Film festival | Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde

English: Bay City, looking East from Veterans Memorial Park. Bay City, Michigan at dusk. Bay City, Michigan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ahhh… June. It’s finally here. Summer and all it brings is finally here. In Bay City it means festival after festival after festival, and all they entail. It starts with the River Roar and St. Stan’s Festival in June, continues with the Fireworks Festival in July, and continues with the Pig Gig in August. September brings River of Time and leads into Hell’s Half Mile Film Festival and Haunted Temple in October. Oh, and I didn’t even mention the throngs of campers heading north on I-75 each and every weekend now through Labor Day. Let the craziness begin.

Scroll the events and you’ll see what I mean. There is literally something every week.

Calendar of Events – Great Lakes Bay Region

2012 June Events in Downtown Bay City

Hell’s Half Mile Film and Music Festival

Image via Wikipedia

Hell’s Half Mile Film & Music Festival

The film festival mentioned above started in 2005 and is growing every year. It is nice to see something happening in Bay City. There is just so much more to do. At least it is a start.

Bay City actually always had the beginnings of a vibrant art community. There are the Bay City Players, a decent local community theater; Studio 23, which specializes in the visual arts; as well as private dance schools, galleries, and theaters that all make up downtown Bay City. When you also factor in the crazy summer festival schedule, the relatively new library downtown, as well as the Delta College planetarium (ugly as it may be), it takes a minute to step back and see what is missing.

The infrastructure appears to be in place. What is lacking is full use of resources and better communication between different groups. There are also gaps. While there is a well-established community theater, art galleries, and a very active historical society, there is no writing group in Bay City. Hopefully that will change soon.

See Part 1 below. I also included a link to a new online resource for art and entertainment in Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland. It’s a start.

Building A Creative Community | Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde
360 Main Street – Mid-Michigan’s Premier Online Arts and Entertainment Magazine