Area event to celebrate Native American culture

Douglas Blue Feather

The 11th Annual Woodland Indian celebration will take place this weekend in Perrysburg. The two-day event kicks off Saturday at Buttonwood in the Betty C. Black recreation area off River Road and State Rt. 65.

Highlights include live cultural music including flutist Douglas Blue Feather, a children’s tent with Native American arts and crafts, and a wildlife tent featuring birds of prey. Gates will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for children ages 5 to 11, and free for kids 4 and younger. No pets will be allowed. Information: blackswampintertribalfoundations.com.

● Maumee Valley Country Day School will host The Talking Mic, a live storytelling event featuring the true stories of guest performers. 

The show will take place at 7 p.m. Friday in the school’s Millennium Theatre. A block party with food, drinks, and live jazz music will follow.

Guests must be 21 or older to attend. The Talking Mic is an annual tradition that kicks off the school’s homecoming reunion. Performers include alumni from Toledo and around the country including Jenny Rheinfrank Barthold, Nancy Fish, Qarie Marshall, and Clint Mauk.

Stories range from the absurd — a horse dying on the first day of summer camp —  to the real and historical — a retelling of Toledo’s infamous crime activity during the roaring 1920s. Former Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner will be emcee. Admission is free.

● High school marching bands from throughout Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia will compete in one of the nation’s most prominent marching band championships at the University of Toledo on Saturday. Twenty high school marching bands are scheduled to perform in the preliminary competition of Music for All’s Bands of America (BOA) Regional Championship. 

Performances will be evaluated by a panel of nationally recognized music educators and marching band experts. The top 10 scoring bands will advance to the finals competition, which will be Saturday evening. 

The championship is being hosted by UT at the Glass Bowl. The Rocket Marching Band will perform.

Preliminary competition is from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Gates open for finals at 6:45 p.m. with finals performances from 7:45 to 10:30 p.m. All times are tentative pending the final schedule of performing bands. Check musicforall.org for the most current times. General admission tickets are $17 for preliminaries or finals, or $26 for a day pass to both.

Children ages 10 and younger will be admitted free.