It’s nearly midnight, but the party is still going strong. On the front stoop of McDaniel College’s Baker Memorial Chapel, people are gathered in a circle—some seated, some standing—to play old-time traditional music in the sticky July heat, singing and wailing and taking turns leading the improv.

“Key of E, 12-bar, no quick change,” a guy calls out as he starts in on a song. Then a few others, on percussion, bring in a beat. After a few bars, others join in, bit by bit: a guitar, a fiddle, a mountain dulcimer, an upright bass.

Most in the crowd are in their 50s or older, predominately white, middle-class folks, dressed casually in button-downs, T-shirts, and shorts. Occasionally people standing around join in to sing the chorus. Older folks pull up lawn chairs.

These musicians have made the historic Baker Memorial Chapel, with its tall, stately pillars and large cement entranceway, their front porch for some late-night pickin’.

An hour later, the circle is two rows deep. Then it’s leaning toward three rows, as others crowd around to be near the ecstatic, communal energy at its center.

These aren’t McDaniel College students but rather all-ages, lifelong learners from across the globe who have gathered here each summer for the past 25 years for the little-known Traditions Weeks. A three-week summer camp of sorts, the event offers classes in all manner of traditional arts and crafts, from beadwork to basket weaving to wooden spoon carving, as well as a hefty load of music courses—African drumming, Scottish fiddle, tin flute, and countless others.

Traditions Weeks culminates in the Common Ground on the Hill Festival (this year on July 13), a full day of outdoor concerts at the Carroll County Farm Museum that has brought the likes of Pete Seeger and Doc Watson to its stages. Last year, Pete Clark, one of the top fiddlers of Scotland, performed. Acclaimed Baltimore folk singer-songwriter Caleb Stine regularly performs and leads workshops. Another Baltimore treasure, MacArthur Fellowship-winning artist Joyce J. Scott, has also taught classes.

Part of what’s so magical about these loose, late-night jams at the end of each day of camp, before the crowd disperses and people head to the campus dorm rooms for the night, is the general “all are welcome” attitude of everyone involved. Even newcomers say it feels like a family reunion. Young musicians who are taking classes during the day are not only exposed to world-renowned teachers and learning new techniques, they’re also joining in each night, getting a taste of what it’s like to play alongside these legends.

And those who think they are simply watching aren’t really spectators. Everyone’s within earshot. Everyone’s welcome to sing, clap, stomp. There really is no division between audience and performer; even the couples dancing in the grass nearby are playing their parts.

The annual tradition is a bit like the Scottish legend of Brigadoon, a mythical, enchanted village that’s remained unchanged by time for centuries but only becomes visible to outsiders once every 100 years.

“It’s great to come back every year and see familiar faces and just be creative,” Hummel says.

Laurel Hummel, who lives with her family in New Windsor, has been attending the fest almost every summer since its second year. “I heard about it through some friends, and it was a great way to get my kids doing fun stuff when they were little,” she says. “We’d put them in World Village, which is an all-day program for kids.”

Like many others, Hummel often volunteers at the fest to offset the cost of classes, which can otherwise add up (a full-time tuition for one week is roughly $500, with other options for participating in just one, two, or three classes). Over the years, she has gotten to meet a lot of interesting people because of those volunteer hours (one memorable moment was preparing a veggie dish for Arlo Guthrie), and she’s also been able to try her hand at numerous classes—gospel singing, natural dyeing, cast-iron cooking, Native American flute, dance, and, her favorite, wooden spoon carving.

“It’s great to come back every year and see familiar faces and just be creative,” Hummel says. “There’s really nothing else around like it.”

For that, Hummel can thank Walt Michael, the man who founded the festival and continues as its director. Michael, a baby boomer who grew up in Bethesda on Appalachian music, graduated from McDaniel (then called Western Maryland College) in 1968, joined the seminary for a short time, and then joined a band, discovering his true calling. He traveled around the world for more than two decades as a multi-instrumentalist playing in folk bands, and was best known for his skills on the hammered dulcimer. When he returned from touring in 1993, he pitched the idea of starting a festival to Robert Chambers, the president of McDaniel at the time.

