The ArtsWave creates and supports art programs and opportunities in the city year-round, but three Saturdays each year, the organization kicks its mission into high gear with the Macy’s Arts Sampler. The free event brings visual art, theater, dance, music, crafts and more to venues across Greater Cincinnati. This Saturday’s sampler includes shows and backstage tours at Playhouse in the Park, Madcap Puppets at Cincinnati Art Museum and tons of other fun, creative opportunities for the whole family from Kings High School to Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington, all day long. Find a full schedule of events here. Cincy Blues Society celebrates 23 years this weekend with Winter Blues Fest. The fest takes place at The Phoenix, CityBeat’s across-the-street neighbors, Friday and Saturday with more than 25 local acts. Sonny Moorman and the Stacy Mitchhart Band headline; tickets are $20 per night; $35 for the weekend. Not able to make it to the Big Easy this Fat Tuesday? Celebrate Mardi Gras in MainStrasse Friday and Saturday. Get your fill of beads with parades each night, plus live music and Cajun grub in the entertainment tent open 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Stop by your favorite MainStrasse bar, restaurant or business to keep the party going. Tickets are $10 per night or $15 for the weekend; find more info here. With Valentine’s Day next week, lots of folks are buying up chocolates, flowers, special undies and other goodies for their significant others. You know who could really use some love? The hundreds of adoptable animals that have been abused, neglected or left behind by owners. This weekend, My Furry Valentine brings these lovable critters from dozens of rescues together in West Chester for Greater Cincinnati’s largest animal adoption event. Skip pet stores and breeders and find a pet that needs a home 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at flexi USA, Inc. (8494 Firebird Dr., West Chester). If you can’t make it out to the ‘burbs, check out one of more than 20 participating locations. Each adopted cat, dog, rabbit or other pet will go home with a gift bag of treats, toys, coupons and more supplies. The Mayerson JCC’s Jewish and Israeli Film Festival kicks off Saturday with a screening of Hava Nagila, a comedic documentary that tells the story of this Jewish celebration staple song. This opening night celebration takes place 8-10 p.m. Saturday at the Cincinnati Museum Center and includes dessert, a photo booth and private admission to the museum’s Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. The fest continues through Feb. 28 with films shown at the Museum Center, Esquire Theatre, Kenwood Theatre, Mariemont Theatre and the Mayerson JCC. Go here for ticket information and a full schedule. Whether the word “craft” conjures up thoughts of glitter and glue or bottles and brew, Mt. Caramel Brewing Company’s Art. Craft. Beer. show has something for everyone. The brewery’s gallery will be full of works from area artists with plenty of fresh craft beer to go around, Saturday and Sunday. The event is just one of many happenings coinciding with Cincinnati Beer Week (which continues through Thursday). Get a full schedule and find participating bars and venues here.

