Ruth Fremson / NYT
Every May 24 since 1972, Lou Majaw, 62, one of India's original rock 'n' roll bards, has held a homespun celebration of Bob Dylan's birth, called Bob Dylan Jayanthi, in Shillong, India. Stories: NYT: Town in India Rocks (No Use to Wonder Why, Babe), BBC: Homage to Bob Dylan - Indian style.

Around the world, fans will gather this weekend to celebrate Bob Dylan's birthday -- he'll turn 68 Sunday -- and his influence on their lives, a genuine grassroots phenomenom.

Hardcore Dylan fans used to gather at Patrick's Pub in Providence for a multimedia tribute to the man around his birthday each year -- a quiz, video, requests, a sing-along. It was a little corny, a little amazing, generations raised on Dylan mixing and testifying. Then cancer took out some of the event committee's mainstays, and the local tradition died out.

This year it's back, Saturday night at Patrick's, 381 Smith St., Providence. It kicks off at 7:30 with cocktails and a quiz. $5.