“He really understood the vision,” Michael says, telling his story while riding a golf cart across the hilly Westminster campus during Traditions Weeks.

In 1995, Michael held the first Traditions Weeks. A few years in, he grew it to include the Common Ground on the Hill music festival (so named because the McDaniel campus sits atop a hill). But it was always about more than music.

While it’s not written overtly in the festival’s mission statement, if you read between the lines—and certainly if you attend—you’ll notice that what Michael has built is a meeting ground for various cultures to be celebrated and elevated and shared, because he knows intuitively that by learning about different cultures, we gain compassion and understanding of one another, people of all backgrounds. Michael saw the festival as a means for integrating two aspects of himself: the artist and the activist.

“I wanted to create a festival that involved issues of social justice and change, but through the arts,” he says. “I have great faith in traditional arts. I think they speak truth because they’ve withstood the fire of time.”

When the sun is high in the sky again, people lounge in the grass outside the library, read books, nap, work on crafts, and do yoga, while others scurry from one building to the next, carrying musical instruments.

“It’s like a musical Kripalu,” one guest says, referring to the famed yoga retreat in Massachusetts.

Inside Hill Hall, nearly every classroom across three floors is filled—a storytelling lecture, a fiddle class, American singing, Jamaican singing, jazz, blues guitar, beginners guitar, a Celtic jam, an old-time jam, music theory. Rather than focus on one style of music, like a lot of festivals do, Common Ground highlights traditions from cultures as varied as Swedish, Native American, and African.

Across campus, the “wet art” building is buzzing with students working on projects inside.

Robin Tillery leads a small Native American Flute Making class—indeed only two women are there, working on their pieces near a large window, surrounded by assorted piles of seashells, carved pendants, and beads. Tillery also teaches classes on playing the flute that you’ve just crafted with your own hands.

Another popular class is braiding, which has already sold out this year. Its instructor, Carly Miller, brings in models so students can try different styles on them while learning about the history of braiding through various cultures and time periods—from Egyptians to pop culture to African tribes.

“I was an athlete growing up and always braided people’s hair before games. Eventually, I kind of got bored with the normal braids and started experimenting,” Miller says. “What’s fascinating about braids is that they appear in every culture. They transcend time, race, culture, and wealth.”

Like many instructors here, Miller teaches in Carroll County Public Schools. In a partnership with the festival, county teachers are offered continuing education credits by taking courses here, and many also choose to teach.

“They have so many classes—art, dance, music. You can really do anything there and step out of your comfort zone,” Miller says.

It’s true. Nearly every building on campus opens up to another world of classes.

In a large, bright room, Erica Rai Chesnik readies the space for her next yoga class. In the music building, an instructor teaches a prep class to a handful of students interested in learning rock ’n’ roll, all of them wailing on electric guitars at once. “There’s Celtic harp players directly beneath us,” instructor Harry Orlove says with a laugh. In a small auditorium, a dance class practices onstage.

Elsewhere, students gather for the Search for Common Ground class. Two chatty, middle-aged women, waiting for it to begin, practice singing a song they just learned. Michael stands in front of everyone and greets them, saying, “This is our flagship class that we hope creates ripples. We want you to leave this place nurtured and rested but also with tools we can use on the street.” He tells the class, which has filled to capacity, about a recent conversation with his neighbor, who had blurted out that his whole family hates him because he identifies as a conservative. “It was refreshing to hear him be so open, because that’s the kind of conversation that might be our salvation,” Michael says. “But the question is, how do we get to that?”

What starts as a lecture turns into a group dialogue about our country’s current affairs. “I think we need a new narrative about what it means to be an American,” one woman says.

It’s exactly the kind of dialogue Michael wants to foster. “Everyone holds a piece of the truth,” he explains. “If we’re going to survive, we need to talk to each other.”

“I have great faith in traditional arts. I think they speak truth because they’ve withstood the fire of time.”

This year, musicians performing at the fest will come from Mexico, Argentina, Sweden, and across the U.S., including Native Americans from Florida. Among the artists will be Tommy Sands, a singer-songwriter and activist from Northern Ireland whose songs have been recorded by Joan Baez, Kathy Matthea, and Frank Patterson. Paul Dolan, who staged benefit concerts with the likes of John Lennon and Stevie Wonder and went on to become the executive director of ABC News International, will give this year’s keynote.

“Being able to meet these great musicians really shaped my idea of what the music world is,” says Lydia Martin Foy, who started going to the festival in 1996 with her family and now teaches banjo here (her sister, Emily Martin, also teaches). “To see the real African drummers 20 years ago had a huge effect on me. You can never forget that sound. Or to see a real Latin band. Or blues guitar in a room. It’s not enough to consume these things through CDs; you have to experience them in person. And [at Common Ground], it’s not always a concert setting with a big sound system between you and the performers with you sitting in a chair in the audience. They’re right there in the classroom or outside at jams.”

The festival has also expanded in recent years to include year-round Common Ground on the Hill concert series at two locations, the Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore and Carroll Arts Center in Westminster, carrying on traditional music in a more accessible form for those who can’t commit to a full week of classes. These, too, are rooted in Michael’s original vision—that this is about more than the art.

“The name is not just a reference to the literal hill that McDaniel sits on,” Michael says one afternoon, as he takes in the music that’s pouring out of multiple nearby classrooms. “You have to go to that higher place in each other to find that common ground.”

After an inaugural festival that brought Japanese art, culture, food, and film to Station North over the course of three spring days, the Baltimore Japan Art Festival is back Sept. 28-29 with new partners and a bigger profile. While it’s now spread over just a Friday night and full Saturday, the fest will pack in more events, more family-friendly activities, and multiple opportunities to appreciate the visit from acclaimed illustrator and featured guest Yusuke Nakamura.

Co-founders Michael Young and Rob Perry have swapped roles this year, with Perry taking over as chairman from BJAF 2018. Perry, who has been a fan of the artist for the past 12 years, will also moderate the lecture and Q&A with Nakamura on the topic of “Art for the Masses.”

“To our knowledge, BJAF will be the first event outside of Japan to host an exhibition of his work and honor him as the featured speaker,” Perry says. “Mr. Nakamura has given lectures to many different audiences but selected this topic for BJAF in order to appeal to both students and the general public as opposed to solely focusing on technique and other topics that are geared specifically towards artists. I have been told that he is planning to show examples of Japanese art, including his own, and discuss their cultural significance and specifically how color is used.”

Nakamura rose to prominence in Japan in the 2000s, first as an illustrator of album artwork and then for his work on novels and magazines. In addition to print illustrations, he now also works in animation. Festival attendees can get a taste of his work on film at a showing of Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, for which he served as the original character designer, at The Charles on Friday.

“Since announcing the event, a significant amount of people have contacted us directly to express their interest and pre-existing admiration for Mr. Nakamura’s work. While my own appreciation of his art was enough to take on the task of organizing this festival in the first place, hearing from these people has truly touched my heart,” Perry says. “Being a self-proclaimed ‘Japanophile’ for nearly 20 years has intrinsically relegated me to the outer rims of mainstream American culture. What I look forward to most is the chance to meet people whom I share interests with, and, more importantly, see them meet and interact with Mr. Nakamura.”

In addition to the film screening and lecture, the festival will feature the exhibition Blue / Now / New: Yusuke Nakamura, on display at MICA’s Rosenberg Gallery. For those with children in tow, Saturday’s Aki Matsuri at the Ynot Lot will bring the festivities outdoors for food, games, and hours of kid-friendly cultural workshops on calligraphy, origami, and onigiri. Local Taiko drummers and a DJ spinning Japanese music will also perform throughout the afternoon.

Wrap up the two-day event with a night of selected screenings from New York Japan CineFest, as well as shorts from MICA Film & Video students inspired by the lineup. While free to attend, both the films and Nakamura’s lecture at MICA’s Falvey Hall require an RSVP for guaranteed seating.

Last year, Red Bull came to Baltimore to host its first-ever Amaphiko Academy to help entrepreneurs in the city. No one quite knew what it was or what they were doing. It turns out that the company known for its energy drink that “gives you wings” spent 10 days with 15 fellows—six from Baltimore—in an immersion of lectures, entertainment, innovation workshops, and creative collaboration. The fellows went on to participate in an 18-month mentorship program that is still ongoing.

“It was like a business 101 breakdown,” said Walker Marsh, 2017 fellow and owner of urban farm Tha Flower Factory. “I was so deep into the farming and gardening world, but when it came to the business side, I didn’t know what I was doing. It’s really helped change me in so many different ways.”

In the spirit of continuing to “give wings” to local social innovators, beginning on August 17, the Amaphiko Festival—which is the Zulu term for “wings”—will return to Baltimore for three days of workshops, performances, and events celebrating the innovation and creativity in the city. While the Young Entrepreneurs Workshop, led by Baltimore-based entrepreneurs, is not open to the public, it will feature skill-building courses for more than 150 young Baltimore entrepreneurs.

“We have serviced close to 3,000 students, been able to hire 8 dirt bike riders to serve as instructors and placed riders in stem education careers since working with Red Bull,” said Brittany Young, a 2017 fellow and founder of B-360—which uses dirt bike culture to teach STEM education—who is speaking at the workshop. “Having the festival annually here also allows communities to come together and showcase all of the local talent and genius in a fun way.”

There are a few events that are free and open to the public and here’s a rundown of what festival goers can expect:

August 17: The Medicine Show at Arena Players
This event will feature local artists sharing the stories of the city’s most inspiring social entrepreneurs—including Valeria Fuentes of Roots & Raices, Ava Pipitone of Host Home, Kyle Pompey of Perspective Baltimore, Liliane Merkol of Mera Kitchen, Nicholas Mitchel of Noisey Tenants, Michael Battle of The Rich Program, and Red Bull Amaphiko Academy alumni Young and Marsh. Think Stoop Stories with a twist. Each social innovator has been paired up with an artist who will tell their story using a specific medium.

“I lucked up and got the comedian,” Marsh said. “He’s telling my story and Tha Flower Factory story. It’s going to be dope, he’s going to tell it in a way that I never could.”

Other performers include Nia June, Kondwani Fidel, David Fakunle, Joy Postell, Amy Reid, Ezee Jackson, Sir Alex R, and Hoesy Corona.

August 18: Luv’s Art Project Block Party
The community party in Hollins Market will feature an all-female lineup of performers including DJ Diamond Kuts, TT The Artist, and DJ Trillnatured with free food from Viola’s Southern Cuisine. New Beginnings barbershop will also be open for patrons to kick back and relax and the City of Gods clothing store will have some retail available for sale.

August 19: The Sunday Summit
With programming curated by Motor House, Impact Hub, Pipe Dreamz, ArtsCentric, and GRL PWR residents will be able to join in on a series of conversations and performances detailing the connections between arts and social innovation at YNOT Lot. The event will also feature lectures from Red Bull Amaphiko alum Changa Bell of the Black Male Yoga Initiative and Dominic Nell of City Weeds.

As the largest free outdoor arts festival in the country, Artscape will be once again painting the streets this July, with a color palette that’s overwhelmingly green.

In its 37th year, the free festival is making considerable sustainable efforts. Its agenda is threefold, according to Kathy Hornig, Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts’ (BOPA) festival director, as these environmentally friendly efforts will be seen in its food and drink operations, transportation options, and visual arts exhibits.

For the first time, attendees can sip drinks through paper straws, as all BOPA vendors will be stocked with them and the remaining food stalls will be highly encouraged to do the same.

The initiative complements the successful ban of Styrofoam products among vendors, which the festival started two years ago, Hornig said.

“We were ahead of the curve on that one,” she added. Since then, the independent nonprofit Trash Free Maryland has led a bill to ban polystyrene foam in Baltimore. The organization works to create legislative and policy-driven initiatives to combat trash pollution.

“Often times, there’s something you can do—not in addition to—but differently,” said Ashley Van Stone, executive director of Trash Free Maryland. “Like using a different material.”

Along with using eco-friendly material, BOPA is partnering with Monument City Brewing Company to streamline recycling efforts, piggybacking off their partnership from Light City. The brewery will provide about 50 clearly labeled recycling containers.

