Blues and tall ships collide
Bobby Rush, Ana Popovic and Kentucky Headhunters headline the 31st annual Bayfront Blues Festival — a three-day, two-stage event with, this year, a tall ships vista.
The music rotates between the main stage and the acoustic tent with artists ranging from first-timers to stage pros. There are plenty of Minnesota-based musicians, including Mel Sando, Ken Valdez, Sena Ehrhardt and Jack Knife & The Sharps. The Festival of Sail starts Sunday, so don't be surprised to find some vintage ships on the horizon.
Bayfront Blues Festival is Aug. 9-11 at Bayfront Festival Park. Tickets at bayfrontblues.com.
Festival of Sail is Aug. 11-13 at the waterfront around Canal Park and the DECC. Tickets at festofsailduluth.com.
Renegade opens ‘Fun Home’
Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic memoir is a tragicomic story of family relationships and secrets. The musical adaptation based on the bestselling book opened on Broadway in 2015, was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won five. Renegade Theater Company is the first in Minnesota to produce the show that tells of Bechdel’s childhood, her coming-out story, and the revelations about her father’s hidden self. See story on Page C1.
Renegade Theater Company’s production of “Fun Home” is at 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays Aug. 9-24.
Tickets: zeitgeistarts.com
Take the stage to tell your story
During the monthly Gag Me With A Spoon, Adeline Wright hosts humans with a story to tell. The open-mic style event features family lore, daily life updates, travel adventures or details about the wonders of the human body. And in between, music.
You can sit back and listen and/or sign up to stand on stage and strut your stuff. As for the vibe: Think group hug.
Gag Me With a Spoon is at 7 p.m. Aug. 11 at Teatro Zuccone, 222 E. Superior St.
Tickets: $5 at the door, or at zeitgeistarts.com
Lake Superior Art Festival features local wares
Lake Superior Arts Festival is the blending of art-craft with Brighton Beach. The event is in its fifth year, and this year includes artists such as Maria Combs, who snow and ice-dyes fabric, Patti Berg, a hat-maker from the Iron Range, woodworker Eric Helland, and jewelry-maker April Westman from Sweetwater Jewelry.
Lake Superior Art Festival is 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Brighton Beach on Saturday, Aug. 10. Free, open to the public.
Snack your way through Grill Wars
The annual Grill Wars is a chance to sample burgers from pros and burger dabblers — then pick your fave. Local restaurants will offer up new and exciting — or tried and true — ways to treat a patty. Meanwhile, you get to snack and sample your way through Bayfront Festival Park. Winner gets the title of Best Burger and a cash prize. This is a benefit for Boys & Girls Clubs of of the Northland.
Midwest Communications’ Grill Wars is 5-8 p.m. Aug. 14 at Bayfront Festival Park. Tickets: Available at the gate.
'Art of Huuc Co & Wakatatlihuni' opens at AICHO
Christopher Sweet and Scott Hill will be featured in “The Art of Huuc Co & Wakatatlihuni,” an exhibition that opens Friday at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center. The paintings and sculptures are described as playing on themes of cultural heritage using contemporary mediums. Sweet, from south central Wisconsin, is an acrylic painter who has been experimenting with textures. Hill was born and raised on the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin. The self-taught artist uses pencil, clay, paint, stone sculpture, fabrics and more.
“The Art of Huuc Co & Wakatatlihuni” has its opening reception from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center, 202 W. Second St. Free, open to the public
