Even with the holiday weekend ahead, the Columbus arts scene is as busy as ever. I scanned the calendars on ColumbusMakesArt.com to help you find everything from festivals and music, to new exhibitions and theater.

It’s just over two weeks until the Columbus Arts Festival, but Columbus festival season has been active already.

• Asian Festival is this Saturday and Sunday, May 25-26, at Franklin Park Conservatory, with loads of music, dance, food and more.
• The Ohio Black Expo Riverfront Culture Fest + Convention also takes place Saturday and Sunday at Genoa Park downtown.
• And Jeni’s Strawberry Jam is Saturday and Sunday at Land-Grant Brewing in Franklinton, with lots of good food and drink, plus live music and family activities.

As always, it’s a great week for live music in Columbus:

• There’s a night of Appalachian Swing at Natalie’s on Thursday, May 23.
• That night Polaris kicks off its outdoor summer concert series, LIVE @ Polaris, with the British Invasion tribute band.
• Friday, May 24 brings a folk-heavy night at Rambling House with Elijah Batson, Me Reen, Lily Bloom and others.
• And that evening Jason Allwood plays at Combustion Brewery in Pickerington.
• Or if you’re in the mood for choral music, the Columbus Symphony Chorus sings Mozart’s Mass in C Minor at the Ohio Theatre, May 24-25.
• Sunday at Central hosts a free concert, Harmony Unleashed, at Broad Street Presbyterian Church on Sunday, May 26.

And it’s a big weekend for live performance:

• On Thursday, May 23, Actors’ Theatre of Columbus kicks off its summer season with Beauty and The Beast in Schiller Park. Note that this is not the Disney version; it’s a new retelling by playwright Lucy Kirkwood.
• That same evening, the Nest Theatre hosts a night of storytelling called WORD – Live Literature.
• And on Thursday Evolution Theatre opens the play Starmaker by Michael Leeds. It explores the real relationship with Rock Hudson and his agent.
• Boxland hosts the Think – Write – Play Fest, with six commissioned short plays, May 24-26.

Finally, a handful of exhibitions open up:

• The Urban Arts Space opened a new show based on the touchstone work A Love Letter to This Bridge Called My Back.
• The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum opens a new show called The Nancy Show: Bushmiller and Beyond, about cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller.
• And on Friday, May 24, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum hosts the opening reception of its new special exhibition, Ghost Army: The Combat Cons of World War II.

I hope you’re able to enjoy your long Memorial Day weekend!

Columbus Symphony Orchestra and National Veterans Memorial and Museum receive an Operating Support grant from GCAC, while Actors’ Theatre of Columbus is a General Support recipient. Asian Festival and Sunday at Central receive Project Support.

(Image credit: Asian Fest)

Nick is marketing, communications, & events administrator for GCAC. He’s also a food/travel writer penning works for Columbus Monthly, Ohio Magazine and his own site BreakfastWithNick.com. Are you following the Columbus Arts Festival on Facebook and Instagram?!