This year's free January Ice Jam featuring bluegrass music will be held Friday and Saturday at the Butler Days Inn, Route 8.

In its 15th year, the jam features up to 32 bands playing traditional, contemporary and gospel bluegrass.

The Ice Jam begins at 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday. Bands play 30 minute sets until midnight both days. Food and beverages will be available, and admission is free. For information, visit www.januaryicejam.com.

PITTSBURGH — The Slippery Rock University Performing Arts Series is offering a trip to see the musical “Billy Elliot” at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Benedum Center, 719 Liberty Ave.The event includes a box dinner served on the bus.Tickets, including transportation and dinner, are $67 for first-tier seats and $45 for second-tier seats available only to students.Call 724-738-2018 for tickets.

SAXONBURG — The Saxonburg Area Artists Cooperative presents “Dual Perspectives,” a two-person show of photography by Rebecca Andrew and metal sculpture by Sam Andrew from Jan. 21 to Feb. 18 at the gallery at 215 Main St., rear.A reception will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Jan. 21.Winter hours are 1 to 9 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays.

Butler County Symphony Association hosts a Meet the Artist Wine & Cheese reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 9 for tenor Michael Forest who will be performing with the orchestra at the Feb. 11 concert.The event will be held at 114 Aubrey Drive.Forest is in his 17th season with the Metropolitan Opera of New York where he has sung more than 250 performances in 19 roles.Tickets are available at the symphony office, 259 S. Main St., for $30. Tickets are presale only.For information, call 724-283-1402, e-mail info@butlersymphony.org, or visit www.butlersymphony.org.

PITTSBURGH — The annual Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show opens Saturday at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The show runs through March 4 and will be open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 10 p.m. Fridays.Admission is $12 for adults, $11 for senior citizens and students with ID, $9 for children ages 2 to 18, and free for children younger than 2.Call 412-622-6914 or visit www.phipps.conservatory.org.

PITTSBURGH — For Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, general admission, Omnimax films and parking will be free for visitors at the Carnegie Science Center, thanks to Duquesne Light's sponsorship. Call 412-237-3400 for more information.

PITTSBURGH — “Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey” will be the subject of a reception from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Silver Eye Center for Photography, 1015 E. Carson St.For 15 years, Bey made large-scale color portraits of students at high schools across the United States, depicting teenagers from a wide economic, social and ethnic spectrum. This traveling exhibit continues through March 10.Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission is free. Call 412-431-1810 for information.