February is not even over, but we already feel a wee bit of Irish spring in the air.

Yep, St. Patrick’s Day marchers are setting out. We found three geographically spread out parades this weekend: Saturday at 1 p.m. in Hoboken (www.hobokensaintpatricksparade.org) and Mount Holly (www.mounthollyparade.com), Sunday  at 12:30 p.m. in Belmar (www.belmarparade.com).

Georgian Court University in Lakewood is holding its on 27th annual “Irish Afternoon” with a concert by The Irish Tenors (www.theirishtenors.info). It’s at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Strand Theater. Tickets and more info at www.strand.org.

Elsewhere around the state, Scandinavia takes center stage with the New Jersey Symphony’s (www.njsymphony.org) performance of the new work by Swedish composer Anders Hillborg Liquid Marble, and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, which according to the NJSO’s website “evokes the arctic winds, eerie lakes and shimmering twilight of the Finnish landscape.”

They also play Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Performances are tomorrow at 8 p.m. in the War Memorial, Trenton; Saturday at 8 p.m. at NJPAC; and Sunday 3 p.m. at the State Theater in New Brunswick. 

Another event that sounds like fun is the first “Leap Anniversary” of 56 Degree Wine in Bernardsville, going on all weekend starting tomorrow. The shop, specializing in artisanal wines from small producers around the world, first opened the previous Leap Day, February 29, 2004. Proprietor Chris Cree, New Jersey’s only Master of Wine, is expanding his regular weekend tasting by pouring from special Champagne and wine magnums. There will also be gourmet treats to sample including Café 56, the shop’s new private label organic coffee.

 And finally…put that cell phone down when you drive! Starting Saturday, using a wireless  electronic communication device when operating a moving motor vehicle becomes a primary offense. Which means you can get pulled over and get a ticket just for that offense.

No texting allowed, either. Want to know more?  www.njsaferoads.com.

Cuba has been in the news this week, and one way to begin understanding what is happening there is to see what Cuban artists have to say. Go look at the Hunterdon Museum of Art’s exhibition, “Cuba! Artists Experience Their Country.” The show includes painting, photography, drawing, multimedia and sculpture. Through March 30 at the museum in Clinton; more at www.hunterdonartmuseum.org.

More Latin American art, of the musical variety: The State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico has two concerts this weekend. Friday the orchestra is at the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown (www.mayoarts.org) with a program that includes Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E Minor. Saturday’s venue is New Brunswick’s State Theater (www.statetheatrenj.org) and the program includes Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat and Granados’ Goyescas. Both shows at 8 p.m.

There’s also music in South Jersey this weekend. Check out the Rutgers-Camden Jazz Festival. The concert with John Coltrane’s legendary pianist McCoy Tyner and tap master Savion Glover sold out but there are other performances all afternoon Saturday at the Gordon Theater. More info at  www.rutgerscamdenarts.org/jazz.

For a different musical experience also down south, there’s Tom Rush, a mainstay of the folk scene who helped launch Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Jackson Browne. He is at Appel Farm Arts and Music Center (www.appelfarm.org) in Upper Pittsgrove, Friday at 8 p.m.

Are you looking for a late-February excuse to get on that Parkway and head down the Shore? The American Repertory Ballet presents its Sinatra Suite at the Surflight Theater (www.surflight.org) in Beach Haven, Sunday at 2 p.m. Or dive into the icy waters of the Atlantic by signing up for the Polar Bear Plunge (www.njpolarplunge.sonj.org) Saturday in Seaside Heights, a fund raiser to benefit Special Olympics New Jersey.

Take that dive and you will know it’s still the season for the traditional winter activity of tapping a maple tree. Yes, syrup from New Jersey. Get yours Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Washington Crossing State Park Nature Center in Titusville (www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/images/winter_08.pdf). Or at the Somerset County Park Commission’s Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge (www.somersetcountyparks.org) Saturday and Sunday at 10 am., noon and 2 p.m.

Be a sap, and stay sweet!

There may be snow on the ground but spring is in the air: Today pitchers and catchers report to training camps, and the New Jersey Flower and Garden Show opens.

Yes, it’s that time of year when even the Mets have a shot at the pennant, when you still think this time you’ll finally plant delphiniums that don’t wither away.

