Festivals And Events Coming Up This Month

by Chris Owen on

Summer weather brings festivals and events that range from open-air concerts and outdoor car shows to group hikes and more. In June, there are a number of notable summer festivals and events. Some are held annually, others are starting up for the first time this year. Count on good food, warm summer fun and great memories to be made at any of these must-see events.

Gettysburg Festival
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – June 8
It’s blues, beer and barbecue at the Gettysburg Festival this weekend featuring legendary bluesman Big Jack Johnson’s backing band, the Cornlickers, PA’s First Lady of Blues, Octavia and the U.S. Army Field Band Volunteers. Since 1981, the soldier-musicians of The Field Band Volunteers have performed for millions of listeners around the planet, representing their fellow soldiers through music.

Richmond Bacon Festival
Richmond, Virginia – June 9
A first for the 17th street farmers market, 20 restaurants will compete with bacon-centric dishes and Devils Backbone Brewery and Bold Rock Hard Cider will be pouring more than 20 craft beers. Held by a local brewer and beer distributor, the idea is to design bacon-oriented culinary creations then wash them down with a craft beer.Emmett Cherry Festival –
Emmett, Idaho – June 12-15, 2013
Held since the 1930s and always during the second full week of June, the Emmett Cherry Festival serves up a taste of tradition. Cherry Festival events, concerts and carnival all happen in the Emmett City Park starting Wednesday through Saturday. Looking for some down-home goodness? This may be it. Featured are a cherry pit-spitting contest, a pie eating contest and entertainment. Nearly 40,000 people are expected to attend this family-oriented event that celebrates the arrival of the cherries.

Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters –
Little Rock, Arkansas – June 27
Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters are the greatest living link to what can best be described as a gumbo of Cajun/Acadian music, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and melodies, and the blues. Held at
Wildwood Park for the Arts in western Little Rock’s Chenal Valley, the event’s gates open at 6 p.m. for outdoor picnicking, and the concert begins at 8 p.m.

Orion Music and More Festival –
Detroit, Michigan – June 6-8
Over 20,000 fans are expected to attend each of the three days of the festival, headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers on Saturday and Metallica on Sunday with a total of 39 acts scheduled to perform. In addition to five stages, all set up on the Belle Isle baseball fields, there will be a car show, film screenings, horror movie memorabilia, food vendors from around Detroit and more. Featured at Orion Music and More is a 30-foot skate ramp where pro riders will tear up the Vans Vert Ramp while bands perform live.

Met returns Tutankhamun artifacts to Egypt

by Sean McLachlan on


New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is returning 19 artifacts from King Tutankhamun’s tomb to Egypt. This is another success in Egypt’s ongoing battle to bring home its heritage. Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass is spearheading the drive and says he’s repatriated more than 5,000 artifacts. These include a fragment of Egyptian sculpture the Met discovered last year had actually been stolen, and other items from collections all over Europe and North America.

According to the Met’s press release, the artifacts made their way into the museum’s collection in the years following the tomb’s discovery by Howard Carter in 1922. Carter and the Egyptian authorities had agreed that all of his finds were Egyptian property, and the objects should never have been allowed to be sold or bequeathed to the Met. After Carter’s death, his own home was found to be decorated with loot from the tomb. Most of the Met’s artifacts are fragments that were used as scientific samples, but the collection includes a bronze dog and a sphinx bracelet.

The objects will join the exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at Discovery Times Square Exposition before going on display at the Met for six months. After that, they’ll finally join King Tut’s other treasures in Cairo, like the scarab bracelet in the above photo.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cleveland and how to take part

by Jamie Rhein on

This past week, Cleveland has been a buzz with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony activities. People flock to this city by Lake Erie for such occassions. For that reason, the Hall of Fame has worked hard to get the ceremony back where it belongs.

Over the past several years–as in more than 20, the power house people who organize the inductions have opted for New York City instead of Cleveland, the city accredited to the birth of Rock and Roll when 1950s DJ Alan Freed coined the term during his Cleveland broadcasts.

I guess those who are New York prone have decided that Cleveland’s not a “Mistake on the Lake” after all. The induction festivities will be in Cleveland once every three years starting this year. That was the buzz a couple years ago, and I heard yesterday on the news that this is a done deal. This is great news for Cleveland because the ceremony brings in millions of dollars and will hopefully create a renewed interest in the museum. For the public, it’s great. Today, for example, admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is free. Several Cleveland restaurants have been offering special drinks and dishes and there have been special concerts. Plus, Cleveland is sure cheaper than Manhattan.

According to the events page on the Hall of Fame website, if you want to watch the simulcast of the three hour ceremony, you can buy a $5 ticket at Ticketmaster outlets or online. You can also call 1-800-745-3000. Or, if you’re in Cleveland, head to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There will be broadcasts throughout the museum and on the huge screen on the Main Stage.

Starting at 6 pm tonight you can also watch the induction ceremony hoopla including the red carpet arrivals and backstage interview buzz at Public Hall via live streaming video at www.cleveland.com.

Who is getting inducted this year?

Performers

  • Jeff Beck
  • Metallica
  • Little Anthony and the Imperials
  • Run-D.M.C
  • Bobby Womack

Early Influence

  • Wanda Jackson

Sideman Category

  • Bill Black
  • DJ Fontana
  • Spooner Oldman