July 29 weekly calendar: Top 10 LI events

1. BBQ competition

It's the big event of Long Island's BBQ calendar: the sixth annual Battle of the BBQ Brethren, taking place on the verdant grounds of the Maples in Manorville.

More than 40 teams will compete for $10,000 in prize money and an invitation to the American Royal World Series of Barbecue in Kansas City. Cooking and grilling demos take place throughout the weekend, plus live music, a vintage car show and a Zumba flash mob. Hungry? Barbecue vendors will be on hand.

Saturday is the grilling contest, with the winners advancing to an "Iron Chef" style faceoff against a "mystery chef," a TV food-show alum from one of New York's best BBQ restaurants. Sunday is the NY BBQ State championship, plus a peoples' choice vote, with awards at 4 p.m.

2. Marcum Workplace Challenge

Represent your company at the annual 3.5-mile run/walk open to employees, family members and friends. Participants must sign up under the auspices of the company they work for. Trophies will be awarded to top teams and runners. The course runs parallel to Ocean Parkway, cooled by ocean breezes and lined with water stops and music vans along the way. A corporate picnic at the finish with live music.

3. Dragon Tales

4. Feast of St. Rocco

Nourish your appetite as well as your soul during this annual mega-festival, which marks its 75th anniversary in Glen Cove this year. Patrons can feast on Italian specialties -- pastas, tripe, sausage and pepper heroes, cannoli and other pastries -- hear live Italian music and wander the midway. Don't miss the traditional St. Rocco procession through the neighborhood after next Sunday's 10:15 a.m. mass.

5. Golden Boys in concert

6. Traveling Vietnam Memorial

Eisenhower Park hosts a "Salute to Veterans." It starts Thursday with the unveiling of the Traveling Wall, a scaled-down replica of Washington's Vietnam Memorial Wall, that tours the country. Visitors can access a computer to look up names and take wall rubbings. On Saturday, the park hosts a patriotic 6:45 p.m. concert with the USO Liberty Bells and Dean Karahalis.

7. Italian circus

The Zoppe family brings a traditional European-style circus to the Hamptons next weekend. The one-ring show will be put on the Westhampton Beach great lawb. It features trapeze acts, acrobatic feats, equestrian showmanship, dancing dogs and clown antics. Fair warning: audience participation is encouraged.

8. Old-time baseball

One, two, three, four (that's right!) strikes --- and you're still out. The Old Time Base Ball Festival is a two-day affair at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, where several teams carry on America's favorite pastime, playing by vintage rules in period-style uniforms.

9. Capt. Barrington Irving

The first African-American and youngest pilot to fly solo around the world, Capt. Barrington Irving will discuss his journey in a single-engine aircraft. Meet him at a Q&A session hosted by the Cradle of Aviation Museum, geared to encouraging others -- especially young people -- to explore career opportunities in the field of aviation.

10. Paddle and 'cue

It only comes but once this year -- the Group for the East End's popular Sagg Pond kayak paddle and beach barbecue. Patrons take a one-mile trip across the water to a strip of beach, where the group will set up for dinner and a bonfire. At the end of the night, everyone paddles back by moonlight. Reservations required.