Following an unanticipated year off, the eagerly awaited six-day festival boasting games, competitions, vendors, and concert sets by more than two dozen national and local acts returns with the 2021 Mississippi Valley Fair, its August 3 through 8 engagement at Davenport's Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds boasting grandstand performances by chart-toppers, multi-platinum sellers, and multiple-award winners.

Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action concludes its series of 2021 outdoor presentations in the final month of the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks, weekly programs that, from August 3 through September 4, will address such topics as early Civil War history, Mississippi River flood levels, the history of Campbell's Island, and iconic musicians Bix Beiderbecke and Louie Bellson.

Members of the Figge Art Museum who have admired the many works in the venue's current Tom Uttech: Origin are invited to enjoy a live audience with the artist himself, as the virtual August 4 presentation A Conversation with Tom Uttech finds the gifted Wisconsin painter and photographer discussing his process and inspirations while also answering participants' questions.

Lauded by the Sun-Sentinel as a “well-plotted, poignant, and often sweet debut” that “stirs up a lively mixture of Filipino culture, food, and family bonds,” Mia Manansala's Arsenic & Adobo was released in May to rapturous praise, and on July 27, its author will appear in a virtual presentation hosted by the Moline Public Library to discuss her career, writing process, and book debut that BuzzFeed labeled on of the most highly anticipated mystery novels of 2021.

A multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter with the distinction of having earned six American Country Awards in one year, chart-topping superstar Jason Aldean serves as the first Grandstand performer in the 2021 Mississippi Valley Fair, his August 3 appearance treating country fans to a thrilling repertoire that boasts nine studio albums and a remarkable 22 number-one singles to date.

Described by Variety as “Disney's happiest outing since The Lion King” and by USA Today as boasting “easy infectiousness” and “youthful exuberance,” the Tony-winning Newsies: The Musical concludes the 2021 summer season for Eldridge's Countryside Community Theatre, the show's July 30 through August 8 run treating crowds to an energetic work that, according to the Hollywood Reporter, “adheres to a time-honored Disney tradition of inspirational storytelling in the best possible sense.”

Winner of Great Britain's Oliver Award for Best Play and described by London's Independent as “wondrous, hilarious, and heartbreaking,” the fascinating two-character drama The Mountaintop, from July 29 through August 7, serves as the inaugural production at Davenport's new venue The Mockingbird on Main, the play's imagined tale involving Martin Luther King Jr. lauded by the Los Angeles Times as “a powerful, poetic take on (King's) legacy.”

Based on the beloved Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson book Growing Up Lutheran and an ever-popular stage entertainment for more than 15 years, Church Basement Ladies serves as the latest musical-comedy presentation at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, its run sure to demonstrate why Broadway World called the experience “a completely fun evening” that's “really, really funny.”

Claud, July 30

With the pop-culture Web site NME.com giving the artist's solo-album debut Super Monster four stars and calling the release “a vivid portrait of the giddiness and drama of love,” bedroom-pop singer/songwriter Claud performs July 30 as the first headliner for Davenport's new Raccoon Motel at 315 East Second Street, her compositions, according to NME.com, capable of “pulling on the heartstrings in a way that feels intensely genuine.”

The literary gifts of more than a dozen area teens will be both celebrated and showcased in a special outdoor event on July 22, with the Rock Island venue Rozz-Tox hosting the Midwest Writing Center's latest edition of literary journal THE ATLAS, a night boasting performances of original work by 17 gifted and burgeoning talents.

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