• BENEFITS

Freeze Out Hunger Auction & Gala, Junior League of Portland, food, cocktails and music by the Retrospecticus Band. More info at www.jlpmaine.org. Ocean Gateway, 14 Ocean Gateway Pier, Portland. $45 in advance; $55 at the door. 5:30 to 10 p.m. Friday.

Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball, silent auction, hors d’oeuvres, dinner from Portland Pie and dancing to the New Orleans-style music of Papa Roux and the Delta Knights, to benefit Community Partners Inc. Semiformal. Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., Portland. $50 per person; $350 for table of eight, ticket info at portcitymusichall.com. 6 p.m. Saturday.

Winter ARTirondack Auction, handmade chairs for auction plus wine dinner to benefit Mahoosuc Arts; Sunday River (Peak Lodge), Newry. www.MahoosucArts.org. Saturday.

Hoops for Heart, games for children from noon to 2 p.m. followed by a 3-on-3 tournament for high school students from 2 to 4 p.m., benefits American Heart Association; St. Joseph’s College (Harold Alfond Center), Standish. $5/donation. 893-6615. 2 p.m. Sunday.

• FAIRS/FESTIVALS

FRIDAY

Winter Carnival, various locations, Old Orchard Beach. $10 for carnival button. www.oob365.com. 5 to 8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; 5:30 to 7 p.m. pub crawl Saturday.

Kittery Trading Post Kid’s Derby, ice fishing derby for children ages 12 and younger, Range Pond State Park, Poland. Free entry for derby; park admission is $1.50 for ages 12 to 64 and free for all others. Register at www.icefishingderby.com/maine/kids-derby. 9 a.m. to noon.

SATURDAY

WinterFest, with exhibits of antique snowmobiles, snowplows, snow blowers, sleighs, ice boats, dogsleds and toboggans, Owls Head Transportation Museum. $12; free for under age 18. 594-4418. Begins 9:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Ancient Ones, outdoor sports and gun show with a variety of displays and activities including tomahawk throwing and teepee set-up demonstrations, Augusta Armory. $5; free for children and military. 582-7178. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Winter Carnival, with snow adventures, games and refreshments, Bangor Public Library. Free. 947-8336. 11 a.m.

Winter Family Fun Day, with dogsled rides, ice harvesting, ice sculpting demonstrations, nature hikes and more, Aroostook State Park, Presque Isle. $1.50. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• SPECIAL EVENTS

TODAY

Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe, live version of Maine Public Broadcasting radio show, University of Maine (Collins Center for the Arts), Orono. $37. www.collinscenterforthearts.com. 7 p.m.

Laser Fest, Audio Visual Imagineering Laser System presents laser shows, some with rock music, University of Southern Maine (Southworth Planetarium), Portland. $5. Noon to 8 p.m. today and Friday; 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

FRIDAY

Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe, live version of Maine Public Broadcasting radio show, Merrill Auditorium, Portland. $42. www.porttix.com. 7:30 p.m.

Be Our Guest Wedding Show, wedding expo with music and refreshments, The Landing at Pine Point, Scarborough. Free; reservations required. 774-4527. 6 p.m.

SATURDAY

Longfellow “February Frostbite,” all-ages 2.5K road race in celebration of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s birthday, Congress Street, Portland. Free; participants are encouraged to wear Victorian winter or Longfellow costumes. longfellowchorus.com/frostbite. 8 a.m.

Longfellow’s Birthday Party, craft activities, prizes, cake and poetry readings, Maine Historical Society, Portland. Free. www.mainehistory.org. 10 a.m.

SUNDAY

Longfellow Days Tour, tour the house where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived from 1830 to 1832, Joshua Chamberlain House, Brunswick. Free. www.brunswickdowntown.com. Noon to 3 p.m.

“Winter Delivery,” exhibit of horse-drawn vehicles as an oil delivery wagon, school bus sleigh, and city and country sleighs, Skyline Farm, North Yarmouth. www.skylinefarm.org. 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Through March 27.

