GalaxyCon, Shamrock the Block and Church Hill Irish Festival are this weekend

RICHMOND, Va. -- It is a busy weekend for events in Central Virgnia with GalaxyCon, Shamrock the Block and the Church Hill Irish Festival.

GalaxyCon Richmond

Galaxy Con returns to the Greater Richmond Convention Center with actors, cosplayers, costume contest, parties, and celebrities like the legendary William Shatner this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

After his Friday appearance, fans had an opportunity to peek inside the life of the "Star Trek" icon with a showing of his documentary, "William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill," at the historic Byrd Theater.

If you missed Shatner's documentary, it debuts nationally on his 93rd birthday, March 22.

Shatner will be back at GalaxyCon on Saturday. He calls it a learning experience for him and his fans.

"The questions have long since gone past, you know, what did you do in episode three, to talking about ourselves, world affairs, their affairs, becomes a very personal thing," Shatner said. "And we find ourselves laughing and talking and enjoying, it becomes a real crowd experience that I look forward to."

Galaxy Con is 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, 10 am. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

WATCH FULL INTERVIEW: Why William Shatner finds himself in a peculiar position while in Richmond

Shamrock The Block

The 18th annual Shamrock The Block returns to historic Scotts Addition from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The festival on Leigh Street between Movieland and the Bon Secours Training Center offers live music, vendors, food and drinks.

Admission is free as you pay for food and drinks as you go.

Proceeds will benefit Project Local.

Then catch the Party Bus from Shamrock to The Park RVA for their free after party, which kicks off at 4 p.m.

Church Hill Irish Festival

The Church Hill Irish Festival returns to 25th & East Broad streets Saturday and Sunday.

Stokes McCune, the event's head Leprechaun, noted the festival is happening a week early this year.

"We tried not to compete on weekends like this, but sometimes it comes up with Palm Sunday being next weekend and then the following weekend Easter we really had not much of a choice to do it here," McCune explained.

The Hill Topper 5K is Saturday morning followed by St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday. The two-day event features four blocks of fun, kids' activities, vendors, and music both days.

"We'll have probably 40 to 50 bands playing all types of great music including Irish music, bluegrass music, with bagpipe playing," McCune said. "We have Irish and Scottish dances all weekend."

There is free parking at 17th and East Broad streets, with shuttle buses to the festival.

The Church Hill Irish Festival is 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. both days and benefits several charities, including St. Patrick's Church, which was built by Irish immigrants back in the 1850s.