Arts Days is the big this happening this week.

 But there is a lot more.

Tuesday is open mic night with the Owl Open mic happening at 7 p.m.

 If you think you’re funny, then show it at Good Times’ comedy open mic, which begins at 8 p.m.

Friday will be off the hook.

 Get your kilt out as the Edmonton Celtic Rock band the Derina Harvey Band return to the Slice on Friday.

 Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. The fun begins at 7 p.m.

The Canadian Brewhouse goes modern pop on Friday with the new Testaments and a variety of special guests including Danica Sommer and DJ lRev, LRev, Chris M and Max Hopkins also performing. The show begins at around 8:30 p.m. The New Testaments play contemporary pop and R and B music. Tickets are $10 including a bottle of beer.

 The Owl Acoustic Lounge features the Southern Exposure Tap Takeover this weekend.

 Friday features music by Biloxi Parish. Mud Bog and Night Terrors.

Saturday’s line up is alt country band Liquor Mountain and Muddier Bog. Admission is by donation for both.

If you want to dance, the ninth annual Lethbridge Electronic music Festival (LEMF) returns to   Galt Gardens, Saturday, Sept. 25 beginning at at 11 a.m.

 Due to Covid, there will be no after party at Club Lime as originally planned due to Covid and organizers wanted to focus on the main event..

 There will be a beer garden, sanitization stations and two stages.

Local musician and author Tanner James Holthe is thinking a couple moves ahead by debuting his new film “ Chess 4 Life,” Sept. 22 at Casa,

 He won a $20,000 Telus Storyhive grant to make his 20 minute documentary on an innovative new program to teach at risk youth haw to play Chess instead of doing community service.

“I read an article in Alberta Views about this program that started at the University of Lethbridge by a professor and a judge who started this program for at risk kids to each them how to play the game of chess instead of doing community service by picking up garbage on the side of the  highway,” said Taber born Holthe, who spent 14 years in Calgary, before moving back to Lethbridge last year right before the pandemic, which is when the Telus Storyhive opportunity came up.

“I bookmarked the idea and when they announced their Local Heroes documentary edition, I thought it would be a great idea,” he said, adding he received the full $20,000 grant to make the documentary between February 2021and June 2021. He had to submit it by July.

“It was a pretty tight turnaround. I was editing parts of the film at the same time I was shooting other parts,” he said.

 He’ll have the special screening at Casa for the cast, crew and friends, but Telus will release the movie to the general public in a couple months on  a variety of platforms including Optik TV and their Youtube channel.

He used to be in alternative rock band the Nix Dicksons and is a regular performer at Taber Cornfest. He has a new Calgary based band Kid Cali, which has just released their first single “Third Eye.” He also released his first book in 2017.

 Like everything else, he taught himself to make movies.

“It’s very punk rock. Before this project,  I made a lot of bad horror movies with my friends just to learn how to do it. But this is my first professional film,” he said, adding it clocks in at 23 minutes and includes approximately a dozen interviews.

It looks like Arts Days will be blessed with good weather for Arts Days this week.

 It’s not like a couple years ago when we had snow,” said Allied Arts Council Projects manager Tara Gillanders, noting due to Covid , most events will be outside this year.

“We’re working hard to ensure that everything is safe. So we had planned to move as much as we could outside even before the current restrictions came into effect,” she continued.

 Lethbridge’s annual celebration of the arts begins on Thursday, Sept. 23 with local artists painting the outside windows of of several downtown local businesses including Classique Dance Works, The Allied Arts Council shop, Casa and Sill and Soil.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for people to stop and chat with the artists about their work,” Gillanders said.

 The musical portion of ArtsDays begins on Friday, Sept. 24 with doom folk band Makiisma and local garage rock/new wave band Body Lens, who perform on Rotary Square outside Casa from 7 -9 p.m.