Duluth Dylan Fest and Hibbing Dylan Days

This year Dylan's birthplace and hometown are teaming up to present a solid week of arts and entertainment in honor of Bob Dylan and the artistry of northern Minnesota.

Friday, May 17

Hard Rain in Duluth @ Weber Music Hall (www.ticketworks.com)
7 p.m.: Scarlet Rivera with Gene Lafond and the Wild Unknown and Courtney Yasmineh
A benefit for the Armory Arts and Music Center

Saturday, May 18

Poets from the North Country @ Zeitgeist Arts Atrium
3 p.m.: Past Poet Laureate Sheila Packa hosts a poetry reading celebrating Bob Dylan's influence on the voices of the region

Duluth Does Dylan @ Tycoons Alehouse
10 p.m.: Marc Gartman with Tim Saxhaug and Dave Carroll
Sara Krueger and Diet Folk

Sunday, May 19

Dylan Trivia @ Carmody Irish Pub
8 p.m.: The answers are blowin' in the wind

Monday, May 20

Open Mic Night @ Beaner's Central
8 p.m.: Perform a Dylan tune, and one of your own
Sign up in person at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, May 21

Dylan movie and music night @ Redstar Lounge
8 p.m.: Underground Film Collage by KUMD Highway 61 Revisited host John Bushey and Nelson French with support from the Duluth Superior Film Fest.
9:30 p.m.: SNoBARN

Wednesday, May 22

Bob Dylan's 72nd Birthday @ Redstar Lounge
7 p.m.: Cocktails & music with Jim Hall
9:30 p.m.: The Freewheelers @ Fitger's Brewhouse

Thursday, May 23

Blood on the Tracks Express @ Fitger's Courtyard
Big Wave Dave & The Ripples, Erik Koskinen, Saint Anyway, The Boomchucks as the Freewheelers, Dirty Horse, Barbara Jean & Cowboy Angel Blue
5:30 p.m.: ALL ABOARD! Take the North Shore Scenic Railroad to the American Legion in Two Harbors and back with live bands on board. Pick up your tix at ticketfly.com, Fitger's Brewhouse Beer Store or the Electric Fetus

Friday, May 24

Creative Writing Workshop and Literary Showcase @ Hibbing Memorial Building
1 p.m. Duluth Poet Laureate Sheila Packa runs poetry workshop
3:15 p.m.: Literary Reading featuring winners of the B.J. Rolfzen Memorial Creative Writing Contest

Dylan Days Singer/Songwriter Contest @ Zimmy's in Hibbing
7 p.m.: Come hear competitors from all over the world sing one Dylan song and one original.

Saturday, May 25

Hibbing Dylan Bus Tour and U.S. Postal Cancellation
5 p.m.: Singer/Songwriter contest (Day 2) @ Zimmy's
7 p.m.: The Adjustments @ Zimmy's

Sunday, May 26

Dylan Days Farewell Brunch
10 a.m.: Meet at Zimmy's to recap the week

HIBBING, Minnesota -- Dylan Days, an event celebrating the work of Bob Dylan and the arts and culture of his Iron Range hometown, announces the winners of its 2013 B.J. Rolfzen Memorial creative writing contest.

The selected pieces will be published in “Talkin’ Blues,” the literary journal and program of Dylan Days. Winners are invited to read their work and speak at Dylan Days 2013, which takes place May 23-26 in Hibbing, as part of a workshop and presentation featuring Duluth Poet Laureate Sheila Packa.

Once again, hundreds of writers from all over the world entered the contest, which recognizes fiction, poetry and poetry written by high school or college students. Winners will speak on the same Hibbing Memorial Building Little Theater stage where a young Robert Zimmerman and his band played their first paid gig.

HIBBING, Minnesota -- Organizers in Bob Dylan's Iron Range hometown announce an exciting lineup of activities for the May 23-26, 2013 Dylan Days celebration. Held in collaboration with events in Dylan's birthplace city of Duluth, visitors to northern Minnesota will have access to great live music, Dylan stories, and a grassroots arts scene where people from all over the world will share their work.

Dylan Days 2013 honors Bob Dylan's recent Presidential Medal of Freedom as the music legend continues his never-ending tour after last year's release of his new album, "Tempest."

This year, Hibbing's Dylan Days celebrating is encouraging people to start their long weekend on Thursday, May 23 with the live music Duluth Scenic Railway tour. Hibbing heats up Friday, May 24 -- Dylan's 72nd birthday -- with a creative writing workshop, literary showcase and our world-famous Singer-Songwriter Contest at Zimmy's. Saturday brings our popular storytelling bus tour of "Bobby Zimmerman's Hibbing" and a full day of live music.

Read the Dylan Days schedule, stay tuned for new additions and make plans to visit beautiful northern Minnesota this May 23-26.

By CHRIS SKOYLES
For Dylan Days

HIBBING, Minnesota - Artists, musicians, writers and fans from across the globe are heading for Hibbing as Dylan Days, the grassroots arts festival celebrating one of the city’s most famous sons, rolls around for the eleventh year running.

2012 marks fifty years since the man once known as Robert Zimmerman first released his debut album, Bob Dylan. Some 600 compositions, 34 studio albums and a never-ending string of tour dates later, Dylan’s significant impact on American culture was recognized earlier this spring with the announcement that the Duluth native and Hibbing alumnus would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the White House.

Back in Hibbing, that cultural impact, not to mention the creativity Dylan’s work has inspired in generations of musicians, wordsmiths and visual artists, will once again be celebrated at Dylan Days.

With many of the activities and contests which have made the event one of the Iron Range’s most popular grassroots festivals returning, Dylan Days 2012 begins on Thursday May 24th with a formal reception at the Hibbing Chamber of Commerce, followed by live music from Duluth-based outfit The Adjustments.

Other highlights over the four-day festival include the return of the famous Dylan Days singer-songwriter contest, in which musicians from all over the world pay tribute to the event’s namesake by performing one Dylan cover alongside one original piece, plus the ever-popular Bobby Zimmerman Bus Tour, taking in many of the venues and places of interest which shaped the childhood of a young Robert Zimmerman.

“The idea behind Dylan Days is to keep the arts alive in Hibbing and celebrate that creative spirit that Dylan himself found here and took out with him into the world to succeed,” said Dylan Days co-founder and proprietor of Zimmy’s, the Dylan-themed bar and restaurant on East Howard St.

“The people who come here, whether they’re local residents or Dylan fans from as far away as Australia and England, they come here to meet with like-minded people and share their passions and creativity.

“It’s those people who feel a certain connection, to one another and to Hibbing, as though there’s something in the atmosphere that brings them together, and it’s that intangible connection they feel that helps them fall in love with Hibbing’s charm and that makes them reach the end of their stay with us saying they never want to leave Hibbing.”

Dylan Days 2012 runs from Thursday, May 24 through Sunday, May 27. For more information visit www.dylandays.org.

Read the complete Dylan Days schedule.