“The following is an announcement of upcoming campus and community events in Kalamazoo and the surrounding area. If you would like your event included in our daily announcements, please send a press release to widr.events@gmail.com.”

BARKING TUNA FESTIVAL
WIDR FM is proud to present Barking Tuna Festival 2010! Headliners this year include King Khan and the Shrines, Wolf Eyes, Casiotone For the Painfully Alone, Dan Deacon and Lightning Bolt! The fest will be taking place October 7th,8th and 9th at the The Strutt. Three day passes and single day passes are available online at www.thestrutt.com. Single day passes are $12 and three day passes are $30. For more information, please visit www.widr.org.

KILL: September 10th
Celebrate the Vine Neighborhood Association’s 30-year anniversary with the Mighty Vine! Music and Arts Festival on Friday, September 10th at the Kalamazoo State Theatre. Local musical acts include The Glowfriends, The Go Rounds, Who Hit John?, Minutes, Delightism, and more. For more information, please visit www.vineneighborhood.org

KILL: September 16th:
Learn the basics of how to grow plants without soil when “Eat Local, Kalamazoo” and the Fair Food Matters’ Growing Matters Garden present “Introduction to Hydroponics.” This workshop will take place Thursday, September 16, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Horizen Hydroponics (4646 West Main Street, Kalamazoo). “Introduction to Hydroponics” is designed to teach the basics needed in order to get growing and be successful. Topics covered include advantages and disadvantages of hydroponics, lighting, growing media, nutrients, additives and pH control. To register, please visit www.fairfoodmatters.org/gardenClasses.php. “Eat Local, Kalamazoo,” a program of Fair Food Matters, is a season-long series of events designed to increase the community’s awareness of and appreciation for local food. For the latest information on upcoming events, please visit www.eatlocalkalamazoo.org.

KILL: September 19th:

The recent spill of an estimated one million gallons of oil right here in the Kalamazoo River watershed is a poignant reminder of our own region’s heavy dependence on fossil fuels — and its drawbacks. Michigan as a state ranks tenth in the nation in oil consumption, according to statistics. Southwest Michigan Community Harvest Fest will address this and other sustainability issues at its 8th Annual event on Sunday, September 19 at Tillers International in Scotts. Gates open at 11 a.m., and Harvest Fest offers a variety of activities from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. For more information, please visit www.fairfoodmatters.org/harvestfest.

KILL: September 30th

Western Michigan University will host the annual Midwest Society for Photographic Education Conference at the Frostic School of Art, September 30- October 2, 2010. The Society for Photographic Education is a non-profit membership organization that provides a forum for the discussion of photography and related media as a means of creative expression and cultural insight. Midwest SPE’s regional conference, held each year, is a three-day event featuring lectures, workshops, panel discussions and artists’ presentations selected from national submissions, and balanced with presentations by nationally known speakers. Colleagues and friends in the greater art community of Kalamazoo are welcome to participate in the conference and related activities. For more information please visit www.midwestspe.org.

KILL: October 3rd:
WMU Theatre presents their dramatic season opener with: IN THE BLOOD. Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks exposes a poverty stricken mother’s battle to escape her sordid past in this modern retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.  This compelling drama explores the hand of fate and asks: are we in charge of our own destiny or is it “in the blood”? IN THE BLOOD will be presented from September 23rd through October 3rd in the York Arena at the Gilmore Theatre Complex on WMU’s campus. For more information please visit www.wmutheatre.com.