This weekend on a shoestring

Thursday, May 2

• “The Megaphone Project is an interactive sound field, and as an installation it allows people to discover a game of sound and physical play: a world of private and public broadcast,” according to a website for the traveling installation. “25 striking-red megaphones of different shapes and sizes recreate the miracle of wireless tin can telephones and the joyful manipulations of voices that are naturally reinforced through simple acoustics. Voices then mysteriously and ambiguously return via our custom wireless audio network. The megaphones create an interactive performance field for both the public and the artists. In the field of megaphones, the audience creates a lively environment of play and enjoyment that is all their own invention.” The Megaphone Project visits Asheville at the Wesley Grant Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St. Presented by LEAF Schools and Streets. Free. Wed., May 1 through Fri., May 3. Free.

• Every Thursday, the Asheville Yacht Club, 87 Patton Ave., presents “kamikaze karaoke,” a new and treacherous take on the beloved bar pastime where participants have no control over the song and take the stage without knowing what selection they’ll perform. Good or bad, it’s sure to be … interesting. 9 p.m. Free.

• From a Clubland feature in this week’s Xpress, “Raleigh’s Hopscotch Music Festival is still months away, but organizers have put together a series of summer ‘road shows’ to highlight regional performers and keep the diverse indie festival on the forefront of music lovers’ minds. The tour stops at Emerald Lounge, 112 N. Lexington Ave., on Thursday, May 2 with Naked Gods, The Critters and Oulipo.” 9 p.m. $5.

AHA AVL presents Naked Gods from Shuffle Magazine on Vimeo.

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Friday, May 4

• The Asheville Herb Festival will offer common and unusual herbs, herbal extracts, medicinal products, herb-based foods and more at the WNC Farmers Market, 570 Brevard Road. From the festival’s website, “Whether you’re looking for herbal medicine, holistic treatment, herbal soaps and shampoos, gourmet cooking herbs, cookbooks or organic gardening information, you’ll find the products and experts you need. The annual festival has become an important annual gathering for herb enthusiasts and professionals from throughout the Southeast. ‘Many visitors return each year to visit with friends, shop for their favorite plants and products and have a good time surrounded by herbs,’ says festival founder Rick Morgan.’” Fri. and Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.

• From a Smart Bet in this week’s issue, “‘April is the cruelest month for poetry,’ Charles Berstein wrote in his essay/polemic, ‘Against National Poetry Month As Such.’ ‘National Poetry Month is about making poetry safe for readers by promoting examples of the art form at its most bland and its most morally positive.’ Asheville Wordfest, started in 2007 by Laura Hope-Gill, was not founded as counter-programming for National Poetry Month, but the event’s character does relieve Bernstein’s discomfort with limiting the acts of poetry — words, speech — to a kind of long holiday, an art form within quote marks. Wordfest recognizes the vitality and value of poetry (and prose and performance), no matter what month it is. This year’s participants include Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Cornelius Eady, John Lane, Keith Flynn, Evie Shockley (pictured) and N.C. Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti. Asheville Wordfest, May 3-4 at Lenoir-Rhyne University Center for Graduate Studies, 36 Montford Ave. See website for programs and more info.” Jaye Bartell

• The Juniper Bends Reading Series, a “quarterly literary reading series seeking to create a space for hard-working local writers to share their work with the world,” returns this weekend at Downtown Books and News, 67 N. Lexington Ave., featuring readings by Mandy Gardner, Rose McLarney, Collin Garrity and Jerry Stubblefield. Free to attend; wine by donation. Info: jessericeevans@gmail.com.

• From a Facebook page for the event, “The Controlled Chaos Film Festival was started for the purpose of showcasing the talented actors, filmmakers, audio recording engineers, composers and motion graphic students at Western Carolina University. The film festival is organized and run by the students of the School of Stage and Screen.” Check out what WCU has to offer when the festival kicks off in the university’s Bardo Performing Arts Center. 7 p.m. $10.

Saturday, May 4

• “GeekOut is Western North Carolina’s annual popular arts convention: a celebration of film, art, costuming, comics and animation in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains — home of The Hunger Games,” begins a website for the event. “The show draws fans from across the Southeast and features multiple tracks of programming, panels and gaming, a full performance schedule, celebrity guests and an exhibition hall for vendors and artists.” Held in UNCA’s Kimmel Arena. $10/$5 children under 12. See website for full schedule.

• From the APA website, “The Asheville Puppetry Alliance will celebrate this year’s National Day of Puppetry with the Asheville community. This downtown festival will feature a puppet parade, puppet shows, puppet-themed games and puppet making activities throughout the day at the Roger McGuire Green in downtown Asheville. This project receives support from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. It is also made possible by a generous donation from Heather Henson’s Ibex Puppetry.” 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.

Sunday, May 5

• “Grandma Presents and Zia Taqueria are partnering to bring you a free Cinco De Mayo festival in West Asheville,” invites an event page for the outdoor celebration. “Come out for a great lineup featuring The Critters, The Krektones, Big Nasty Jazz Band, Decent Lovers and Lyric. This is a family-friendly event with vendors, food and drinks outside, activities for the kids and giveaways all day!” 1-8 p.m. 521 Haywood Road.