After years in which I managed to escape volunteering at the Annapolis Rotary Crab Feast, my wife made it clear that I would be signing up.

Oh, I’ve had my excuses. Journalistic integrity (the feast was a local story). Time (Friday night can be a busy news night).

Last year was a new one.

Our daughter brought a dozen friends from Kentucky to experience the annual crabapalooza at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Someone needed to show them how to crack a crab.

This year, however, I’m fresh out of excuses. I’ll be on the crab line for the 80th Annapolis Rotary Crab Feast, from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. All-you-can-eat tickets are $95 for adults through Thursday night, or $105 at the gate.

Proceeds go to community programs through grants. Nonprofits can apply for money from this year’s fest starting Saturday.

This is one of those traditions that define a city, even if the crabs no longer strictly come from the Chesapeake Bay, and eating them has gone from a cheap dinner to a splurge.

Here are some other great things to do through Aug. 6.

Get Salty

6 p.m. Thursday

Annapolis author Kate Myers will talk about her second novel, “Salty,” at the Maryland Hall Book Club meeting.

The conversation in the Martino Gallery is free.

Season closer

8:30 p.m. Thursday

Annapolis Summer Garden Theater kicks off its final production of the 2025 season, “Groundhog Day.”

The musical adaptation of the 1993 Harold Ramis film starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell ran on the West End and Broadway before moving to regional theaters. It’s the story of one February day lived over and over in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, home of the weather-predicting groundhog, with comedic consequences.

The cast features Trevor Greenfield as arrogant weatherman Phil Conners and Taylor Hinds as his love interest Rita Hanson.

Shows are Thursday-Sunday, as well as select Wednesdays, through August. Tickets are $30 plus taxes and fees.

Skipjack cruise

6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday

The Wilma Lee is one of the few remaining skipjacks still sailing the Chesapeake Bay, a far cry from the days when hundreds of these sail workboats would dredge for oysters, then sell them in market towns such as Annapolis.

You can get a sense for these unique, flat-bottomed boats with a sunset cruise, one of several options offered by the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park all summer.

Tickets for the sunset cruise are $75 and they depart Thursday-Sunday from the museum dock at the Ellen O. Moyer Nature Park.

Brunch concert

10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday

Joe Chiocca, John David Coppola and Rand Gardner perform as Combo Indigo, providing a little brunch music on the water at Bread & Butter Kitchen in Eastport.

The music is free, but brunch costs. You should probably tip the band, too.

Street festival

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

The first block of West Street closes for the monthly First Sunday festival, with 150 vendors of crafts and food.

Musicians perform throughout the day on three stages. They include Stan D’Vibe and Conga, the Johnson Male Chorus, Spice Band, Garret Park Music, PJ & Neal and Michael Kocher.

Admission is free.

Brit-Cali

8 p.m. Wednesday

What kind of rock do you get when you cross a ’90s British guitarist and producer with an instrumental band out of California sporting Lucha libre wrestling masks?

Nick Lowe and Los Straightjackets play at the Rams Head on Stage if you want to find out. Tickets are $65, plus taxes and fees.