5 things to do this weekend

#1 Oxtoberfest

Saturday: 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., $50

If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet for Oxtoberfest at the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, it may already be too late.

Those with tickets at $50 a pop that go to support the non-profit Alaska Farmland Trust and the Musk Ox Farm, are in for a treat with food, drink and music.

The event starts at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 10.

For food, there’s a “Farm-to-Table Feast” that features “Alaska-grown pork brats, Palmer-grown German potato salad, Matanuska Saurkraut, Palmer wheat in the buns and more!”

The musical fare highlights the usual Oktoberfest sounds, with “All the Oompah music you can shake a jig at!”

Beyond that there’s a beer garden supposedly bigger than last year’s and musk ox everywhere you look.

#2 Mat-Su Cancer Center community event

Today: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., 2250 Woodworth Loop, Suite 100, Palmer, Free

Ordinarily, the opening of a new cancer center wouldn’t sound like all that much fun; certainly not a weekend to-do.

But the grand opening celebration of the Mat-Su Cancer Center, in the building adjacent to Providence Health & Services, at 2250 Woodworth Loop, is bringing with it free food and one of Alaska’s top country artists in Ken Peltier and his band. Also on hand signing autographs is Iditarod musher DeeDee Jonroe.

Both Peltier and Jonroe are cancer survivors with stories to tell ahead of a short program at 6:30 p.m.

#3 Bruce Hornsby Live

Saturday: 7:30 p.m., Atwood Concert Hall, Anchorage, $33-72

Legendary singer-songwriter and pianist Bruce Hornsby performs without ‘The Range’ Saturday night in Anchorage.

Hornsby, who made a huge splash in the 1980s with hits like “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain” has gone on a more eclectic, personal path since then.

#4 Saari book signing

Monday, 7 p.m., Palmer Ale House, Palmer

Anchorage trail runner Matias Saari has completed his long-awaited book, “The Equinox: Alaska’s Trailblazing Marathon,” about the Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks, which he has won five times. The former Fairbanks Daily News Miner reporter will have signed copies of the book for sale ($25) after the Happy Run at the Palmer Ale House on Monday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m.

#5 VPA presents final weekend of “Harvey”

Friday-Sunday: 251 W. Swanson, Wasilla, $18-$20

If you haven’t seen Valley Performing Arts’ first production of the fall season, this weekend is the last weekend to check it out.

With three shows for each of the last three weekends under their belts, the players likely have their best performances of “Harvey”, a modernized take on a classic, in front of them this weekend.

Shows Friday and Saturday are at 7 p.m. and the Sunday finale is at 2.