25th Black Arts Festival
Arcadia Creek Festival Site, Kalamazoo
Aug. 1
Free before 4 p.m., $3 after 7 p.m.
blackartskalamazoo.org

Stop by Arcadia Creek Festival Site for the last day of the Black Arts Festival. Local dancers, musicians, soloist and choirs will take the stage to close out the 25th Black Arts Festival. Headliner is Grammy Nominated Sheri Jones-Moffet.

Ingham County Fair
Aug. 2-7
700 E. Ash St., Mason
ingham.org, (517) 676-2428

Demolition derbies, motocross, corn dogs and pigs: just another day at the Ingham County Fair. This year marks the 156th anniversary for the fair and, if you like all of the aforementioned things, it promises to be better than ever.

Michigan Womyn's Festival
Aug. 3-8
Walhalla
michfest.com, (231) 757-4766

From the camping to the weeklong workshops, the Michigan Womyn's Festival is "exhilarating, exciting, liberating and overwhelming at times." With the opportunity to meet womyn from around the world, making friends and networking is one of the staples of this festival. Featuring the Indigo Girls, among many other musical acts.

Kev-A-Roo Festival
Eagles Lodge, Grand Haven
Aug. 5-7
$5

97 LAV FM's Kevin Matthews is hosting the fourth annual Kev-A-Roo Festival, featuring three nights of music with a focus on charity. Last year, the festival raised more than half a million for local charities, with this year's goal being even higher. Bands that will be featured at the festival include Sweet J Band, The Verve Pipe, and Instant Karma, among others.

Community Advocates Ribfest
Arcadia Creek Festival Place, Kalamazoo
Aug. 5-7
ribfestkalamazoo.com, (269) 388-2830

Carnivores unite! Whether you are a fan of ribs, burgers, brats, dogs or even ice cream, Ribfest has what you are looking for. Wash down your feast with a great selection of national and local brews and watch Eddie Money and the Verve Pipe rock the stage on Friday and Saturday night, respectively.

Clown Band Concert and Corn Roast
1687 S. Lakeshore Dr., Ludington
Aug. 8, 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
historicwhitepinevillage.org, (231) 843-4808

Get your lawn chairs ready and head out to Ludington on Aug. 8 for roasted sweet corn, hot dogs, brats and beverages. While there, enjoy the combined sounds of the Pentwater Civic Band and the Scottville Clown Band.

Coopersville Summerfest
Downtown Coopersville
Aug. 9-14, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
$7.50, children under two are free
coopersville.com, (616) 997-5165

Take a relaxing train ride for over an hour through family-owned farms and fields.

Cow Pie Blues Festival
Aug. 13-14
Shagbark Farm, Alaska
cowpiebluesfestival.com

This blues fest offers a lineup of both local and international blues artists. Though Shagbark is a working cow farm, don't worry, they promise to take care of the pies before the festival begins.

Unity Christian Music Festival
710 Shoreline Drive Muskegon
Aug. 12-14
unitymusicfestival.com, (231) 773-3361

Watch your favorite Christian artists in Muskegon for the low price of $10. Thousand Foot Krutch, Casting Crowns, Third Day, Mathew West, Jeremy Camp, and many others will be singing for your soul as well as your ears.

National Blueberry Festival
South Haven
Aug. 12-15
blueberryfestival.com

Even if you don't like blueberries, the National Blueberry Festival in South Haven isn't something you want to miss. A special blueberry arts and crafts fair as well as a riverfront concert are just a couple of the events you can partake in, all while eating ridiculous amounts of blueberries.

St. Johns Mint Festival
St. Johns City Park/Clinton County Fairground
Aug. 13-15
clintoncountychamber.org/mint.php

Of all of the things to have a festival for, mint seems like an odd choice. Surprisingly, there is a lot to do at the St. Johns Mint Festival including a flea market, parade, quilt making competition, and mint cooking contest. Also, don't forget to meet "Minty" the mint green bear.

