Today’s entertainment picks:

July 30, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

v Greater Youngs-town Italian Festival, 3 to 11 p.m.: Annual event is sprawled along West Federal Street in Downtown Youngstown; youngstownitalianfest.org.

v “As You Like It,” 6 p.m.: Shakespeare in the park at Morley Pavilion, at Mill Creek Park’s Wick Recreation Area, McCollum Road, Youngstown; admission is free.

v Atomic Punks, 6 p.m.: Opening for this Van Halen tribute band will be Testify, a Stevie Ray Vaughn tribute act. Warren Community Ampitheater, 303 Mahoning Ave., Warren; riverrockattheamp.com.

v “Kidz on Broadway,” 7 p.m.: Stage Left Players theater camp participants put on a show for the public at Trinity Playhouse, 234 E. Lincoln Way, Lisbon; 330-831-7249.

v “Highway to Canaan,” 5 p.m.: World premiere of an opera about the Underground Railroad composed by Youngstown native J LanYe. Tickets are $10 at the door. First Unitarian Church, 21600 Shaker Blvd., Shaker Heights.

“age of dragons” (9 p.m., syfy): Hey, don’t diss Danny Glover for appearing in the cheesy, low-budget film “Age of Dragons.” Like all of us, the man has bills to pay.

for a complete list of television programming, see tv week insert.

LOCAL TOPICS ON TV

“Community Connection” (7 a.m. Sunday on 21 WFMJ-TV, and 10 a.m. Tuesday on Time Warner Cable community access channel): The Down Syndrome Association of the Valley is preparing for its fifth annual Buddy Walk at the Boardman Park Shops. Kelly Donnadio will join host Madonna Chism Pinkard to talk about the walk and how the community can participate.

Next, Cheryl Gayles and Angel Bennett of the Trumbull County Women Infants and Children (WIC) program will share information on World Breastfeeding Awareness Month.

Finally, the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative will discuss a call to action of community elected officials to combat city blight. Chris Travers of the Seventh Ward Coalition and Sybil West of the Bennington Block Watch will discuss how neighbors can participate in cleanups and play an active role in city government.

“Increase the Peace” (6:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday on MyYTV): Host Andrea Mahone will be joined by Neoma McDowell, who will discuss a bus trip to the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28.

Also, Earlina Gilford-Weaver will discuss her stage production, “Who Will Wipe My Tears Away,” which she wrote and will direct. It will be performed at Powers Auditorium on Aug. 27.

“Sunday Morning with Dee” (8 a.m. Sunday on WKBN-TV 27): Host Dee Crawford will be joined by Ronald Chordas, associate provost for university outreach at Youngstown State University. He will discuss the programs offered by YSU’s Metro College.

entertainment news

No ‘Hard Knocks’

HBO said Friday the uncertainty of the NFL lockout “made it impractical for a team to commit” to “Hard Knocks,” the popular training- camp reality show. The series is set to return next year.