Inlander Picks

Maybe This'll Tire 'Em Out FESTIVAL


Where else on a nice summer day can kids paint their faces, gawk at karate demonstrations, race radio-controlled cars around an oval, heave way-oversize basketballs at over-large inflatable hoops, get up close and personal with some barnyard animals, engage in intense coloring-book activity and gorge themselves on all manner of junk foo... er, nutritional snacks? Get on over to the Clock Tower Meadow in Riverfront Park this Saturday, Moms and Dads, because all your little Dustins and Mikaylas crave the chance to spend six hours racing from one activity to the next. They want to tug on your sleeve and implore you to purchase just one more hot dog, just one more ice cream sandwich, please, Mom, please? Take comfort: there will be several thousand other parents wandering about, like you, in a daze. It's been like that for the past 17 years at Kids' Day.


--Michael Bowen





Kids' Day * Saturday, Aug. 10, from 11 am-5 pm * Riverfront Park, downtown Spokane * Free * Call: 459-9800





Picture Language VISUAL ART


There's something about Peter Carlson's new exhibition, up now at the Chris Kraisler Gallery in Sandpoint, that speaks of interior fire, of silent passions and quick bursts of emotion that lie just below the calm surface. His palette of vivid, fiery colors and muted shades of charcoal and gray certainly suggest such passion. His compositions also -- whether of two people in a quiet museum, or of a woman's unsettled profile -- have similar intensity.


Carlson, who was raised in Alaska and graduated from Evergreen State College, has had numerous exhibitions across the U.S. and internationally, most recently at the Galeria Esteta, in Porto, Portugal, as well as the Biblioteca Municipal in Povoa do Varzim, Portugal. Don't miss this remarkable show.


--Sheri Boggs





Peter Carlson exhibit * Chris Kraisler Gallery * 517 N. Fourth St., Sandpoint, Idaho * through Sept. 2 * Call: (208) 255-4170





Plano Piano? CLASSICAL MUSIC


The 20th anniversary edition of the Festival at Sandpoint closes in grand fashion on Sunday with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra and guest pianist Roberto Plano of Italy. The 23-year-old Plano won last year's Cleveland International Piano Competition, and he will join the orchestra for Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor and his first American performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Dvorak's rollicking Carnival Overture gets things off to a festive start, and the second half of the concert is devoted entirely to the music of George and Ira Gershwin. An encore of American favorites will accompany the traditional rousing fireworks finale. The Festival's Principal Conductor, Gary Sheldon, leads the orchestra for this special concert.


And if music and fireworks aren't enough, how about a fine wine? Gates will open early so that Winesellers of Sandpoint can present the annual Taste of the Stars Wine Tasting for all ticketholders over the age of 21. Complimentary samples from 32 Northwest wineries will be available.


--Ann M. Colford





Festival at Sandpoint Grand Finale Concert with the Spokane


Symphony Orchestra and guest pianist Roberto Plano, conducted by Gary Sheldon * Memorial Field, Sandpoint, Idaho * Sunday, August 11 * Gates open at 4:30 * Tickets: $25; $10, youth 18 and younger * Call: 888-265-4554





Brews and Blues MUSIC


A summer tradition here in the Inland Northwest, the Blues and Brews Festival has come down this season from its formerly lofty perch on Silver Mountain to the Greyhound Park and Event Center in Post Falls, giving aficionados of the Northwest's finest blues artists and microbrews easier access to their twin objects of desire. Yes, they used to make doggies run here, but no longer. Today, the Greyhound Park and Event Center qualifies as one of the finest outdoor event facilities in the area. The oval track has been replaced by a green expanse of turf. And guest services have definitely been kicked up a notch or two. The festival (a 21-and-over event, of course) will feature live performances by Aaron Richner and the Blues Drivers, Civilized Animal and headliners the Lloyd Jones Struggle from Portland. But your admission price does more than mere get you in the gate; it also buys you six tastes from some of the region's most respected microbrewers (18 breweries, 36 flavors in all) who will be on hand talking up their malty wares. Ah... refreshing, delicious, intoxicating beer.


--Mike Corrigan





Blues and Brews Festival * Saturday, Aug. 10, 2-8 pm *


Greyhound Park, 5100 Riverbend Ave., Post Falls, Idaho *


Tickets: $18 * Call: 800-828-4880