Hosted by River Action and themed “Our Watershed: Working Together for Healthy Waters and Flood-Resilient Communities,” the 11th-annual Upper Mississippi River Conference will be held at Moline's Stoney Creek Inn Convention Center on October 24 and 25, an event focusing on floodplain issues facing the Mississippi River watershed that covers all or part of 31 states in the nation.

Presenting an address on the importance of “Making Words Count,” Iowa Poet Laureate Mary Swander serves as the keynoate speaker for the Midwest Writing Center's fall fundraiser Celebration of the Literary Arts 2018, an October 25 even held at Moline's CityView Celebrations that will also boast a buffet dinner, cashg bar, 50/50 raffle, and the presentation of the annual David R. Collins Literary Achievement Award.

Praised by Marquee magazine for their “dynamic presence” and for “continuously pushing the genre of bluegrass and their legacy within the genre,” the Yonder Mountain String Band plays Davenport's Redstone Room on October 24 in support of their latest album Love. Ain't Love, a work in which, according to LiveForLiveMusic.com, the chart-topping group “finds plenty of new twists on the way to making a stellar record.”

Appearing locally in support of the band's January release Politics in the Time of Heroin, the Iowa-based indie rockers of The Penny Serfs will play a Moeller Nights concert on October 25. Audiences will subsequently be treated to the genre-hopping sound that, in the Prelude Press, lead vocalist and LeClaire resident Mikey Loy described as: “Take The Beatles out for a drink or five; introduce them to Kurt Cobain (preferably under the influence); give them a few topics to discuss (i.e. politics, fear, past, present, and future); convince Paul and John to let Kurt sit in for a few sessions; hit the record button.”