With an estimated volume of 350,000 attendees, preventing trash pollution was a priority. The receptacles will help outline how to separate materials and make it easier to sort trash out.

“I think the Artscape attendees want to support sustainability,” Hornig said. “They just need clear, visible units to make that happen. With the addition of these assets, we find the crowd is as into being sustainable as we are.”

In line with celebrating Baltimore’s own sustainability efforts, Artscape will also make use of the new permanent bike lanes up Mount Royal Avenue. Starting this year, BOPA will have free pedicab rides going up and down the hill.

“It’s completely human-powered, sustainable pedicabs—a free way to get up and down the hill,” Hornig said. “We’re hoping that festival goers will use those to maybe see something at Artscape they haven’t seen before.”

Up at the top of Mount Royal, the festival features local bands, food vendors, and indoor art venues. Its footprint is “symbolic” of the culture Baltimore has to offer, including local sustainability practices.

“Whatever the best practices are for our city in general, festivals should try to accommodate those,” Hornig said. “As a showcase and celebration of everything that makes our city great, sustainability efforts should certainly be a part of that.”

Looking at Artscape festivals to come in the years ahead, the team hopes to continuously add more environmentally conscious efforts.

“We would like to just keep doing a better job year after year,” Hornig said. “We’re interested in the possibilities of solar power for some of our temporary power moving forward. We just want to continue to do the good work.”

With the theme “More Lights, More Love,” Light City Baltimore will expand from two to three weekends this year. The art and music festival presented by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA) is held primarily on Baltimore’s waterfront and highlights social innovation by way of the arts—large-scale art installations that light up the evenings, alongside live music and pop-up performances.

“This is a unique festival in the sense that the art is supposed to elucidate and illuminate social issues,” says Verna Myers, representing the Light City leadership council at a press conference today. “Art is awesome because it helps us to see things differently.”

The three-part event kicks off with Neighborhood Lights from April 6-8, continues with the Light City art and music festival from April 14-21, and concludes with Labs@LightCity from April 18-21.

Perhaps the most obvious signal that the event is in full swing will be the BGE Light Art Walk along the Inner Harbor’s promenade, showcasing 21 light-based installations made by artists from across the world. Tom Dekyvere’s glowing Elantica will be an off-the-grid sculpture replica of Earth, made from solar panels and electronic waste. Another piece will explore human relationships by way of interactive light and sound. Another will serve to illustrate—through a moving, patterned surface on the ground—that color is made up in our minds.

Beyond the Inner Harbor, Neighborhood Lights showcases various cultural pockets in the city during its own weekend this year. The collaborative artist-in-residence program has grown from five communities in its first year to eight in its second and now 14: Belair-Edison, Bromo Tower Arts and Entertainment District, Darley Park, Federal Hill, Baybrook (Brooklyn and Curtis Bay), Remington, Hamilton-Lauraville, Highlandtown, Hollins Roundhouse/Southwest Baltimore, Little Italy, Locust Point, Patterson Park, Pigtown, and Waverly. Artists are paired with community organizers to create site-specific work that reflects the personality of Baltimore’s neighborhoods.

New this year, self-guided audio tours of the BGE Light Art Walk and Neighborhood Lights installations will be available through a quick phone call.

Also new, the Labs@LightCity conference at IMET Columbus Center will be pay-what-you-can. The “labs”—HealthLab, GreenLab, EduLab, SocialLab, ArtLab, MakerLab, and FoodLab—put local voices alongside nationally known ones to discuss ideas and innovations that will take our world forward into the future. These guided conversations will explore focused themes, such as the role of education in society, greening our cities, and how art can create change. Speakers include Art Smith, DeRay Mckesson, Aaron Maybin, Sonja Sohn, Shanti Das, and many more.

Music performances at the Inner Harbor Amphitheater and Kaufman Pavilion by Rash Field, as well as pop-up performances—illuminated hula hooping, stilt-walking, caroling, dance, and puppets—will round out the event. Acts will include DJ Grandmaster Flash, G. Love and Special Sauce, Trillnatured, and Outcalls.

Also not to be missed: A drone race will bring drone league racers from across the U.S. to compete in a light installation that doubles as an obstacle course.