Calhoun County Fair
Marshall
Aug. 14-21
calhouncountyfair.org, (269) 781-6377

Probably one of the most unique fair events, Car Hockey is just one of the things to do at the Calhoun County Fair in mid August. Kids can also pet almost every animal imaginable, as well as watch a parade, tractor pulls and fireworks.

Indie Rock Invitational
Downtown Grand Haven
Aug. 20-21
Free
gh-iri.com

Grand Haven is throwing its first-ever Indie Rock Invitational. 10 Midwest bands will be battling for a $1,000 first prize and a professionally made music video by Waterfall Productions. The free festival takes place in downtown Grand Haven and will feature street performers, a beer tent, and more.

Yassou means "Welcome" in Greek, and the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Grand Rapids welcomes all to partake in its first-ever Grand Rapids Greek Cultural Festival. An event six months in the making, Yassou! is West Michigan's first dedicated festival celebrating Greek culture and is expected to draw nearly 8,000 visitors in its first year.

Yassou! Grand Rapids Greek Cultural Festival Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Aug. 27, 3–10 p.m. Aug. 28, 11 a.m.–10 p.m. $2 entrance fee yassoufest.com

Yassou! features the essence of the Greek isles through traditional dancing demonstrations by Holy Trinity's youth dancers, Greek beers and imported wines, a Greek marketplace, and a live concert featuring the Levendes, a dynamic Greek and American band based out of metro Detroit. And of course, the festival food will be one of the many highlights of the event. Featuring such traditional delicacies as pork and chicken souvlaki, gyros, spanakopita, greek salad, and baklava, the menu is almost entirely prepared by volunteers and parishioners of the church using locally grown and purchased produce.

"The people of Grand Rapids are hungry for something different," said David Darling, founding co-chair for the event. "It's a source of pride to bring an awareness of our culture to West Michigan."

Yassou! promises to bring together a combination of Greek music, dances, gifts, and food in a way that will keep your feet tapping and make you want to shout Opa!

When it comes to Michigan, our little mitten has been getting portrayed as quite a down-in-the-dumps location.

It's time to reclaim our state.

One of those ways is through Hoxeyville Music Festival. The festival, which is in its eighth year, puts the spotlight on Michigan products, artists and services in order to build the core of Michigan tourism.

"Overall, our goal is to become the premier Michigan festival," said Jake Robinson, Hoxeyville organizer and owner of Robinson Guitars.

He credits Rothbury with bringing attention in and outside of Michigan to Hoxeyville, which he defines as an "intimate, locally based" festival.

"We've taken advantage of Rothbury and learned from it," Robinson said. "We use the Rothbury crowd as a place to market [Hoxeyville]."

Robinson and company are expanding consumption of Michigan products and services by bringing more national acts to the festival each year. He estimates that this year's festival is half national acts and half local acts.

"Jake is a righteous guy who is an amazing supporter of local music," said Anders Beck, dobro player for the Kalamazoo-based band, Greensky Bluegrass.

This year is Greensky Bluegrass' sixth year playing at Hoxeyville, and Beck's second.

"It's a great opportunity to get in front of people who haven't seen us yet. The sets are short, so we tailor it to what we want it to be," Beck said. "We focus on all the songs that have been sounding really good and work on a good cover."

Hoxeyville's headlining act for this year is Rhythm Devils, a drumming duo that features Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart — founding drummers of the Grateful Dead.

Hoxeyville Music Festival Manistee National Forest Aug. 20-22, gates open at 10 a.m. on Friday Three-day tickets $99 hoxeyville.com

Other performers include Keller Williams, Todd Snider, The Macpodz, That 1 Guy, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Seth Bernard and May Erlewine, Red Sea Pedestrians, and Steppin' In It, among others.

The festival will also have a vendor village, where local businesses can sell their goods (crafts, clothing, food) and promote their services.