Nothing you can do about the former. As to the latter, maybe you’ll discover that elusive perennial among the thousands of vegetables, herbs, shrubs and flowers at the Garden Show in the New Jersey Convention Center, running from today until Sunday. There will also be gardening workshops and expert speakers. More at www.macevents.com.

And if you want a solid grounding so you can go really in depth, sign up for a gardening class at Rutgers. Courses include Designing a Perennial Garden, Herbs for Flavor and Fragrance, and Organic Vegetable Gardening. Register at http://rutgersgardens.rutgers.edu/classes.html

Cape May is full of activities. Saturday there’s a crafts show at Convention Hall and a tour and tasting at Cape May Winery; Sunday Convention Hall hosts a antique show, and the Cape May Wine School holds a tasting course on “Winter Reds” at the Washington Inn. Get the lowdown from our friends at www.capemaytimes.com.

Back up north, they’re Havin’ a Party at the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts (www.mayoarts.org) Saturday night, with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes in a benefit concert for the New Jersey Substance Abuse Programs for Adolescents.

And also Saturday, at NJPAC (www.njpac.org), the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (www.njsymphony.org) presents its “Bravo Broadway” concert. It’s songs from West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Chicago, Wicked, Les Misérables, Mamma Mia! and Beauty and the Beast, sung by Great White Way luminaries Susan Egan, Melissa Errico and Gary Mauer.

But No, it really isn’t spring quite just yet. As if you needed proof, Saturday at 2 p.m. in Sea Isle City it’s the 14th Annual Polar Bear Plunge. Better yet: the post-plunge party at LaCosta Lounge (www.lacosta-seaisle.com). Check www.seaisletourism.org.

Or take your honey to Harrah’s (www.harrahs.com) for a post-Valentine’s celebration. Stake out a lounge chair in the casino’s stunning climate-controlled pool house.  You can sip your favorite summer drink at the huge new pool that everyone is buzzing about.

 You’ll turn up the heat on your winter weekend — and get both of you thinking warm thoughts. After all, spring is in the air.

They say chocolate warms your heart, and heats up your passion. There are plenty of places to fuel up for free on this pre-Valentine’s Day weekend!

In Boonton, Vino Fine Wines (www.vinofinewines.com) is having a wine tasting paired with organic chocolates handmade by Mary Amsterdam, who lives in the next town over, Mountain Lakes. It’s Saturday, 1 – 6 p.m.

Wine and chocolate are also the attraction at Gary’s Wine and Marketplace (www.garysmarket.com), at their Madison and Bernardsville stores. Bottlings include Carl Sittmann Riesling, Oliverhill Winery Clarendon Shiraz, and Chateau L'Arrosee, a Saint-Emilion Grahd Cru. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m.

Or pair chocolate with New Jersey’s own — own wines, that is. Nearly two dozen wineries from Cape May to Sussex County are holding a Wine & Chocolate Wine Trail Weekend, with cellar tours, tastings of chocolate-appropriate wines, and lots of chocolate. Check www.newjerseywines.com.

Down the Shore, Ocean Grove’s romantic Victorian inns are open for tours and chocolate tastings on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Local shopkeepers will also hide special “hearts” in their stores, with prizes to visitors who find them. Pick up game board and instructions between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday at the local Chamber of Commerce office (www.oceangrovenj.com). And all the restaurants in town are preparing Valentine’s dinners.  

You’ll find chocolate temptations in South Jersey too. Merchants along historic Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown (www.downtownbordentown.com) are hosting a complimentary chocolate walk for shoppers tomorrow.

At the Holiday Inn in Swedesboro, the Emmanuel Cancer Center (www.emmanuelcancer.org) is holding “For the Love of Chocolate,” a fundraiser to benefit children with cancer and their families.

Wine, chocolate…how about flowers? Instead of the standard roses, see what you find at the Deep Cut Orchid Society Show (http://deepcutorchids.googlepages.com), running today through Sunday at the Dearborn Market  in Holmdel. You can stroll through beautiful exhibits of exotic orchids from as far away as South America. 

Chocolate, wine, flowers. The rest is up to you.