Antiques Show, with more than 50 dealers, Fort Andross, Brunswick. Free admission. 522-1977. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

TUESDAY

Japanese Doll Festival, kids can make their own paper dolls to carry away bad luck. Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, 142 Free St., Portland. www.kitetails.org. Free with $9 museum admission. 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

• BOOKS/AUTHORS

TODAY

Tom Segev, author of “Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends,” talks about his book, Colby College (Cotter Union), Waterville. Free. www.colby.edu. 7 p.m.

Beth Powning, “The Seacaptain’s Wife,” talks and signs copies of her book, Skidompha Library, Damariscotta. 10 a.m.

“Faithful Voices,” dramatic readings based on American social activists followed by discussion with author Ed Schwarz, Peace Action Maine (Meg Perry Center), Portland. Free. 6:30 p.m.

Lit, monthly literary event open to poetry, spoken word and more, Mayo Street Arts, Portland. $5 to $10/donation. www.mayostreetarts.org. 7 p.m.

FRIDAY

Renee Garrett, author of “One Man’s Roses,” talks about and signs copies of her book, Bangor Public Library. Free. 947-8336. 11 a.m.

SATURDAY

Birthday party, celebrate the bookstore’s 32nd anniversary and the release of “Artifacts of Ice Age Maine” by Stephen Petroff and “Medvedb’s Journal (revised and expanded)” by Kendall Merriam, Gulf of Maine Books, Brunswick. Free. 729-5083. 3 p.m.

SUNDAY

Longfellow Birthday Celebration: Robin Hansen, author, reads from “Ice Harbor Mittens”and Gary Lawless hosts an open poetry reading, Unitarian Universalist Church, Brunswick. Free. www.brunswickdowntown.com. 6:30 p.m.

Gail Donovan signs her most recent children’s book, “What’s Buggging Bailey Blecker?”, Cathedral Shop, St. Luke’s Cathedral, Portland. 772-5434. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

Brown Bag Lecture Series with Hannah Holmes, author of  “Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense of Your Peculiar Personality,” Portland Public Library. Free; bring your own lunch. 871-1710. Noon to 1 p.m.

• FILMS

TODAY

“The Sound of Jazz,” Rockland Public Library. Free. 6:30 p.m.

“Chocolat” (2000) and “Like Water for Chocolate” (1992), Sagadahoc Preservation’s Dreamland Theater, Winter Street Center, Bath. 7 p.m.

Random Movie Night, series in the Teen Lounge, Portland Public Library. www.portlandlibrary.com. 3:30 to 6 p.m.

Pizza and Social Concerns, film series of thought-provoking films coupled with pizza and discussion, Winthrop Center Friends Church. Free. 685-4797. “My Boy Jack” (2007), 6 p.m.

Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animation, Space Gallery, Portland. $6, $8. 828-5600. www.space538.org. 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY

Sierra Club film series, screening of the PBS documentary “Frogs: The Thin Green Line,” First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Kennebunk. Free. Dessert at 6:30 p.m., film at 7 p.m.

Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action, Space Gallery, Portland. $6, $8. 828-5600. www.space538.org. 7:30 p.m.

MONDAY

Israeli Society through the Lens of Film, Colby College (Lovejoy Building), Waterville. Free. www.colby.edu. “Vasermil” (2007), 7 p.m.

PARTICIPANT DANCE

Ballroom dancing, Maplewood Dance Center, Portland. 878-0584. 7 to 11 p.m. Friday; semi-formal dance party, 7:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday; 7 to 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Family contradance with The Two Fiddles Band, Community House, Kennebunkport. $2 to $7; $16 family maximum. 967-9916. 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday Night Dance Party, American Ballroom Dance Academy, Portland. Argentine tango lesson at 6 p.m., group lesson at 7 p.m., dance party 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday.