All Things Spooky...

Though summer is over and winter is just over the horizon, this is one of my favorite times of year - where else but in the Chippewa Valley can one see such spectacular fall colors? Alas, as of this posting they are only just beginning to change, so we've plenty of time to enjoy the chroma, sipping hot apple cider, wandering around the orchards, gathering up the harvest at the farmer's markets bursting with fresh vegetables and walking with the dead... What?! Yes! If you've a taste for the strange, there's plenty to go around! Come to the Village of Terror at the Renaissance Park in Chippewa Falls, WI for five full weekends from Sept 30th through October 29th from 5pm-11pm. Rides, maze, food, libations, rave, and plenty of spooky entertainment.

Also, if you missed the Village of Terror's promotional Zombie Shamble last weekend (which was super fun!), on October 15th, the first annual Eau Claire Zombie Crawl will convene at Wilson Park in downtown Eau Claire at 5pm. Come and get made-up to look dead so that by 7pm, you can begin walking the streets and invading the pubs. Most of the bars downtown and on Water St. will have drink specials and contests for all zombies. Please note: the organizers ask that you show up as dead as you can prior to the crawl. Make-up supplies and artists will be limited so anything you can do beforehand would help greatly!

And, if that isn't your thing (perhaps you don't like Halloween?) there are plenty of other options. There is the Chippewa Valley Haunted Tour on Sept 30th. Discover all the macabre that Chippewa Falls has to offer. Learn the history of the lawless loggers all the way up to modern hauntings. The tour is an eye-opening adventure that will scare and delight all at the same time. Visit two of Chippewa Falls' most haunted locations. Reservations required.

And if you STILL aren't having fun, well, there is always the downtown and city-wide trick-or-treating schedules. Downtown TNTing is Friday, Oct 28th from 3-5 pm. City-wide is Monday, Oct 31st from 5-7pm. The Indoor Sports Center is also putting on the RCU Halloween event for Friday, Oct 28th from 5-9pm.

If you still are bored, stay home and hand out candy! :P

Final Weekend for the Chippewa Valley Renaissance Faire

For the last five weeks, the Chippewa Valley has enjoyed the wonder and mirth of its own Renaissance Faire, this following a one year hiatus and change of ownership from the previous Wisconsin Renaissance Faire. Wisconsin Festival Grounds, the new owner, has made some wonderful improvements visually, musically, and in all areas of entertainment. With top-notch acts such as the popular Wolgemut, the Suitcase Shakespeare Company, Tuey, Hey Nunnie Nunnie and a host of other very talented acts and performers, this year's Faire has been spectacular. But what's even better? They have extended their season and added a sixth weekend! If you haven't gone to the Chippewa Valley Renaissance Faire, I suggest you take advantage of their Bonus Weekend. You'll be very glad you did!

Golden Moon Arts is being redirected...

Well boys and girls, as you can see my entries into this blog are sporadic at best and downright abandoned in their worst. How can you, dear reader, even count on my words when I cannot commit to doing my part? Maybe a new direction is in order, a new purpose for this blog. Instead of keep you up to date on what is happening in the Chippewa Valley, I'll give air to the festivals that round out my seasons.
Currently, these festivals include:
Reggaefest - 3rd weekend in May, Trempealeau Hotel, Trempealeau, WI
Chippewa Valley Renaissance Faire - Late May to late June, Chippewa Falls, WI
Thistledown Faerie Faire - weekend before or on Summer Solstice, Bonduel, WI
Sounds Like Summer Concert series, throughout the summer, Phoenix Park, Eau Claire, WI
The World of Faeries Festival, first weekend in August, St. Charles, IL
LaCrosse Irish Festival, second weekend in August, LaCrosse, WI
Chalkfest, August, Wilson Park, Eau Claire, WI
International Fall Festival, September, Barstow St., Eau Claire, WI

I'm simply going to write about these events, give word of when they are, what to expect, and any other info I have and then offer my own experiences of them. If you like what you see, become a follower. If not, well, seeing that my history with this blog speaks for itself, I wouldn't blame you. ;)

Peace!
Brad

A few things during this hot and boring week...

- Tuesday Blues at Owen Park features local blues band The Pumps at 6:30pm at the bandshell. I know nothing about these guys, nor how with this concert they are mysteriously "going blue". Check them out to find out.

- I really need to give our local flute-master his due. You will often find Peter Phippin playing at the Shanghai Bistro and you should really go listen to him. Every time I've heard him, it is like casting yourself into a quiet peaceful forest with a breeze blowing through the trees. Peter plays a wealth of flutes including the shakuhachi, the Papago flute and many more from Native American and Asian cultures. He's playing at the Bistro on Wednesday from 6:30-9:30pm.

- Thursday, June 25th at 6:30pm bring the next featured artists to the Sounds Like Summer concert series at Phoenix Park. This time, it's the Laarks and also Myrna Loy. Both bands offer a sort of indie rock/pop rock feel that will keep your feet a'tappin.

Solstice Events, FATFAR and more!

The beginning of Summer (or Midsummer, agriculturally speaking) brings us a whopping boatload of stuff to do this weekend, from art festivals and art forms, to lusty vaudvillain sideshows to the biggest river-tubing event in the world (so they say).

