There’s always a weekend in April that goes down as one of the busiest in Nashville’s history (at least where your Nashvillest editors are concerned), and that weekend is about to begin. Rites of Spring, the Nashville Film Festival, Record Store Day… Throw in a hockey playoff or two and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a crazy few days. Here are our picks for this weekend:

• Nashville Film Festival. Y’all, we know we get all gushy about the film fest for a week every year, but it’s become one of Nashville’s crowning jewels and we really want everyone to experience it. The fest opened last night and gets into full swing today, running through next Thursday. The schedule is chock full of films that we’re dying to see and it’s hard to pick just a few to recommend, but for this weekend check out Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Friday at 5:30pm), Buck (Saturday at 7pm), Dog Sweat (Friday at 2:30pm), Happy On The Ground (Saturday at 2:45pm) and Project Nim (Sunday at 8pm). If you’re short on cash, don’t forget to follow our Cheapskate’s Guide to the Nashville Film Festival. Regal Green Hills, April 14-21, various times.
  
• Rites of Spring. Vandy’s annual two-day music festival kicks off tonight, and as usual the lineup is killer. The National, Kid Cudi, Public Enemy, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Sara Bareilles, Matt & Kim, Jerrod Niemann, The Features, The Pimps of Joytime, Madi Diaz, David Mayfield Parade, Futurebirds and Young Jesus will take the stage over the next two days, and it’s not too late to get tickets (but you’d better hurry. 24 hours ago, they only had 1,500 tickets left). Vanderbilt, Friday & Saturday, April 16-17.
• Record Store Day. Nashville does Record Store Day right. We’ve already posted a full list of all the festivities for this Saturday, so check that out here. It might get a little soggy, but a little rain has never stopped Record Store Day before. PS: Congrats to Grimey’s for being named one of Rolling Stone’s Best Record Stores in the USA! Grimey’s/The Groove/Third Man/The Great Escape, Saturday, April 16, 10am.
• Grab some friends, sit at a bar and watch the Preds whoop some Duck tail. Game 2 of Preds vs. Ducks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals is tonight (Friday) in Anaheim, and as you might have noticed the entire city is pretty fired up about it. The game airs on SportSouth (DirecTV 650 SD, 650-1 HD; Dish 449 SD; Comcast Nashville 284) tonight at 9:30CST, to gather up your friends and a few drinks and brush up on your finest duck hunting insults to hurl at the screen. Tin Roof in Franklin, Crow’s Nest in Green Hills, Village Pub in East Nashville and Bailey’s in downtown Nashville are all hosting unofficial viewing parties for tonight’s game, and Section 303 will be rallying their troops at the Athletic Club of Embassy Suites in Franklin. Oh and hey, there’s still a few tickets left for Sunday night, when the Preds will return to Smashville for Game 3. Your favorite bar or couch, Friday, April 15, 9:30pm / Bridgestone Arena, Sunday, April 17, 5pm.
• Community Shred Day. We realize that shredding paper may sound a lot less exciting than all of the above suggestions, but we know you secretly love watching your top-secret personal documents get pulverized into oblivion. Your $5 donation per box goes to the Nashville Crime Stoppers, and they’ll also take your prescription medication and dispose of it properly (although probably not via shredder). LP Field Parking Lot D, Saturday, April 16, 10am-1pm.
• William Fitzsimmons at 3rd & Lindsley. We’re surprised this show hasn’t sold out yet, but that’s good news for any procrastinating William Fitzsimmons fans in town. He’s played the Mercy Lounge twice in the past two years, so we’re jumping at the opportunity to see him in a more intimate setting. Just get there early, or you’ll be doing the awkward “is this seat taken? Is this seat still taken?” dance the entire night. 3rd & Lindsley, Sunday, April 17, doors at 6pm/show at 8pm, $10-12.
• Taste of Nashville (PDF alert!). Not to be confused with the annual Taste of Music City, Taste-of-Nashville-goers will sample food from over 20 of Nashville’s finest restaurants, including Amerigo, Bricktop’s, Eastland Cafe, Fish & Co, Sambuca, South Street and more. Tickets are a reasonable $35 and benefit The Pearl-Cohn Entertainment and Music Business Magnet High School. West Stadium Club at LP Field, Sunday, April 17, 3pm, $35 – for tickets, call Barbara Moss at 615-329-8420.
• Ragin’ Cajun Crawfish Boil. 30 bucks for all-you-can-eat crawfish and all-you-can-drink beer? Sign us up! You’ve got a few more hours to get advance tickets before the price goes up tomorrow at the door.  Riverfront Park, Saturday, April 16, 4-9pm, $30 advance/$40 door.

Photo by scribebytrade.