July is festival month in Cook County. First up is the “Fun in Functional Art” at the Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen July 2-3. The opening reception is Friday from 5-7 p.m. The event continues on Saturday with art demonstrations and displays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Featured artists include Beth Blank, fiber art; Tom Christiansen, bronze sculptures; Joan Farnam, ceramics; Anna Hess, painting and Judie Johnson, basketry.

Also that weekend, check out the Hovland Art Festival July 3-4 at the Hovland Town Hall. It features fine art, crafts, food and lots of great music from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Watercolors and oil paintings, jewelry, woodturning, beadwork, rock lamps, basketry, photography and more will be on display by more than 20 artists. There’s lots of live music, too. Michael Monroe, the Unnamed Stream, James Moors and Aaron and his Crazy Neighbors will play on Saturday. On Sunday, musicians include the Flute Reed Band, Bump Blomberg, Pete Kavanaugh and Over the Waterfall. This celebration of the Hovland community is always a fun time.

Duluth potter Sharon Moen will be one of the artists featured at the Art Festival.

The next weekend is the Grand Marais Art Festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The artists begin setting up their booths on Friday, July 9 with a 20th anniversary potluck at the Art Colony from 5-7 p.m. that night. The public is invited to come meet the artists and bring a dish to share.

More than 60 artists have been juried into this show. Pottery, paintings, jewelry, glasswork, prints, metalwork, woodworking, fiber art and more will be featured. Local artists include Betsy Bowen, Shelley Alvin, Sherri Bichel, Millie Spry, Jim Vannet and Fern Belling as well as a host of regional artists.

The art festival itself runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 10-11. There’s been a lot of planning for this event with lots of activities occurring around the Art Festival itself, including live music. Michael Monroe, Briand Morrison, Critters du Jour and Paul Pederson will play on stages around town.

And there’s more.

The opening reception for the Summer Art Underground exhibit at Betsy Bowen’s Studio will be from 7-9 p.m. on Friday night featuring the work of more than 40 local artists. This is always a wonderful show.

On Saturday, there are lots of events at the Johnson Heritage Post, including the annual Pie Social at 9 a.m. and the Library Friends’ special Art Book Sale starting at 10 a.m. And the Cook County Farm & Craft Market is open at the Senior Center parking lot from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Northwoods Fiber Guild gives demonstrations in front of the Heritage Post both days.

Also, Birchbark Books will hold a Bowlful of Thanks, a silent auction fundraiser for Empty Bowls on Saturday followed by a reception from 6-7 p.m. and a presentation by Betsy Bowen entitled “How I Got to be a Writer by Learning to Draw” at 7 p.m. The silent auction closes at 8 p.m.

The Pie Place will feature Art on the Lawn at the restaurant and the Artisans of Tombolo will exhibit their work at the Grand Marais Gateway Lodge on Saturday and Sunday.

Also featured at the Art Festival this year: Face painting with Tim Young, pencil portraits by David Hahn, storytelling with Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux and a sword-fighting scene from “Treasure Island,” a production of the Grand Marais Playhouse. It ends with a matinee July 4.

The final festival in July is the North Shore Dragon Boat Festival July 29-Aug. 1. This event always brings crowds into town to watch and/or participate in the dragon boat races on the harbor. This year The Splinters will play at Harbor Park on Friday night after the parade and opening ceremonies. The races are held all day Saturday, July 31.

This is a really active month for great music, too. The Gunflint Tavern has a full slate of musicians scheduled for this month. Local favorites Pete Kavanaugh, Tres Amigos, James Moors, Jim Hall, Timmy Haus and Joe Paulik will play as well as Too Many Banjos, Chastity Brown, and Saint Anyway. Check www.gunflinttavern.com for the schedule.

Birch Terrace also has live music on the deck Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m.

And Devil Track Resort has scheduled quite a summer music line up for Sunday from 5-8 p.m. Cook County’s Most Wanted (aka Rod N Real) play July 4, the Pete Kavanaugh Group plays July 11, Tres Amigos (Jef Cierniak, Bump Blomberg and Chris Gillis) play July 18 and Bicycle Army plays July 25.

In other art news, watercolorist and landscape painter Marie Sweeney has an on-going exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post. Great Gifts of Lutsen has a new collection of glass serving dishes crafted from recycled bottles made by an Ohio company, From the Blue Bag.

Blue Moose Gallery has a wide selection of garden art, including handblown glass hummingbird feeders. The gallery also carries Kaleidoscope Pottery, which is impressed with fern and other leaf designs.

Kah Nee Tah Gallery in Lutsen has new pieces by potter Donna Best, including vases, platters and cocoa mugs. The Attic is featuring birds this summer with Mullanium Birds’ jewelry as well as Scavenger Art carved ravens.

Erin Hart will read from her latest novel, “False Mermaid” at Drury Lane Books’ Salon at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 10. A Poetry Writing Workshop will be held July 12-16 with Sharon Chmielarz, with a poetry reading July 16 at 7 p.m. Call 387-3370 to register. Then award-winning Duluth poets Ellie Schoenfeld and Debra Gordon Cooper will read at a Salon at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 24 and Critter du Jour will play for the Full Moon Reading on Sunday, July 25. Birchbark Books and Gifts has a great selection of the latest novels including “The Tale of Halcyon Crane,” by Wendy Webb and John Grisham’s “Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer.”