Football. Soccer. Futbol.

Whatever you call this game, Annapolis went a little gaga last spring for the inaugural season of the Annapolis Blues Football Club. The team set a National Premier Soccer League record for attendance at an opening match.

The season opens at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with the Community Shield Match against Maryland Bobcats FC of Montgomery County. The teams play in different leagues, so this is a preseason warmup for charity.

Regular season play begins May 17 against the Rough Diamonds in Alexandria, Virginia, with the first home game on June 1 against DMV Elite from Bladensburg.

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General admission tickets are $12 in advance, with discounts for children under 12 and groups of 10 or more.

Here’s a look at other great things to do in the coming week.

Flowers for mom

6:30-8 p.m Thursday

Mother’s Day is Sunday, and if you are looking for something to do in advance, you could take her to a class to make a flower arrangement. Or you could go and make one, then give it to her. Ta-da!

Maria Price of Beaver Creek Cottage Garden in Severn will teach the class using “old-fashioned” flowers, such as beauty bush, snowball viburnum, lilac, hyacinth, azalea, sweet william, and peonies from the Beaver Creek garden. The class is limited to 15. Cost is $85.

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Season finale

7:30 p.m. Friday

The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra wraps up its season with This Midnight Hour, featuring music by Joseph Haydn and Jean Sibelius, at Maryland Hall.

But the centerpiece is the composition by British American Anna Clyne that gives its name to the program by British-American composer Anna Clyne. NPR Music recently featured her during an interview with Tom Huizenga at her rural New York home.

The composer talked about her use of melody, which is often not the focus of some modern composers.

“I think it’s a way to connect human beings,” Clyne told NPR. “Perhaps a controversial statement is that music is a universal language, but there’s something about melody that connects to the human voice.”

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Tickets start at $33.50 plus taxes and fees, with student tickets available for $10.

Diaspora festival

11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday

Nine bands, three DJs, crafts, culture and food will fill the People’s Park on Calvert Street in the African Diaspora Festival.

A celebration of progress by people of African descent now in its seventh year, the event is a collaboration between the city of Annapolis and promoters DMV and Beyond LLC. The festival will feature offerings representing African American, Afro Caribbean, Afro Latino, and African influences.

Free admission.

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Music and food

Noon-10 p.m. Saturday

It’s not clear which is the bigger attraction at the Naptown Music Feast, the music or the food.

Six bands will headline the festival at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds in Crofton, with influences from reggae to Tom Petty to Jimmy Buffett, and some well-known local musicians. But there also will be 21 food trucks, games and craft vendors.

Tickets are $25 with discounts for purchases of four. Children 12 and under are free.

Historic plant sale

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

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Technically, you can visit the William Paca Garden Plant Sale on Saturday, buying plants grown by members of Historic Annapolis in the setting of the William Paca House and Gardens. But if you need something to do for Mother’s Day, and all the brunch spots are booked, this 50-year tradition of spring in Annapolis is a great alternative.

Historic Annapolis even offers an online catalog of the plants on sale at its website. Free admission.

Down south

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday

It’s a 40-minute drive from Annapolis to Honey’s Harvest Farm in Lothian, but the Muddy Creek Artists Guild makes it worth the trip with its Spring Artfest.

South County artists will present paintings, pottery, photography, jewelry, glass, mixed media, etching, textiles and sculptures for sale in the barn. Live music, a food truck, and a DIY art table will round out the event.

Admission is free. The festival continues next weekend.

Rick Hutzell

rick.hutzell@thebaltimorebanner.com

Rick Hutzell

Rick Hutzell is the Annapolis columnist for The Baltimore Banner. He writes about what's happening today, how we got here and where we're going next. The former editor of Capital Gazette, he led the newspaper to a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 2018 mass shooting in its newsroom.

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