Free Beer!

The Renaissance Festival is offering free beer tonight! Go to MOSI at 7:30 a.m. for free admission to the festival, plus free beer and a free showing of Animal House. Don't forget to wear your toga for the costume contest!

Free Manatee Talk at TB History Center

Catch a free talk about the fate of the sea-cow on Sunday when Craig Pittman, environmental reporter for the St. Pete Times speaks as part of the Florida Conversations series at the Tampa Bay History Center.

Pittman will discuss his latest book, Manatee Insanity: Inside the War Over Florida's Most Famous Endangered Species.

His previous book, Paving Paradise: Florida’s Vanishing Wetlands and the Failure of No Net Loss, was recognized by the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Pittman will talk from 3-6 p.m. in the History Center's TECO Hall. The talk is free and open to the public.

Hyde Park Art Fair

Hyde Park Village is holding an Art Fair on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. More than 100 artists will showcase their work, from life-size sculpture to paintings to ceramics to jewelry.

Free Rent ... Tickets, That Is

The tbt* is offering free tickets to a preview of "Rent" at 8 p.m. on April 13, part of the American Stage in the Park production.

The hit rock musical, based loosely on Puccini's La Bohème, follows the lives of a community of young artists, all struggling to get by in New York's East Village. Tickets are usually $11 to $27.

Performances are at Demens Landing Park, on the corner of 1st Avenue South and Bayshore Boulevard SE in downtown St. Petersburg.

Just e-mail giveaways@tbt.com with your first and last name and a mailing address.

Free Film and Reception at the Museum of Photographic Arts

The Florida Museum of Photographic Art will give a free screening of "Visual Acoustics," a documentary about architectural photographer Julius Shulman. There will be a free reception from 6 to 7 p.m. and the film will start at 7 p.m. If you like photography, and you like architecture, this film's for you.

Shulman photographed work by Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra and Frank Gehry.

Rock the Park Thursday

Rock the Park this Thursday with Peter Baldwin, The Hip Abduction and Cory Cottrell. The free concert in Curtis Hixon Park is open to all ages and runs from 6:30-9 p.m.

Free Concert, Despicable Movie

The weather has cleared up just in time for a free concert in Curtis Hixon Park tonight and a showing of "Despicable Me" on Saturday night in Al Lopez Park.

The Friday Extra Concert Series resumes tonight with a show by the O Som Do Jazz band. I work downtown, and I can already hear the openers (Larue Nichelson and Jeremy Powell) warming up. The show starts at 7 and goes through 9 p.m. Alcohol is not allowed, but well behaved pets are. Visit the city's website for a full concert lineup. Concerts will move to Lowry Park in May.

The Tampa Theatre will show "Despicable Me" as part of its Sunset Cinema series at Al Lopez Park on Saturday, April 2, at 8 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. The next showing is the new version of the "Karate Kid" on May 21, also in Al Lopez. Last year I caught "Where the Wild Things Are," as part of the series. I didn't care for the film, but the experience was fun. Just don't sit too close to the speakers.

This Sunday the Lowry Park band shell will be the setting for the Talking Animals Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be contests, bands, speakers on pet care, and what I'm most looking forward to ... soccer playing collies.

All three events allow you to bring your dogs! So, your pooch can enjoy Free Tampa this weekend, too.