HOT TICKETS

The Hot Air Balloon Quest is from 4 to 11 p.m. at Scotland Meadows Park, 304 S. Scotland Ave., New Castle, Pa.. It continues through Sunday. Call (724) 650-5252 for information.

Mercer Community Band kicks off Mercer’s 21st annual Victorian Weekend with a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Mercer County Courthouse Square. There also will be an old-fashioned ice cream social.

Hermitage Arts Festival, a celebration of visual and performing arts, begins with a concert by the Maxx Schang Band at 7 p.m., followed by a movie, “RV” starring Robin Williams. All activities will be at the Rodney White Olympic Park, behind Hermitage Municipal Building, 800 N. Hermitage Road, Hermitage, Pa.. The event continues from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday with music and other entertainment and arts-and-crafts-vendors.

Playing on area stages:

Kent-Trumbull Summer Stock’s production of “The King and I” will be presented this weekend and July 24-26. Show times are 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $12 for adults ($10 for seniors, students and children). Call the box office at (330) 675-8887.

“Close 2 U” will be staged at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Oakland Center for the Arts, 220 W. Boardman St., Youngstown. For tickets, call (330) 330-1974 or go to spanishevangelical.org. This is the second original drama by local playwright and director David Anthony.

“Barefoot in the Park” at 7:30 p.m. at Youngstown Playhouse, 600 Playhouse Lane, Youngstown. Call (330) 746-0404.

The Pig Iron Street Festival, a free, family-friendly event, will run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on North Phelps Street, between Commerce and Federal streets, downtown. It will feature an artist and crafts bazaar and nonstop entertainment on a stage from 1 to 9 p.m. The talent show will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. To register, call (330) 747-6932. Entertainment will include music, dance and other acts. Community organizations will set up explanatory exhibits, and concessions will be available. The festival is sponsored by Pig Iron Literary & Art Works.

Guys Without Ties will perform at 7 p.m. at Lowellville Gazebo, Water Street, Lowellville.

Following June plays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Tod Park, Lawrence Avenue, Girard.

Jim Frank Combo tunes up at 6:30 p.m. at Vienna Township Park, off of Belmont Avenue, Vienna.

Freedom Brass Band takes to the stage from 6 to 8 p.m. at Waterworth Memorial Park, 866 Sunset Blvd., Salem.

Gary Puckett will perform at 8 p.m. July 31 in the Grande Ballroom at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort. He is one of the few artists whose first five releases went gold; Puckett and the Union Gap sold more records than The Beatles in 1968. Their release “Young Girl” not only was a hit in the United States but re-issued in England where it reached No. 1 six years after its release in the United States. Tickets are $9.95 and can be bought online at mrtgaming.com.k

Progressive rock group Orbs will take to the stage at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Smiling Moose, 1306 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh. General-admission tickets are $10 in advance and at the door and through Ticketmaster outlets. The show for all ages also will feature Sunlight Ascending of Detroit and Elephant of Pittsburgh.