American Music Festival

VIRGINIA BEACH – The 10th Annual Verizon Wireless American Music Festival on Labor Day Weekend, Aug. 29 through Sept. 1, has begun selling Passport Pins. The pins, which normally sell for $15, grant access to all the headlining concerts on the Fifth Street stage.

&uot;For a limited time, the pins cost only $10,&uot; said Bobby Melatti, Director of BeachEvents, &uot;in honor of the 10th anniversary. This special opportunity is sponsored by The Virginian-Pilot and Pilotonline, which also polled readers to determine which performers we should have return to help us commemorate this special year.&uot;

This year’s headlining artists are Isaac Hayes, The Commodores, Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm, Little River Band, The Goo Goo Dolls (presented by The Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon) and Kansas.

Sprite Liquid Mix Tour

Sprite and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has announced the Sprite Liquid Mix Tour with most tickets priced at just 10 bucks! The area concert will take place Sept. 3 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

Main stage artists include: Critically and commercially acclaimed producers/artists N.E.R.D. (aka the Neptunes) coming with their blend of hard hip-hop beats, psychedelic pop, classic rock and new wave; O.A.R., one of the most successful indie bands ever with a mind-blowing number of devotees; prolific press darlings and Grammy winners, The Roots; the thought-provoking and positive hip-hop icon, Talib Kweli; and inspired pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph and The Family Band. Second Stagers will be announced at a later date.

Philadelphia 76ers vs.

New Orleans Hornets

Norfolk – Tickets to go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 for the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Orleans Hornets National Basketball Association preseason game at the Constant Center at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20. Tickets can be purchased at the Constant Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, on-line at ticketmaster.com, or by calling (757) 671-8100. The Philadelphia 76ers are lead by Hampton Roads native Allen Iverson. This marks the first time that Iverson has played a professional game in Hampton Roads since 1997. Former ODU great Kenny Gattison makes his return to the Constant Center, where he served as an assistant coach last season.

CNU Alumni Society 5K race

The Christopher Newport University Alumni Society will host its third annual 5K race Saturday, Sept. 6, to raise money for scholarships. Co-sponsored by the Oyster Pointer, the CNU Alumni Society/Oyster Pointer 5K Fall Classic will begin at 8:30 a.m. Awards will be made to the overall top three male and female finishers, and to the top finishers in 11 age categories. The race will be aired live on the radio at WXGM AM/FM 99.1.

&uot;Proceeds from the 5K race will be used to support the Alumni Society Scholarships,&uot; said society member Darry Patterson. &uot;The success of this race will help our long-range goal of fully endowing each of these scholarships.&uot; The Society hopes to attract both avid runners and people who want to help the Society endow the seven $1,000 scholarships sponsored by the Alumni Society.

Interested runners can sign up for the race in advance by downloading a race registration form from http://explore.cnu.edu/alumnirelations/specialevents/alumnirun.html, picking up a form at the Freeman Center, or through the Peninsula Track Club. Runners may sign up on race day in the Freeman Center beginning at 7:30 a.m. The entry fee is $15 if you register before August 27th and $18 after that date.

For more information, please contact Kelly Peck at 596-7387 or e-mail kpeck@harborbankva.com.

Jump Off 2003

Norfolk – The ODU Student Activities Council and Global Spectrum, managers of the Constant Center, hope you will be right here at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 for The Jump Off: Back to School 2003 concert featuring Cam’Ron & the Diplomats, Chingy, Lil’ Jon, Ying Yang Twins, and Freeway. Tickets are on sale now. Tickets are available at the Constant Center Box Office, at all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (757) 671-8100, or by logging onto ticketmaster.com.

Olde Towne Portsmouth Flea Market

PORTSMOUTH – The Olde Towne Portsmouth Flea Market to be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 6, will have its grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Mayor Holley at 11 am. Additionally, two hours of fiddle music will be provided by Beth Donahue. The Olde Towne Flea Market is already sold out of spaces so it promises bargain hunters a huge variety of merchandise, antiques, jewelry, collectibles, paintings, art, vintage linens & clothing, home accessories, and much more.

Sponsored by Portsmouth’s Olde Towne Business Association, the monthly flea market will be staged in the Middle Street parking garage in the heart of historic Olde Towne Portsmouth. The vendors set up on the first floor and customers can park on the upper two floors free of charge. For Flea Market Information e-mail portsmouthflea@lanaswhim.com or call Yvonne Lerner, (757) 399-0201 or Peter Baar, (757) 398-8763; and to reserve a space contact Laura Ferguson (757) 393-1622.