairs downtown, midtown, and uptown.



• New York Transit Museum Nostalgia Train -- Take a ride on a vintage “Train of Many Colors” (post WW-II IRT “SMEE” cars in a rainbow of colors) from Grand Central to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, then North to Van Cortland Park in the Bronx and back to Grand Central. This nostalgia ride celebrates 100 years of subway service to 242nd Street-Van Cortlandt Park. Trains leave from the main concourse between 10AM and 5PM. Admission is $30, $10 for kids. Call 718-694-1867 for more information.



• Audra Rox in Concert -- Take the little ones to the Children's Museum of Manhattan on Sunday to rock out with kiddie-rock fave Audra Rox as the band performs sing-along melodies inspired by broken toys, sugar highs, and short attention spans. Or stop by the museum on Friday evening for Target Free First Friday and get in free from 5-8pm.



• CityParks Theater in Marcus Garvey Park -- See free performances of Ain't Supposed to Die A Natural Death presented by The Classical Theatre of Harlem and The Last Year in the Life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Rock Operetta presented by Waterwell.



• Summer in Little Italy Festival -- Wander the streets of Little Italy this weekend. Every weekend this summer, cars are banned and Little Italy's best eateries offer special treats for passersby.



• Take A Cool Dip -- Take a dive into one of New York City's public or hotel swimming pools and cool off this weekend. Looking for something a little different? Splash around in the East River with the Floating Pool Lady in her seven-lane swimming pool moored off of the beach in Brooklyn Bridge Park.