Prescott; Tucson; Williams

It started with a headline in the New York Times. Bob Barr, 88, picked up his newspaper to find an article about the closure of a fully-automated Japanese factory.

AMADO

Get ready to move to the music with this sampling of summer concerts

Life is peachy-keen at Schnepf Farms where this annual festival fills the orchards with smiling children and families in search of $2 a pound fresh, ripe peaches, family friendly entertainment and hot-off-the-griddle peach pancakes, served from 7:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. The festival begins May 18 and runs through Memorial Day and includes hay rides, peach pit spitting contests, live music May 18 and 19, roller coaster and other fair-type rides, as well as a “Peachy Sampling Tent,” where you can purchase a panorama of peach-related products. Other food options, including burgers and hot dogs, grilled chicken sandwhices, salads and kettle corn are also available.

Pop open a cold one at this annual beer festival celebrating American-made craft brews. More than 60 national and local breweries serve up their best drafts at the Scottsdale Civic Center, where festival-goers can enjoy live music, food, beer games and a beer garden. This is a 21-and-older event.

Jerome; Willcox; Mormon Lake

With the onslaught of Oscar contenders that debuted last November, there’s a good chance that a little-seen indie gem, “Starlet,” managed to fall off your radar during its short, theatrical run. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 SXSW film festival, “Starlet” explores the unlikely friendship between a cheerful, aspiring actress (played by the winsome Dree Hemingway) and a cantankerous, elderly widow (the late Besedka Johnson).

Soar into Spring Kite Festival; Fiesta de la Primavera; Prescott Highland Games; Payson Wildlife Fair

Volunteers are needed for the Fourth Annual Southwest Ambulance Arizona Celebration of Freedom, the state’s “coolest independence festival,” held this year in downtown Mesa on June 29.

An eclectic group of four Valley women, the Heady Hoop Tribe aims to inspire others in the Phoenix area through the creative power of modern hoop dance.

There will be 589 graduates receiving diplomas from Gilbert High School this year.

Gilbert's Desert Ridge High School will graduate 580 students this year. Students have been awarded $7.3 million in scholarships.

MIAMI — When you're talking about rum, how much does the Caribbean really matter?

The road to Florence isn’t long when country music stars are in town. People flock from the East Valley to the Country Thunder music festival, spurring the question: What else is there to see in Florence? It didn’t take long to find an answer — alpacas.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Grace Potter & The Nocturnals know a little something about summer festivals after using the circuit to build their following.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Coachella is over and Lollapalooza is sold out. Bonnaroo's nearly there, too. But eager fans need only be patient: Wait a few years and chances are you'll have a star-studded music festival of your own within driving distance.

It was no surprise a 20-year-old man was arrested over the weekend for stabbing another man at the Country Thunder music festival in Pinal County. News reports tell of an argument escalating into violence. I’d bet excessive and criminal alcohol consumption played a part in this crime.