This week in Stamford: Ja Rule and Ashanti close out Mill River Park, then the food festival takes the whole weekend

Morning, Stamford. Three weeks of Summer in the Park end Thursday night with Ja Rule and Ashanti, and then the park barely gets a day off before the Hey Stamford Food Festival moves in for Saturday and Sunday. Everything worth doing downtown this week happens inside the same twelve acres, which is either efficient or excessive depending on your parking situation.

Best for families this weekend: the Hey Stamford Food Festival at Mill River Park on Saturday and Sunday, free with advance registration and free for kids under 10, and the Harbor Point Farmers Market on Sunday.

Summer in the Park: Ja Rule and Ashanti at Mill River Park, 1010 Washington Boulevard, doors 5 PM and show at 7 PM. The two of them have never played Stamford together, which is a strange sentence given how much of 2002 they owned jointly. "Always On Time," "Mesmerize," "Foolish," "Livin' It Up." We Love R&B opens. This is the last of the Thursday night concerts, so the series that started in mid July ends here. Rain or shine. Tickets run $67.56 general admission and $136.19 for VIP, which buys a 4 PM entrance, a private bar, and premium standing near the stage. Ticketed, 21+, outdoors. Details.

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Alternative 90s Rock with the Social Zoo at T's Restaurant and Bar, 523 Pacific Street. A full night of 90s alternative played by people who clearly enjoy it. If Thursday's crowd skewed early 2000s, this is the five years just before. Ticketed, 21+, indoors. Details.

Pizza making class at CoCREATE, the GE Appliances micro manufacturing plant and showroom at 47 John Street in Harbor Point. A chef certified by the True Neapolitan Pizza Association walks you through Neapolitan dough and bake. Learning to make pizza inside an appliance maker's showroom floor is very Stamford, and it works. Ticketed, adults, indoors. Details.

Reggaeton Flow Mat Pilates and Sound Bath at Sala Tree Yoga House, 135 Atlantic Street, second floor, downtown. Old school reggaeton for the pilates half, then a sound bath to come down. A more honest Friday than it sounds. Ticketed, adults, indoors. Details.

Stamford Health is opening a children's emergency psychiatric unit in August, funded by a $1 million gift. The Bennett Child and Adolescent EmPATH Unit sits inside the Stamford Hospital Emergency Department and handles kids and teenagers in mental health crisis in a purpose built space rather than a standard ER bay. Patients can move into PATHways, a 12 week outpatient program, while they wait for longer term care. The Carl and Dorothy Bennett Foundation gave the $1 million and the unit carries their name; Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy helped secure federal money and state legislators covered operating costs. Dr. Raviv Berlin, chair of psychiatry at Stamford Health, called it meeting youth "where they are, when they need us most." The hospital's own community assessment ranks behavioral health as the number one unmet need in the city. Source: Patch.

The city is holding a virtual meeting on a bridge replacement, covering design, utility relocations, and detours. Worth twenty minutes if you drive the affected route, since the detour plan is the part that actually changes your commute. Source: Patch.

Orchestra Lumos and East Coast Contemporary Ballet are staging a free outdoor "Four Seasons" in Veterans Park on August 20. A string quintet playing reimagined Vivaldi with contemporary dance on top, choreographed by East Coast Contemporary Ballet founders Claire Mazza and Alejandro Ulloa, with Michael Stern conducting. Free, no registration, bring a chair. Source: Patch.

Hey Stamford Food Festival, day one at Mill River Park, entrance at Washington Boulevard and Broad Street. The ninth year of this, and the closing act of the whole Summer in the Park run. Regional food vendors, themed cocktail bars, live music and DJ sets, games, and attractions. Admission is free but you have to register in advance for a ticket; kids under 10 get in free with a ticketed adult. Downtown has more than 9,500 parking spaces across 15 lots and garages, so the park is the constraint, not the car. Bags have to be under 14 by 11 by 5 inches and backpacks are out. Rain or shine. Free with registration, all ages, outdoors. Details.

On the Shoulders of Giants at The Mead School, 1095 Riverbank Road. A show built around the people who came before, staged by a school that does this kind of thing sincerely. Ticketed, all ages, indoors. Details.

Open Flow Yoga at Harbor Point Triangle Park, Harbor Point. Sama Yoga runs an all levels outdoor flow, same as every Saturday this summer. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

Hey Stamford Food Festival, day two at Mill River Park, entrance at Washington Boulevard and Broad Street. Sunday needs its own free ticket even if you went Saturday. The vendor list turns over some between days, and the crowd is noticeably calmer before 3 PM. Free with registration, all ages, outdoors. Details.

Harbor Point Farmers Market at Harbor Point Square. Greens, dairy, fruit, prepared food, and flowers, every Sunday. If the festival wore you out, this is the low key version four minutes south. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

Dinner with Entrepreneurs meets Sunday, August 2 at a rotating restaurant downtown, with the venue revealed at RSVP. Small table, no pitch deck. Details.

Orchestra Lumos and East Coast Contemporary Ballet perform "The Four Seasons" free at Veterans Park, 130 Atlantic Street, Thursday, August 20 at 7 PM. First come seating, bring your own chair, local restaurants handling refreshments. Details.

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Cooper

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