Following is a list of community festivals this weekend in west-central Wisconsin. For a complete list of 2009 events, go to www.leadertelegram.com and click on “News Links.”

Victoria Hamilton, executive director of San Diego’s Commission for Arts and Culture since its inception in 1988, was honored at the recent Americans for the Arts national convention in Seattle with the Selina Roberts Ottum Award. The prize, presented annually since 1991, is given for exemplary leadership of a local arts agency.

TEMECULA —- Local teens who want to take part in the third annual Temecula Youth Media Arts Festival better have their cameras rolling, as the deadline to enter the popular contest is July 31.

Free admission to national museums and art galleries is a jolly good thing and people who get in free are very happy with the situation.

The Big Time Dance Troupe and its choreographer, Eshdey Diphae, suffered from lack of funding and were forced to fight for their survival from show to show.

VSO opens Stowe series …

DOVER — The U.S.

DOVER — The U.S. Air Force Liberty Pops Band will usher in the Fourth of July with a star-spangled concert at 7 tonight to kick off the Cochecho Arts Festival.

Just as food tastes better when eaten with your fingers outside, the NEW YORK CITY BALLET is somehow more fun to watch at the outdoor theater of the SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER , which has housed the company’s annual summer season since 1966. In keeping with the downsized times City Ballet is performing for two weeks rather than three.

From the Taste of Chicago to the Naperville Ribfest and all of the neighborhood festivals in between, the upcoming holiday weekend is packed with fun.