The 16th annual Big Island Rendezvous and Festival gets under way Saturday and Sunday at Bancroft Bay Park in Albert Lea. The annual fur-trader era festival includes crafts, food and entertainment as well as demonstrations and a black powder shoot.

The Big Island Rendezvous and Festival runs from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $6 in advance for adults and $4 in advance for children 6-11. Advance tickets are available until 3 p.m. Friday at local financial institutions. Tickets are $8 for adults at the gate and $5 for children. Children 5 and under are admitted free. The entrance fee includes shuttle bus service from the Freeborn County Fairgrounds.

Following is a roundup of other events happening in the area this weekend:

Friday, Oct. 4

– Skyline Mall will hold a fall craft show from 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

– The Pumpkin Patch of Albert Lea is open from 1-6 p.m. Go west on County Road 46 for two miles to County Road 71. Turn left and go south for 1/2 mile. The patch is on the right side of the road.

Saturday, Oct. 5

– The Albert Lea Farmers’ Market will be held in the parking lot at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Water Street beginning at 9 a.m.

– Northbridge Mall will hold Charity Days from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Non-profit groups, including the Does, Noon Kiwanis, Minnesota Festival Theatre, Albert Lea Good Samaritan Center, LakeView Lions, Story Lady Doll & Toy Museum, Telephone Pioneers, Wa-tan-ye, Shades of Jade Regional Garden Club, Boy Scouts and the Albert Lea Family Y will do fund-raising activities. The LakeView Lions will also conduct diabetes screening, sell bike helmets at a reduced cost, and provide information on vial of life as service projects.

– Skyline Mall will hold a fall craft show from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

– The Pumpkin Patch of Albert Lea is open from noon-6 p.m. Go west on County Road 46 for two miles to County Road 71. Turn left and go south for 1/2 mile. The patch is on the right side of the road.

Sunday, Oct. 6

– A pancake breakfast benefit for the Ronnie Schultz Family Fund will be held from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Union Center in Albert Lea. The event is sponsored by St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Hollandale, AAL Branch 1820. Suggested donation is $5 for adults, $2.50 for children 6-10 and free for children 5 and under. Ronnie Schultz was killed in a vehicle accident near Faribault on Aug. 11, and is survived by his wife, Kimberly (Munson) and children Paige, 4, and Brock, 2.

He was a member of Albert Lea High School Class of 1989, and was a sportsman. The couple lived in Stewartville at the time of his death. His parents, Ronald and Judy Schultz, live in Rochester. His sister, Stephanie and her husband Jade Sherman, live in Albert Lea, as do Kim’s parents and grandparents, Steve and Joyce Munson and Ted and Louella Munson.

The Ronnie Schultz Family Fund is a tax-deductible fund set up to benefit the children. Donations to the fund may be sent to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 219, Hollandale, MN 56045.

– Pumpkin Patch of Albert Lea is open from noon-6 p.m. Go west on County Road 46 for two miles to County Road 71. Turn left and go south for 1/2 mile. The patch is on the right side of the road.

– Skyline Mall will hold a fall craft show from noon-5 p.m.

– Northbridge Mall will hold Charity Days from noon-5 p.m. Non-profit groups, including the Does, Noon Kiwanis, Minnesota Festival Theatre, Albert Lea Good Samaritan Center, LakeView Lions, Story Lady Doll & Toy Museum, Telephone Pioneers, Wa-tan-ye, Shades of Jade Regional Garden Club, Boy Scouts and the Albert Lea Family Y will do fund-raising activities. The LakeView Lions will also conduct diabetes screening, sell bike helmets at a reduced cost, and provide information on vial of life as service projects.