Entertainment abounds this week with a Muralfest in The Dalles and pubs and bars knocking out the jams all over the Gorge for the next several days. There are also a whole lot of other nuggets here in the Gorge’s most comprehensive entertainment listing.

A VANtastic Art and Music Fest will occur at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum Grounds located at 990 SW Rock Creek Dr. Stevenson, WA on Sunday September 4 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The event is free for the local community and for Community Art Studio of Skamania (CASS) supporters.

The elusive Hood River based artist Craig Luster, who has been making art in the Gorge for over forty years, has come out of the studio for the first time in years to host an art show featuring his latest body of work inspired by the #MeToo movement at Old St. Peter’s Landmark at 405 Lincoln St on September 2nd and 3rd from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Our movie reviewer Mo Burford takes a look at two big films this summer, Nope and Bullet Train. Nope had Burford saying yep to a second showing in two days. “Bullet Train is fun, especially if you like lots of hand-to-hand combat and big, mildly comedic characters; and it was a fine use of eleven bucks during a scorcher of a summer,” he writes.

Performing since he was 14 years old, Hogan’s life and musical journey has taken him from the rockabilly swinging 1960s of England to a communal lifestyle in southern Oregon in the 1970s. He’s a pioneer of Seattle’s underground music scene. Hogan says “he was there” when bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden became Grunge Gods and put Seattle on the map as a source of new music culture.

Downtown activities for The Dalles First Friday got a real boost from local artist Todd Simmler who displayed 30 of his metal sculptures created from found objects at the scrapyard. The creations seemed to set a curious tone for the evening. It was like people were discovering new creatures as they perused Simmler’s pieces.

The five day event, in which 16 new murals will be painted in downtown The Dalles is set to occur August 24-28th. Community members are encouraged to sign up to help paint , volunteer or just come on down to enjoy the festivities, music, and fun!

Here’s a chance to kick the weekend off right with some great music in the awesome outdoor venue at Bargeway Pub next to the Columbia River in The Dalles - 1535 Bargeway Road. Cal Scott, Bob Bailey and Dan Ross will perform songs from their new album, an all-original compilation with some funny lines and great storytelling. It’s titled Chapter One.

Our friend Jeff Carrel hits the Last Stop Saloon in TD tonight, Aug. 2. He is just one of a few local legends making headlines in this week’s guide for entertainment. Our man Jim Drake is laying out the schedule for the next few days and weeks to come in this comprehensive listing. You can’t go if you don’t know.

"The Visiting Authors Program meets the cultural needs of our students, many of whom have never met a contemporary author, much less one of their culture or who speaks to their concerns," Wendy Patton explained. “This project selects diverse authors and integrates their work into existing courses. We will be inviting the wider Gorge community, recording and archiving the visits so people will benefit from this project well into the future.”

TDAC is proud to announce a new open call for artists of all mediums in the Columbia Gorge Region. With the diminished opportunities for artists unaffiliated with galleries, we are excited to provide artists from the area a space to exhibit their work collectively.

The Broadway Junior version of the hit musical Godspell will begin rehearsals with a script read-through on Sunday, July 31, at 5:00 PM at The Dalles United Church of Christ Congregational, 111 East 5th Street. Performances are scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings, Aug. 26 and 27, coinciding with the Northwest Mural Fest in The Dalles.

Music is in play. Check out this week in entertainment, including venues Working Hands Beer, Wasco County Fair & Rodeo, Ruins, Double Mountain, Columbia Center for the Arts, Zim’s, TD Library, CG Bluegrass Festival, Lavender Daze, Granada, The Pines, Mid Columbia Concert Association, Taphouse, White Salmon Library, Jackson Park, Tilly Jane’s, Everybody’s Brewing, TD Eagles, Stave and Stone, Jacob Williams, Sunshine Mill, Arlington, Grateful Vineyard, HR Library, Gorge Gear sale, Klickitat Canyon Days, Kickstand Coffee

Zach Ryan pays a tribute to Waylon Jennings tonight, July 14, at the Bargeway Pub in The Dalles. It is just one of many great music options this week as art and music is alive and well in the Mid-Columbia. Venues featured this week include Ruins, Everybody’s Brewing, Granada, Double Mountain, TDAC, Zim’s, TD Library, Taphouse, TD Eagles, Stave & Stone, Mt. Hood Winery, WS Library, Jacob Williams, Sunshine, Arlington, TD United Church of Christ, Route 30, Working Hands Beer, River City Saloon, Solera, Grass Valley, White Buffalo, Grateful Vineyard, MC Senior Center, HR Library, HR Elks, Klickitat Canyon Days, Skamania Lodge, Kickstand Coffee

Bringing Jennifer Batten, lead guitarist for Michael Jackson for four world tours, to The Dalles for a fundraiser. That’s just being a Smooth Criminal. Doing it all in the Backyard of the Bargeway Pub this Friday night while supporting The United Way of the Columbia Gorge? Cue the pyrotechnics. And that’s a go on the guitar solo!

We got you covered for all things red, white and blue and rock-n-roll too this weekend. Check out this schedule of fireworks displays and other events for Fourth of July weekend here in The Dalles, Hood River, Goldendale, Stevenson, White Salmon and Cascade Locks. Photo of past Fort Dalles Fourth Fireworks display in The Dalles courtesy Macnab Photography.

Tick, tick, tick. One hour to madness. Here we go into the three-day weekend with more things to do than firecrackers have fuses. The Dalles Downtown is kicking things off in an hour with First Friday. More than 30 businesses are staying open late with all sorts of activities happening including live music, specials, drinks, treats and more.

Check out all the latest entertainment and music news including Ruins, Granada, Columbia Center for Arts, Goldendale, Fort Dalles Riders Club, Bargeway Pub, River City Saloon, Double Mountain, Zim’s, Working Hands Beer, Stave and Stone, White Salmon Library, Kickstand Coffee, HR Library, Jacob Williams, Route 30, Skamania Lodge, Maupin.

Hundreds came to participate in or watch the Columbia Gorge Pride Parade that started at 10 a.m. this morning, June 26, in The Dalles. Participants were joyful about the event but some were also warry as the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court Decision on Friday hinted at the erosion of federally protected same-sex marriage rights.