This weekend will be a big one for film fans as Annapolis rolls out the red carpet for their annual film festival. The Annapolis Film Festival -- March 31-April 3 -- has quickly grown to be a real player in the film festival world. “It’s just our fourth year,” says festival director Patti White, “but you’d never know it. This thing came on big.” The festival drew 2,500 attendees in its first year and grew to more than 7,500 in its second and third. This year, White expects it to be even bigger. “We’ve got a top-notch slate of films and amazing industry panels,” she adds. “Being in Annapolis, we’ve got such a great destination, we are very filmmaker friendly.” For show times, tickets and more, visit annapolisfilmfestival.com.

For native Marylanders, March 9 may be the best day of the year: National Crabmeat Day. To popularize this momentous event, Leslie Troy, communications specialist, OTD reached out to NBC’s Today. “You can’t have National Crabmeat Day without Maryland,” says Troy. “We’ve got the best crab in the world.” And Today stars Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager agreed, with Kotb raving, “There’s nothing better.” The hosts were treated to a delicious crabcake and fried green tomato sandwich provided by the Iron Rooster restaurant which has two locations, Annapolis and Canton Crossing in Baltimore. Watch the video here.

OTD was awarded a pair of Gold Addy awards by The American Advertising Federation. With more than 5,000,000 entries, the ADDYs are the largest advertising competition in the world. VisitMaryland.org won the ADDY for best Online/Interactive/Website, and Destination Maryland: The Official Guide to Maryland Travel won for editorial spread/feature design. The website and guide are produced by OTD in collaboration with Miles Partnership.

The new VisitMaryland.org was launched last year and presents a streamlined, easily navigated overview of Maryland travel featuring aspirational images and writing. Destination Maryland is a glossy publication featuring beautiful photography of iconic Maryland destinations, articles by leading local authors, travel tips, and extensive listings of Maryland destinations and businesses. To order your free copy or to view online, follow this link to visitmaryland.org.

Maryland Traditions, MSAC’s folklife program has presented the 2016 Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Awards and the Maryland Traditions Project Grants. Since 2001, the program, which promotes and protects Maryland’s traditional art forms, has given $412,700 in apprenticeship and project grants. Seven FY2017 apprenticeship awards were presented, each allowing traditional artists to mentor an apprentice for a year. Five organizations were also presented with $5,000 project grants to support programs which document, preserve and present Maryland’s traditional arts culture. For a full listing of awardees, visit msac.org.

Each week, the Maryland Minute provides highlights and insights on this weekend’s events around the state. Maryland Minute is featured on CBS radio stations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. and on Baltimore’s WBAL-AM 1090.