Beck says Greensky Bluegrass enjoys the feeling of playing at home. When the band is back in town, members make sure they stock up on Michigan-made products such as Dublin Stone's jerky, and Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Beck's favorite beer.

"Musically, we're really comfortable here," Beck said. "There are so many friends, music lovers and acquaintances. It's like a weekend of summer camp."

Photo: Greensky Bluegrass by J. VanBuhler

Artist Lineup THE RHYTHM DEVILS (feat. Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead) KELLER WILLIAMS • KARL DENSON’S TINY UNIVERSE • THE NEW DEAL • STEVE KIMOCK & CRAZY ENGINE TODD SNIDER • GREENSKY BLUEGRASS • JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE • CORNMEAL • THAT 1 GUY • MOONALICE GREAT AMERICAN TAXI • SETH BERNARD & MAY ERLEWINE • THE PIMPS OF JOYTIME • MY DEAR DISCO • VAN GHOST THE MACPODZ • THE RAGBIRDS • FRONTIER RUCKUS • STEPPIN’ IN IT • RACHAEL DAVIS BAND BREATHE OWL BREATHE • FOUR FINGER FIVE • AIRBORNE OR AQUATIC • RED SEA PEDESTRIANS JEN SYGIT & SAM CORBIN • ROOTSTAND • ULTRAVIOLET HIPPOPOTAMUS • FUNKTION • CORN FED GIRLS RALSTON BOWLES • RED TAIL RING  (feat. Micheal Beauchamp) • GIFTS OR CREATURES GRAHAM PARSONS & THE GO ROUNDS • STRANGE ARRANGEMENT • DETOUR BLUEGRASS THE NORTHERN SKIES • WAYWARD ROOTS • NINTH STREET BRIDGE • MIKE STRUWIN

The first Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival in 1924 was a quiet Coast Guard members-only picnic, unlike this year's event. This August, Grand Haven is celebrating the men and women of the Coast Guard with their 86th Annual Coast Guard Festival. Over the years, the one day picnic has turned into a ten day extravaganza, boasting 26 events and nightly entertainment. The parade and the fireworks display are the two largest draws, according to Madonna Kramer, Coast Guard Fest's marketing director. "Over the past 15 years, we've gradually been increasing our funding, and developing our fireworks display," says Kramer, "and now we have the best fireworks display in Michigan. We've become nationally known for it."

One thing is certain though, the original purpose of the festival remains the same. On August 6th, the festival takes on a more VIP-focused atmosphere. The day is filled with special events for Coast Guard members and their families and at noon is the unveiling of the latest Points of Coast Guard History. "First we talk about local Coast Guard history, and then about general Coast Guard history," says Kramer.

Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival 113 North Second Street Grand Haven, MI July 30-August 8 (616) 846-5940 coastguardfest.org

All of this leads up to the National Memorial Service at Escanaba Park later that afternoon. The service began in order to commemorate the Coast Guard members lost when The Escanaba, the first cutter to be home ported in Grand Haven, sank during WWII. There were only two survivors and the Grand Haven community was devastated. The memorial has continued over the years, and is now also a reflective tribute to the Coast Guard men and women who have lost their lives in service to their country this past year.

Also offering a look at Coast Guard history are daily boat tours. This year, people will line the channel to watch three Coast Guard cutters, the Hollyhock, the Neah Bay, and the Buckthorn, as well as the Canadian Coast Guard cutter, the Samuel Risley, will sail into the harbor. Ship tours will be offered daily at four hour intervals.

While the Coast Guard Festival has always tried to be family friendly, this year, the festival will spend an entire day focusing on youth talent. The kid's parade has long been a favorite, but a new offering is the family friendly entertainment that will happen shortly after the parade. Nightly live entertainment is offered, but "it's too late for the kids," says Kramer.

The festival offers entertainment for everyone. It also gives Grand Haven a chance to celebrate and honor the members of the United States Coast Guard.