- New to the roster this year is something I wish they would have started years ago, but I'm glad to see it now! The famous Rutledge Mansion up on the West Hill in Chippewa will be the site of the 1st Annual Solstice on Grand Art Faire on Saturday, June 20th from 9am to 5pm. The grounds will be transformed into a festival of 60 artists, live music, concessions and tours of the mansion itself. It sounds like a good deal of fun. Don't miss it!

- What would the Summer Solstice be without a celebration of it? Come down to the labyrinth at Phoenix Park from 1-4pm for Eau Claire's Summer Solstice Celebration. This all-inclusive soiree invites participation in a number of fun activities surrounding the height of summer: international folk dancing, some powerful drumming by the West African Music Society, Kirtan chanting, specialized "intuitive" dancing, and heck, maybe a poem or two. The celebration has been yearly and gets better every year with a great turnout.

- On Saturday at 7pm, the Acoustic Cafe will host guitarist Jeffery Jaworski. Following him will be the band Brothers Burn Mountain, whose earthy music seems appropriate for the solstice.

- Don't forget the Stone's Throw at 10pm for the Carnivale of Debauchery and Deviance with its circus-sideshow-inspired managerie of mischief and mayhem. A unique experience for the innocent soul...

- Orestus fans! Your local favorite heavy metal band will be playing at the House of Rock at 10pm on Saturday. For those of you not familiar with Orestus, get a sampling of their experience here.

- And finally, we come to Sunday, June 21st, Father's Day. I know some of you will be grilling out, or maybe boating with dear old Dad, but maybe you should do both and take him to Chippewa's famous FATFAR! What the heck is that, you ask? FATFAR is the acronym for Frenchtown Annual Tube Float And Regalia - a fancy-ism for perhaps the world's largest floating and tubing event. Every year brings thousands of floaters - some bring meager inner tubes or inflatable rafts and such, and then there's those who bring the big guns - huge rafts made for 30 people, grills, lounge chairs and creative decor. Some make it the entire way, some break up along the way, but each year brings plenty of tales about who fared how on the river. FATFAR begins at the launch site just downriver beneath the Canal Street side of the Main St. bridge and flows smoothly down the scenic Chippewa River for several miles. Though many tubers stop off at Loopy's Bar and Grill for its annual FatFest, many continue on to Two Waters Bar in Lake Hallie. Bring your tube, your raft, or your homemade floating party barge and plenty of sunscreen, for the FATFAR is a day to remember!

PS!! The word has just reached my ears that the Stone's Throw, known for its high-quality music acts and awesome food, will be closing on June 23rd!! Apparently, the owners are in negotiations with new owners but it is unknown yet who will take over ownership and when it will reopen. In appreciation for their customers, there will be a 3-day party from Sunday, June 21st through June 23rd. How sad! The Stone's Throw was one of Eau Claire's premier music venues. RIP Stone's Throw...

Thursday and Friday, June 18th and 19th events

The summer event season gets to be pretty packed, so you'll see plenty of these kinds of entries where I attempt to sandwich dozens of things into a small area at once. Case in point:

- Thursday, June 18th at 6:30pm the next round of the Sounds Like Summer concert series brings the Tony Baisley Band and South Farwell to the labyrinth at Phoenix Park. Tony Baisley brings a taste of that enigmatic genre "country-rock" while South Farwell brings a bluesy flavor. Check them out!

- Local blues shaman Howard Luedtke plays at the Sheeley House in Chippewa on Thursday at 8pm, while local jazzman Jeff Walk cuts a few tunes at the Haymarket Grill on Graham Ave. from 9 to 11:30pm. If you don't like Jazz and don't want to go all the way to Chippewa, the Mousetrap hosts Little Willie at 10pm. You may remember that Little Willie recently played at the Tuesday Blues in the Park series a couple weeks back.

- Friday, June 19th brings us the Juneteenth Celebration honoring the Emancipation Proclamation and celebrating African American culture. This will be at Phoenix Park at 4pm with food, live music, speakers, and cultural activities.

- It seems to me that the Chippewa Valley has been flooded with so much Bluegrass music lately that I might need a lawn mower. Either that, or I'll just dance. Friday, from 7 to 10pm at the Acoustic Cafe downtown, the East Hill Bluegrass Band (who recently played at the Sounds Like Summer concert series) will be playing their brand of traditional true-blue bluegrass. Its always a pleasure to hear them.

- Two groups you probably don't want to miss will play back to back on Friday night. Beginning at 7:30pm at the Grand Little Theater, indie rock band Wide Plans for a Palindrome welds together the sounds of banjo with synthesizers, guitars and voice. After hearing them, walk over to the Mousetrap to see the powerful reggae/rock fusion band Shoeless Revolution at 10pm. Their energy is infective and will leave you breathless. Do not miss these folks!

Carnivale of Debauchery, June 20th at Stone's Throw

For all of you familiar with Eau Claire's Decadent Cabaret, the Carnivale of Debauchery and Deviance, presented at the Stone's Throw on Saturday, June 20th at 10pm, is NOT it. What it is is a collection of the strange, the burlesque, the comedic and acrobatic. Think gypsy fortunetellers, bellydancers, snakecharmers, human sideshows, whipcrackers via local whip superstar Adam Winrich, music, dancing, games, and loads of strange fun - probably not a place to bring your first date or your children, unless, well...
Have fun, kids.
Image by Stone's Throw