Do It: Jurassic Tour, ‘Aha Mele Ea,’ ‘Last Jedi,’ Alex Bugnon

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

>> Hop on a Tyrannosaurus Rex on Jurassic Tour

Have you seen “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and the previous films featuring dinosaurs on the loose? Still in a Jurassic mood?

Head over to the Hawai‘i Convention Center this weekend for some lively interaction with animatropic versions of the big beasts.

Visitors can take rides aboard a ferocious, 12-foot tall Tyrannosaurus Rex or the squat Triceratops. A “baby” dinosaur ride will be available for youngsters who prefer to stay lower to the ground, courtesy of Jurassic Tour, a Michigan-based company, which hasbrought its animated dinosaurs and skeletons to the Convention Center.

Jurassic Tour has added a number of activities since its last visit here, including a virtual reality rollercoaster ride and an archaeological dig for fossils.

For those who prefer a genuinely educational experience, there will also presentations on the Jurassic, Triassic and Cretaceous periods, while bounce houses, a giant game of Jenga and scooter and ATV rides will provide the fun.

SATURDAY

>> Celebrate Hawaiian holiday La Hoihoi Ea

Popular local musicians Mike Love and Paula Fuga will be among the reggae, soul, hip-hop and island contemporary musicians who will join together to celebrate La Hoihoi Ea, the Hawaiian national holiday commemorating the return of Hawaiian sovereignty from Britain in 1843.

Hawaiian Brian’s, the multi-stage performance venue, will devote three stages to performers. The music starts at around 9 p.m. at Hawaiian Brian’s Studio, where Homework Simpson, Super Groupers, Paniolo Prince and his Queen Maile, Punahele, Mr. Kapu, Revolutionary Habitat, Keith Cross, Rukka the Magnificent and Cedric Clinton will appear.

On Hawaiian Brian’s main stage, Crossroads, Castle Park opens at around 11 p.m., followed by roots reggae musician Love and soul singer Fuga performing together, with Kapu System closing starting at about 12:30 a.m. Hawaiian Brian’s Studio facility will be devoted to dancehall and hip-hop DJs to create “a club feel,” said organizer Navid Najafi.

The concert is part of a monthlong celebration of the restoration of the reign of Kamehameha III, who, under threat of attack by British Lord Capt. George Paulet, temporarily ceded the crown in February 1843. Paulet appointed himself governor and had Hawaiian flags destroyed, but in July the British queen, Victoria, sent Admiral Richard Thomas to remove Paulet and restore the Hawaiian monarchy.

Thomas has since been honored with the naming of Thomas Square in downtown Honolulu, where there is a celebration held every year in his honor. This year’s event at Thomas Square is at 10 a.m. on July 29.

SATURDAY

>> Wet ‘n’ Wild presents ‘The Last Jedi’ sceening

Take a dip and slide into a favorite movie this month at Wet ’n’ Wild Hawaii, which is offering movie screenings along with its water amusements on Saturdays.

This weekend’s film is “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” starring Mark Hamill as the exiled Jedi knight Luke Skywalker, who has to overcome his personal demons in returning to the battle against the fascist First Order.

With the late Carrie Fisher in her final turn as General Leia, Adam Driver as the egomanical but wavering Kylo Ren, Daisy Ridley as the heroic Rey, and John Boyega as good guy Finn, the film is the eighth in the “Star Wars” franchise.

Screening is at sundown. The evening also features a performance with drumming and dancing by the Cook Islands National Art Theatre at 6:30 p.m.

Rides at the park will be open for extended hours, closing at 9 p.m.

Film screenings continue at Wet ’n’ Wild Hawaii throughout the month: “Hotel Translyvania 2” on July 14 (includes photo op with movie characters); “Coco” on July 21; and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” on July 28.

THURSDAY-JULY 13

>> Blue Note hosts pianist Alex Bugnon

Pianist Alex Bugnon brings his versatile R&B-inflected smooth jazz to Blue Note Hawaii for a two-night gig next week.

The Swiss-born pianist grew up near the site of the Montreux Jazz Festival, where he heard influential, genre-spanning American artists such as Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Aretha Franklin and Bill Evans. He was inspired to go into jazz by his uncle, jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd.

Bugnon later studied piano in Paris, learning jazz primarily on his own, before coming to the U.S. at age 19 to study at Berklee School of Music. He worked as a session musician for several top R&B performers, including Freddie Jackson and Melba Moore.

Bugnon had a breakout hit with his debut album “Love Season” in 1989, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B charts. The album showed some of his background in funk with “Going Out,” while its title track was a laid-back exercise in simple beauty. He followed that up with several best-selling albums, including “Head Over Heals” (1990), “107 Degrees in the Shade (1991) and “This Time Around” (1993), all of which reached the R&B charts.

As smooth jazz radio stations began to change its format, his music, which featured extended solos, has received less play, although Bugnon has continued to be popular in live performance.

While his music is generally easy on the ears, he believes in mixing genres and styles within jazz.

“One extreme is the very, very watered-down elevator music,” he said in a 2015 interview with The Pace Report, “and on the other extreme you have the very conservative, straight-ahead crowd who wants to take it back to the organic, the Louis Armstrong (style). To me that’s just as wrong as the other extreme.

“There’s so much room in the middle, with people doing music that they take from every spectrum of American music. Everything to me is valid, and I’m going to use every bit of it.”