A festival with something for everyone!
No matter what decade you were born in, the Dogwood Festival offers a little bit of something, well, for everyone. Be sure to become a member and receive our priority mailings both online and in the mail.
No matter what decade you were born in, the Dogwood Festival offers a little bit of something, well, for everyone. Be sure to become a member and receive our priority mailings both online and in the mail.
Michael Chabon’s first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988), was originally written for his master’s thesis at U.C. Irvine and became a New York Times bestseller. Chabon’s second novel, Wonder Boys(1995), was also a bestseller, and was made into a critically acclaimed film featuring actors Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire. Michael Chabon believes that three things are required for success as a novelist: talent, luck, and discipline. As he says, “Discipline is the one element of those three things that you can control, and so that is the one that you have to focus on controlling, and you just have to hope and trust in the other two.” Chabon’s hope and trust certainly paid off.
A creative introduction to great music, this event is designed especially for children ages 3 to 12, featuring Lake Effect Winds. Each member of this ensemble combines their experiences from teaching and performing into a unique, fun event for young music lovers. You will recognize music from your favorite cartoons and stories of pirates. Enjoy this hands-on, interactive approach to classical music from around the world with your children. 
Experience “Wonder Boys,” by this year’s featured author Michael Chabon, on the big screen. This collaboration between Dogwood, the Dowagiac District Library, and the Beckwith Theatre brings April’s One Book One Community activities to a crescendo with this highly rated and star-packed movie. Enjoy the genius and the entertainment the book provided in a comfy theatre. Directed by Academy award-winning Chris Hanson, this film features the talent of Oscar winners: Michael Douglas and Frances McDormand, along with award winning actors Toby McGuire, Robert Downey Jr., and Katie Holmes. 
A lifetime artist, Hank Feeley is also a former international Chairman/CEO and retired Vice Chairman of Leo Burnett Company, Chicago. Paradoxically, he is a graduate of both Harvard Business School and of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2007, he was honored by Oxbow/School of the Art Institute Chicago for his contributions to art and art education. In 2005, Hank Feeley received the Holbein Prize given by the Palm Springs Desert Museum. Feeley's work is in corporate and private collections in the United States and abroad. 
Storyteller Angela Lloyd has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival, in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and regularly appears at regional festivals and theatres across the country. A virtuoso on washboard, Lloyd's performances are a whimsical braid of poetry, story accompanied by autoharp, tenor guitar, spoon and bell. Lloyd's recordings, Dreams and Other Realities and Sandburg Out Loud continue to be favorites. Lloyd was an artist in residence at The Walden School in Pasadena, California, in 2002-03. The impact of the residency was so great, the school continued to fund the project independently through 2007.
For more than 80 years, the American Culinary Federation, Inc. (ACF), the largest group of professional culinarians in America, is home to the team for national and international culinary competition, ACF Culinary Team USA. The U.S. representation is comprised of a national team, a regional team, a military team, and a youth team. Each team will represent the United States at the 2012 International Lochkunest Ausstellung (IKA) International Culinary Exhibition, also known as the Culinary Olympics, in Erfurt, Germany. This is an event for all your senses. Team members will present a live cooking demonstration from stage, one of the last presentations before the international competition. 
Dave Mason first found fame with the rock band he co-founded, Traffic. In his long career, Mason has played and recorded with many of the era's most notable rock musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Michael Jackson. Mason's best-known song is “Feelin Alright", recorded by Traffic in 1968 and later by many other performers, including Joe Cocker. For Traffic, he also wrote “Hole in My Shoe", a psychedelic pop song that became a hit in its own right. Later Mason had hit records with “Only You Know and I Know” and “We Just Disagree.” For a brief period in the 1990s, Mason joined Fleetwood Mac and released the album Time with them in 1995. Mason is a proponent of music education for children. In 2005, he signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.