By all accounts (from people who actually attended or performed), last month’s huge Bunbury Music Festival was one of the best-run fests of its kind this area has ever seen. Organizer Bill Donabedian no doubt scored some tips from the operators of the big annual Blues celebration, the volunteer-driven Cincy Blues Fest, which has been doing the “well-run music festival” thing at Sawyer Point Park along the riverfront for many years now. This weekend, the Cincy Blues Fest — one of the finest Blues events in the Midwest — returns to Sawyer Point to celebrate its 20th anniversary. That's a remarkable two decades of providing Greater Cincinnati live music lovers with some of the finest Blues being made locally, regionally and nationally, a rare and impressive achievement for any music festival. This year’s main stage national headliners are especially strong — Webb Wilder on Friday and Duke Robillard on Saturday — but the Cincy Blues Fest always has a ton of interesting and engaging artists performing throughout the fest’s multiple stages. Aside from the lineup featuring a few higher quality headliners than the past couple of years (like Robillard, Wilder, Trampled Under Foot, Super Chikan, Sista Monica, etc.), this year’s 20th anniversary celebration isn’t really being overblown, likely because the Cincy Blues Society and the army of volunteers that work the fest always do such an amazing job running the event; it’s already quite special, no matter what birthday the fest is celebrating.  One of my favorite elements of the Blues Fest is its undying support for our local players and singers. This year, Cincy Blues Challenge winners Chris Yakopcic and the Noah Wotherspoon Band have main-stage slots (they’ll also go to Memphis this winter to compete for Cincinnati in the International Blues Challenge). Yakopcic performs at 5:45 p.m. Friday, while Wotherspoon and Co. play at the same time Saturday (following a band of students associated with the Blues in the Schools program, for which the fest raises money).  The three side stages — always creatively programmed — have a heavy local presence. Friday, visit the “Blues: The Next Generation” stage for sets by younger area acts like the Wade Baker Trio, Brian Keith Wallen Band, Scotty Bratcher and (again!) Noah Wotherspoon and his band. The “Next Gen” stage starts at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. Friday "The Next Generation of Blues" stage lineup5:15 p.m. Wade Baker Trio6:20 p.m. Jellico Motel7:05 p.m. Brian Keith Wallen Band8:10 p.m. Carson Diersing Band9:25 p.m. Scotty Bratcher10:40 p.m. Noah Wotherspoon Band As the name suggests, the St. Vincent DePaul Local Stage is chock full of local talent. Friday, the stage features Bad Men on a Mission, Them Bones, the Doug Hart Band, Leroy Ellington’s Blues Band and Blue Sacrifice. Saturday, catch the Blue Birds Big Band, the Gradual Taylor Band, the Leo Clarke Band, The Juice, Chuck Brisbin & the Tuna Project and Balderdash. Friday St. Vincent De Paul Local Stage lineup5:45-6:45 p.m. Bad Men on a Mission7:00-8:00 p.m. Them Bones8:15-9:15 p.m. Doug Hart Band9:30-10:30 p.m. Leroy Ellington’s Blues Band10:45pm-12:00 a.m. Blue SacrificeSaturday St. Vincent De Paul Local Stage lineup    4:30-5:30 p.m. Blue Birds Big Band5:45-6:45 p.m. The Gradual Taylor Band7:00-8:00 p.m. The Leo Clarke Band8:15-9:15 p.m. The Juice9:30-10:30 p.m. Chuck Brisbin & the Tuna Project10:45-11:45 p.m.  Balderdash And perhaps the fest’s most notable and renowned side stage, the unique Boogie Woogie Piano Hall of Fame Stage, on Saturday will feature appearances by Jimmy Rogers, Todd Hepburn, Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues and Ricky Nye, plus players from across the planet. The Boogie Woogie stage closes out with a “grand finale jam” just before midnight. Saturday Boogie Woogie Piano Hall of Fame Stage lineup4:30 p.m. Jimmy Rogers5:10 p.m. Todd Hepburn5:50 p.m. Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues6:50 p.m. Ricky Nye7:40 p.m. Mark Braun8:30 p.m. Rob Rio9:20 p.m. Cynthia Girtley10:10 p.m. Bob Seeley11:00 p.m. Fabrice Eulry11:50 p.m. Grand Finale JamHere are the lineups for the Budweiser Main Stage this weekend:Friday Budweiser Main Stage lineup    5:45-6:45 p.m. Chris Yakopcic7:00-8:15 p.m. Super Chikan8:30-10:00 p.m. Sista Monica10:15-11:45 p.m. Webb WilderSaturday Budweiser Main Stage lineup5:00-5:30 p.m. Blues in the School (BITS) Band5:45-6:45 p.m. Noah Wotherspoon Band7:00-8:15 p.m. Southern Hospitality8:30-10:00 p.m. Trampled Under Foot10:15-11:45 p.m. Duke RobillardTickets are $20 each day (two-day passes are available Friday at the gates for $30), or grab yours early through brownpapertickets.com for a $5 discount. Or you can join the Cincy Blues Society (cincyblues.org), the creators and managers of Cincy Blues Fest, to receive an even deeper discount. Be sure to pick up a copy of this week's CityBeat, which includes a pull-out guide for the Cincy Blues Fest, with artist bios, schedules and more. For further ticket info, updates, details on the new Cincy Blues Fest mobile app and much more, visit cincybluesfest.org.

This past Sunday at Dunlap's Germania Park, the Cincy Blues Society once again hosted the daylong Cincy Blues Challenge, with dozens of regional Blues acts performing from noon-9-ish, all competing for a chance to represent the Queen City at the International Blues Challenge 2013 in Memphis. The day started out with contestants in the Solo/Duo category, followed by a steady stream of area groups. The winners share a couple of connections. They both are from Cincinnati but have ties to Dayton, Ohio. And they both competed in this year's International Blues Challenge … for Blues societies in other cities. Winning the top band honors was young six-string wiz Noah Wotherspoon and his band, who will head to Memphis in early 2013 to compete for the ’Nati. Wotherspoon is a Dayton native, but currently lives in Cincy. Last year, he won a band challenge and represented Dayton at this year's IBC. Chris Yakopcic scored the solo/duo honors and will join Wotherspoon and Co. in Memphis. Yakopcic plays acoustic and solo Blues and is a native of PIttsburgh but apparently now lives in Dayton. Yakopcic won the Western PA Blues Challenge in the same category last year and was in Memphis for the 2012 IBC festivities. (If you're confused, as I often am, it seem that you don't have to be precisely from the city whose Blues organization is hosting the event to compete. Local singer/guitarist and competitor at multiple International Blues Challenges, Sonny Moorman, for example, competed for the Columbus Blues Alliance in 2009 … and won his category.)If you haven't seen Wotherspoon and his band perform, tonight's your lucky night. The Noah Wotherspoon plays downtown at Arnold's at 9 p.m. And it's another FREE show. (If you want to pre-game, the Happy Hour Jazz Combo starts at 6 p.m. Pace yourself.)Cincy Blues Challenge winners are usually given good slots at the Cincy Blues Fest, which returns to Cincy's riverfront Aug. 10-11.

In this week's CityBeat, I made an offhand comment about how it might not feel like winter, but the Cincy Blues Society's annual Winter Blues Fest is going down this weekend regardless of temperature. The gods must've heard me (or is a big Blues fan) because currently in Cincinnati, winter has finally decided to arrive. So the Winter Blues Fest will have an appropriate climate and setting.After several years in Northern Kentucky, the event is following the MidPoint Music Festival’s lead and hosting its 2012 event in Over-the-Rhine. More than 25 performers will entertain in four centrally located clubs — The Drinkery and venues in the former homes of Rhythm & Blues Café (dubbed "Japp's Annex" during the fest) and Harry’s Pizza (see below), as well as Below Zero Lounge. The three venues are within easy walking distance of each other — all but Below Zero are on Main Street (and Below Zero is just off of the drag). So bundle up, but don't let a few snowflakes become your excuse for not attending.

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