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The Stoughton Fair continues through Sunday. - File photo

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A real American hero

Celebrate the Fourth of July with Robbie Fulks, a true American who plays independent-thinking alt-country that sneers at Nashville. He's playing a "Fourth of July Extravagonzo" at the High Noon Saloon, 701 E. Washington Ave. on Friday with Romantica, an Americana outfit from Belfast, Ireland by way of Minneapolis. Show starts at 9:30 p.m., tickets are $15, and Fulks is calling it a "special patriots-only gala" -- you've been warned, Madison.

Good clean fun

The Stoughton Fair continues through Sunday at the Stoughton Fairgrounds in Mandt Park.

The fair, which started Wednesday, July 2, does not serve alcohol and bills itself as "a great community event which strives to provide good clean family entertainment to people of all ages and economic backgrounds."

In addition to the carnival, there will be a variety of events, including pizza and pie eating contests, FFA activities and a demolition derby, as well as fireworks on Friday and Sunday nights.

The Stoughton Fair, which annually draws more than 40,000 exhibitors and visitors, does not charge for admission or parking but does charge for individual grandstand events. Visit the Web site, www.stoughtonfair.com, for more info.

Historic walk and talk

If Saturday mornings are too early for those who want to wander and learn about Madison, perhaps the evening hour has more appeal.

The Madison Trust for Historic Preservation begins its
Twilight Tours on Thursday, July 3 with a stroll up and down King Street and the area. Learn about Madison's log cabin beginnings over 150 years ago on what became one of the city's main streets. The tour meets by the granite arch at Webster, Doty and King streets and the fee of $5 includes a drink at The Local after the tour.

The Twilight Tours run Thursday nights throughout July. The July 10 tour is Mansion Hill East (meet in the Edgewater Hotel lobby, free drink after at the Edgewater's Pier Cafe). The July 17 tour is Mansion Hill West (meet at the Plaza Tavern and Grill, free drink after at the Plaza). The July 24 tour is at University Heights (meet outside the Bradley House at 106 N. Prospect Ave., free drink at the Froth House). The July 31 tour is State Street (meet outside the Wisconsin House of Cheese, 107 State St., free drink at the Orpheum Lobby Restaurant).

All tours begin at 6 p.m. and are free to members of the Madison Trust. For more information, go to www.madisontrust.org.

The kids wanna rock

The promoters behind The Journey Music, the erstwhile all-ages venue across from Camp Randall, are still working hard to get music to the kids. On Saturday, July 5, The Journey Music is holding a fundraising concert for
VH1's Save the Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to "restoring instrumental music instruction in America's public schools."

Twelve rock bands from the greater Madison area play 3 to 10 p.m. at Grundahl Park, 400 Blue Mound St., in Mount Horeb: Apparently Nothing, Noris, Sophia's Revenge, Gangstellas, The Readiness, As Above So Below, The Telos Ascent, Pasilora, Serianna, Flatley's Crutch, Jeremy Wow and Before Tomorrow Fails. Free admission, but donations encouraged.

Godfather of spoken word

See Amiri Baraka, "the Godfather of Spoken Word," speak at the Wisconsin Union Theater (800 Langdon St.) at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 7. The free "lit-hop" lecture/performance kicks off the 3rd Annual Spoken Word & Hip-Hop Educator's Institute, running on the UW-Madison campus until July 11. Baraka, 73, has had a controversial career that's taken him from beat poet to jazz critic to professor and back again to poet. David Horowitz listed Baraka in his book "The Professors: the 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America." Most recently, Baraka was New Jersey's poet laureate and collaborated with hip-hop group the Roots on their 2002 album "Phrenology."

Folk is not extinct

What sort of music exists exactly halfway between country-blues and progressive metal? Apparently, judging by San Francisco duo The Dodos, it's psychedelic folk. The duo consists of a light-fingered guitarist/vocalist named Meric Long and a heavy-handed drummer named Logan Kroeber.

Think Elliott Smith being backed up by Dave Grohl and you've got some sense of the pair's invigorating, offbeat and strangely mesmerizing sound. Touring behind the new, apparently un-spellchecked album "Visiter," The Dodos are playing a free show at the UW Memorial Union Terrace (800 Langdon St.) at 8 p.m. next Wednesday, July 9.

It's a blast

The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra's Concerts on the Square performance next Wednesday will be full of a little hot air. The WCO is celebrating the trumpet with a guest performance by trumpeter Ryan Anthony, a former member of the Canadian Brass.

The program features the famed "William Tell Overture" and Arban's "Carnival of Venice." The performance starts at 7 p.m., and, of course, all the prime lawn spots will be snapped up much earlier than that. Check www.wcoconcerts.org for more information, including checking just after 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 9, to make sure inclement weather hasn't postponed the show.

Bring the missus

The Monona Community Festival, which features everything from a hole-in-one contest and "wife carry" competition to live music and the annual July 4 fireworks show, runs Thursday and Friday at Winnequah Park.

From 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 3, unlimited carnival rides are available for $15. Friday's schedule includes an art fair from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a kids' bike parade at 11:30 a.m., Taste of Monona from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the wife carry contest at 6 p.m.

According to the official rules, participants in the wife carry contest can carry their own wife, a neighbor's or someone else weighing at least 105 pounds. Gender doesn't matter either: "This is Dane County, she does not have to be a she, nor does the team need to be gender diverse."

The Fourth of July fireworks show starts at dusk, about 9:20 p.m. For more information, go to www.mononafestival.com.