Since its first full-season in 1984, the Ann Arbor Summer Festival has exploded into one of the area’s premiere summer attractions. Growing by leaps and bounds every year, the festival’s mission is to present a world-class celebration of arts and entertainment that enriches the cultural, economic and social vitality of the region. Previous years have drawn legendary performances by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy and Willie Nelson. This year’s Mainstage lineup is so huge, it’s busting at the seams and spilling over into two high-profile, pre-festival performances.
On May 25, blues icon and queen of the slide-guitar, Bonnie Raitt (wsg Marc Cohn), will hit the stage at Hill Auditorium on her 
nation-wide Slipstream Tour. As if that wasn’t enough, you can also catch a pre-fest performance from indie-pop powerhouse Feist (wsg The Low Anthem) on June 5 at the Power Center.
All of this leads up to the official start of the 2012 AASF, which will include more than 100 indoor and outdoor events from June 15 through July 8. This year’s festival will include performances that span a multitude of styles and genres that celebrate the best in music, dance, comedy, film, spoken word and street art. Mainstage musical performances will include soul legend Al Green, jazz bass dynamo Esperanza Spalding, eclectic songwriter and Broadway star Nellie McKay and folk-pop virtuoso Rufus Wainwright. Adding a bit of diversity to the Mainstage lineup will be radio personality and storyteller Ira Glass, the acrobatic dance troupes Pilobolus and Circa, comedy performances from The Capitol Steps and Cinematic Titanic and, one of my personal favorites, the always popular The Moth Mainstage. Tickets for Mainstage performances can be purchased individually, but if you want to go to three or more shows, you can earn a discount by purchasing tickets by phone or in person before May 31.
If your pocketbook is a little light this year, you can also catch numerous admission-free attractions (although donations are appreciated) including the highly anticipated return of the free concert series, Top of the Park. Although the Top of the Park lineup is still being kept under wraps, you can find out who will be there at the May 7 community open-house Announcement Party held at Arbor Brewing Company from 5 – 8 p.m. Admission is free, and you can also get the season’s first pint of ABC’s special brew, Festival Saison. Last year’s Top of the Park lineup included performances by Chris Bathgate, Ella Riot and The Third Coast Kings, as well as a selection of contemporary, classic and cult film favorites and a host of family-friendly and kid-centric events.
While there are limited schedules of events already posted, new announcements will be released throughout the month of May. For more information, to purchase tickets or to donate or volunteer, visit AnnArborSummerFestival.org.
