National Recitation Contest
Poetry Out Loud!

The Illinois Arts Council and the Rockford Area Arts Council invite all Northern Illinois high schools to participate in the 2013-2014 Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest to be held February 27 at Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center in Rockford, IL

Now entering its 9th year of national competition, Poetry Out Loud, a free national program created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation has inspired hundreds of thousands of students to discover a broad spectrum of classic and contemporary poetry.

For more information call Sharon Nesbit-Davis, Education/Engagement Director of the Arts Council at 815-963-6765 or visit www.poetryoutloud.org

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the City of Rockford.

Beloit International Film Festival
February 14-23, 2014

  Now in its ninth year, BIFF is a ten-day tribute to the power of film and the excitement of independent film from around the world.  Local residents and visitors from around the nation fill more than a dozen venues, ranging in size from 40 seats to the 700 seat Eclipse Center in Beloit for about 120 films and to meet more than 100 filmmakers who come from as far away as Europe and Brazil.

Filmmakers in all genres-features, documentaries, shorts - enjoy the Beloit setting as much as the attendees do because it promises them crowds of interested viewers filling their venues, questioning them at the films and on the street.

From its start, BIFF has been committed to honoring filmmakers: from the BIFFY Awards Ceremony to well stocked hospitality accommodations and more recently BIFF + MUSIC events.  Here at BIFF, filmmakers are respected and honored by an admiring community throughout the ten days.

For more information call 608-313-1200 or visit www.beloitfilmfest.org