Plan to wear comfortable shoes and your favorite sunglasses, and bring a good supply of enthusiasm and a large capacity to absorb two days of entertainment and enjoyment in Langley this weekend.

Choochokam, the annual festival of the arts in this small South Whidbey town, is already under way with theater performances at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, featuring Islander singer-songwriter Derek Parrott tonight and “Guys and Dolls Jr.” Thursday through Saturday.

Things will get even more lively as the tents go up, craftspeople and artists begin displaying their wares and food booths offer their festival fare.

Visitors will be able to browse among more than 150 vendors, showing art, photography, pottery, jewelry, candles, metalwork, woven art, even lanterns and soaps.

In the food alley on upper First Street, booths will have everything from gourmet and ethnic foods to the standard edibles of an outdoor festival. The Langley Chamber of Commerce also brings back its Beer Garden for a shady spot to rest and relax.

Choochokam not only attracts visitors but has the approval of locals as well. Islanders will be among the thousands of people in the streets, and a good many will be on the stages.

At the Open Mic Review In Langley Park Friday evening, some of the Southend’s favorite musicians will reprise their appearances over the past year at Open Mic shows at Bayview’s Smilin’ Dog. On the program are Joni Takanikos, Larry Bossert, the World Accordian to Open Mic Band of Susanne Ohrvik and Friends, Ed Newkirk, the Dunn-Wilder Family, Testing testers Steve Showell and Joanne Rouse, Peggy Munoz, cowboy poet Marshall McElveen, Bev MonteCalvo and The Other Side, Katrina Ellison, Jay Nehf and Friends and Nikko.

The Open Mic began in about 1995 at the Raven (now the Braeburn Restaurant), where locals would gather to play music for each other and a drop-in audience.

“We had them randomly through a couple of winters,” said Ben Gilmore, who with Dan Montecalvo, Barbara Dunn and a few others formed what they called the Open Mic Coalition.

“Then we started doing them as benefits for community groups like Friends of Friends and the Giraffe Project,” Gilmore said. “It seemed like a cool thing to do.”

The shows were popular, and over the next few years other local organizations received Open Mic largess: the South Whidbey Youth Center, Helping Hand, Whidbey Environmental Action Network, In a Pinch Crisis Childcare, Friends of Freeland, Operation Sack Lunch and others.

Recently the Open Mic moved to the Smilin’ Dog in Bayview, where owner Marty Fernandez has welcomed the music and the people.

“He’s been really open and supportive,” Gilmore said. “He wants the Smilin’ Dog to be a music venue.”

And Open Mic theme nights — blues, country, bluegrass, even accordion — have attracted new performers.

“We had seven accordion players,” Montecalvo said. “You can’t get them off the stage. They’re worse than banjo players.”

Another island performer at Choochokam is the Janie Cribbs Band, playing at the Dog House Friday night with a special show for vendors and anyone else looking for music and dancing. Showtime will be around 10 p.m. There will be a $5 cover charge at the door.

Local poets will perform over the weekend as well, with readings at Langley Park both days from 3-3:30 p.m. Blending Poets Blending Voices will feature David Ossman, Judith Walcutt, Joni Takanikos, Jane Winslow and Jeanne Lanigan Saturday. Judith Adams, Beth Shinners-White, Eve Preus and Robin Barre will be Sunday’s poets. There will also be music by Jackie Robbins and Lyn Mizono.

Actor Loren Churchill will entertain with his unique movements and sometimes antic show Sunday at Langley Park, and kids have a special treat in Kindermusik both days in the park.

On the Choochokam stage, some of Whidbey’s favorite performers will join the guests from off-island, among them SisterMonk Harem, Banjaxed and the Langley All Stars, who will play for the Street Dance Saturday night.

Along with the music, poetry and dancing, the schedule also has a skateboard show by island young people and a hip-hop dance performance at Seawall Park.

Admission to Choochokam is free, and a shuttle bus service will be available to and from the festival from designated parking areas both days.