July 28-29. Equal parts musicians, visual artists and brochure-peddling activists, the fifth annual Forecastle Festival sails into the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center. The term "forecastle" derives from medieval shipbuilding and denotes the forward part of a ship where the sailors maintained living quarters and would gather after a day’s labor. So, with the concept of gathering the masses in mind, Louisvillians, lefties, and indie-music lovers can check out this year’s lineup, including the all-female rock group Sleater-Kinney (shown here), who recently toured with Pearl Jam, Apples in Stereo (a happy pop group hailing from San Francisco) as well as local darlings Your Black Star. For the visual part of the festival, a variety of local and national artists will show their works. More than 25 environmental activism groups will be on hand to educate and otherwise enlighten attendees (in between runs to the beer line). Tickets for Friday are $10 and Saturday $15. 11 a.m.- 11 p.m. Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center, 1860 Mellwood Ave. 472-7555. www.forecastlefest.com.
