The second-best weekend begins

This is Great Lakes Folk Festival weekend and that's good news.

I'd say it's the second-best time of year, trailing only Christmas. It would be the first-best, if it included presents and the prospect of lemon squares and/or religious redemption.

The beauty of the festival involves its sweet spirit and endless choices. You can choose from four stages and more. My favorite is a blanket in East Lansing's Valley Court Park, letting the sounds soak in. Here are a few of my guesses in advance:

1) Hottest band: Grupo Fantasma. It's an 11-piece Latino group, with salsa instruments and young funk instincts. And Prince is a fan.

2) Sweetest sound: Very possibly Asani, the three-woman group, singing in Cree. The sample CD I heard only has one cut per group, but the Asani one was gorgeous.

3) More sweetness: Michele Choiniere sings beautifully. I never know what those French are singing about, but it seems to be something nice.

4) More zest: I keep hearing good things about Dominique Dupuis, the 20-year-old French-Canadian fiddler, and about Back of the Moon, the Scottish band. They sound promising, and there's one group I can pretty much guarantee: A few years ago, Hot Club of Cowtown had a great folk-fest performance. Now two-thirds of that group -- fiddler-singer Elana James and guitarist Whit Smith -- is back, simply billed as Elana James.

5) Band most likely to remind Mike of his childhood: Eric Noltkamper, the polka player with roots in St. Louis, Wisconsin and Cleveland. Hey, few people had idyllic childhoods.

6) Bonus benefit: Native American basket-weaving is amazingly good. Catch it at the festival; then go across the street and see an exhibit at the MSU Museum; it has some great stuff.

7) End of Earl snipes: Everyone likes to have a villain named Earl; the Dixie Chicks, NBC and the movie "Waitress" all take their shots. We'll have to quit that now, though. Earl Otchingwanigan -- a man of skill, knowledge and humor -- is a pleasure to meet. He'll get a heritage award Saturday and there will be a State Journal story Sunday. Meanwhile, we'll need another name to give to all our villains.

8) Many of the things above are just guesses. I'll blog my comments after the festival closes Sunday; please attach yours.