The 21st Annual Anchorage Folk Festival kicks off Thursday. Through the end of the month, something like 500 local folks and national guest artists will celebrate traditional music, dance and storytelling for a combined audience that typically numbers about 10,000.

As customary, most concerts unfold at Wendy Williamson Auditorium at the University of Alaska Anchorage, but there are a number of other "acoustic-friendly" venues around the Mat-Su Valley, as well as here in the city, where additional performances will take place.

Star attractions this year include Brother Mule from Idaho and Sweet Sunny South from Colorado. "Each of these bands bring an engaging performance of old time and bluegrass traditions mixed with some new twists and all in good humor," says the press release.

Good enough. But what has us really excited is the Festival's first ever banjo contest. Dick Sanchis of Arctic Roadrunner burger fame is sponsoring the top cash prizes in several categories, including: Dixieland, Bluegrass, Irish and Old-Timey styles. There's even a special prize for the best banjo joke. (Clean, joke, that is. Judges will pre-screen your humor for content.)

I've had banjos on my mind since last summer when I was poking along a Sand Lake bike path behind some houses and heard a gentleman plinking for his own pleasure on his back porch. It was as sweet as a songbird. I listened enraptured for 20 minutes, hidden in the trees lest I disturb him, until he finished and went back inside.

There's no shortage of four- and five-string talent in Anchorage, and this contest should bring out the best. It's free to enter and the rules are simple: Be at Wendy Williamson at 10 a.m. on Saturday to sign up. At 10:30 the contest begins, each performer getting five minutes to play up to two solo numbers -- "no singing, please!"

While the judges compare scores, players will stick around to play a simple traditional tune en mass. In the case of ties, players may be asked to present one more song. The winner will take center stage at 8 p.m. that night.

Like most things associated with the family friendly Folk Festival, the contest is free and open to participants of all ages.

Here are some other highlights of the first weekend (Jan. 21-24 and a few days into the following week):

• Big simultaneous kickoff in six locations, with Square and Contra Dancing at Romig Jr. High School (moving to UAA's Gorsuch Commons on Saturday), Kray Van Kirk at Borders Books, Paddleboat Jam at Quido's Pizza, Isish Seisium at McGinley's, Evan Phillips at Taproot Cafe and Midnight Sun Zombies at Organic Oasis, all performing at 7 p.m. on Thurssday. (Midnight Sun Zombies will also perform at 8:45 p.m. Saturday at Williamson and at 7 p.m. Jan. 25. at Guido's).

• Guest band Brother Mule will perform at 9:45 p.m. on Friday at Williamson, repeating at 9:15 p.m. Jan. 24. Over in the Sally Monserud Building, where workshops will take place, they'll present sessions on lead and rhythm string playing at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 24 moving to the Main Stage at 4 p.m.

• Sunrise Sjoeberg of Homer will be in the Williamson lineup at 2 p.m. Saturday and offer a session on performing rounds and circle songs at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Sunny (known to some as Jewel Kilcher's aunt) spent some time in Europe and came home with a number of these elegant and ingenious tunes.

• Rave & Raven Morris Dancers will stomp the boards at Williamson at 8:15 p.m. Jan. 24.

• Lunchtime concerts will take place in the UAA Cafeteria this Thursday and Jan. 25-27. On the same dates, several artists are scheduled in the Valley for 7 p.m. concerts at Vagabond Blues, Red Beet and Pandemonium Books.

We'll try to identify highlights for the final weekend in this column next Sunday. There's a lot more than we can print -- I haven't even begun to list all the venues where people will perform longer sets than they're allowed on the Williamson Main Stage, where every act except for the out-of-state guests is allocated 15 minutes. Times may be approximate. Check anchoragefolkfestival.org for more details.

You should be a model

Christopher Straub, from this season's "Project Runway" on the Bravo Network, will be the guest judge for Anchorage's Object/Runway show Feb. 6.

This art/fashion/social event, organized by the International Gallery of Contemporary Art, is trying to find a big downtown venue to accommodate the massive response it has received by artists and designers from as far away as Los Angeles.

There should be no shortage of attendees for this event. But they're anxious to recruit some volunteers to be everything from hair stylists to all around assistants.

But mainly they need people who can stride down a runway and show off what their wearing to model accessories and garments made by over 60 artists and designers.

"Expect a DJ and a bit of chaos, along with some wild fashion Alaska style," says a press release, which promises, "It won't be the somber events these fashion shows often turn into."

Join the mayhem by sending a note to igca@alaskalife.net.

Rasmuson deadline is approaching

The Rasmuson Foundation is taking applications for Individual Artist Awards. Three levels of grants are available.

Project Awards, open to all artists, provide up to $5,000 in short-term support for things like travel, workshops and study opportunities.

Fellowships of $12,000 are open to mid-career and mature artists working in media, multidiscipline/new genre, music composition or visual arts (disciplines vary each year).

And one Distinguished Artist award of $25,000 will be given to a mature artist with a track record in any discipline. The deadline to apply is March 1. Application forms and information are available at rasmuson.org.

Art Bank work sought

The Alaska State Council on the Arts has put out a call for interior art for the State of Alaska Contemporary Art Bank, a collection of artworks loaned to state offices and public spaces.

This call is open to Alaska Artists only. Submissions must be received by 9:59 p.m. Feb. 28. To view the prospectus and/or apply, applicants must register through www.callforentry.org.

Some artists have had difficulty with this. (See "Arts e-mail slapfest" at adn.com/artsnob.) To help you get a handle on the process, the council will conduct an orientation teleconference Jan. 26. Get information and RSVP at 269-6610 or 1-888-278-7424 or e-mail andrea.noble@alaska.gov.