I think by now we’ve all heard about the carnage, the brutality, and the humanity of the Great Quad-Cities Pickle Wars of June 2021. For those unaware, the owner of Cafe Fresh made a lengthy post the other day claiming that her Cafe was in fact the originator of the dish which has been floating around the midwest for almost 100 years, and lambasted Meatball’s sandwich shop for having the audacity to add pickle wraps to their menu. The Quad-Cities erupted in brine and bile, putting the Cafe Fresh owner in quite the pickle as she was called out by hundreds of people for not, in fact,... Read More

A new regional video project is shining the spotlight on our Downtown Quad Cities and all they have to offer residents and visitors alike. The fast-paced short video promotes the vibrancy, fun and uniqueness of all our downtowns with scenes from their signature events and festivals, venues and their businesses. View the video here: https://youtu.be/ojBA-4sDgcg  The video features seven cities, which were coordinated by Downtown Bettendorf Organization, Downtown Davenport Partnership, East Moline Main Street, City of LeClaire, Moline Centre, Development Association of Rock Island, Silvis Main Street.... Read More

Teens (11-19) are invited to join Miss Amber on Tuesdays beginning June 22nd at 2:00 pm in the Fairmount Street Library’s Garden for a new teen audiobook club! This summer we will be listening together to one of 2020’s best-selling and award-winning books, Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You written by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi and read by Jason Reynolds. As a group, we will listen to portions of the audiobook and work on quiet projects in the garden including gardening, crafting, and meditating. Teens can choose to bring their own projects (such as a sketchbook, etc) or... Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! Brianna Hobbs was in middle school when the then-new River Music Experience first opened its doors June 12, 2004, in the historic Redstone building at 2nd and Main streets, Davenport. Now, the 28-year-old East Moline native is thrilled to join the growing nonprofit’s staff as new programs director, as the veteran RME leaders Bret Dale and his wife Kate transition out as... Read More

Artist Lesley Dill, a renowned New York-based artist, brings historical and literary figures from America’s past to life in a new exhibition curated by the Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport. Opening this past weekend, Lesley Dill, Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me features a collection of hand-painted and sewn textile sculptures and banners created by Dill over the past six years. Her work carefully interweaves imagery, text, and historical visionaries into stunning three-dimensional encounters. Gracefully suspended from the ceiling, the clothing of each figure is delicately... Read More

The day that Illinois Quad-Cities theaters and concert venues have long waited for arrives today, on Friday, June 11 – when they can remove Covid-related restrictions on audience capacity. Today, the state of Illinois is moving into Phase 5 of the pandemic, which lifts all limits on indoor and outdoor festivals, concerts and other live performances, which will affect many Q-C venues. “We are thrilled to be able to go back to full capacity in both venues. Nothing but a positive for us,” said Brett Hitchcock, director of audience development for Circa ’21 and The Speakeasy, Rock Island. In... Read More

It was mid-March of last year when we first heard the news. There was going to be a shutdown. But what did that mean? None of us had ever lived through anything like that. What was that even going to entail? How would our lives change, if at all? Already, events had started to get canceled. Sports games for kids. School. Arts activities. Concerts. Theater shows. Everything was going on hold for a couple of weeks. But it was just going to be a couple of weeks. A month, max. And, hell, it was winter, the weather was terrible anyway, we weren’t going to be going outside as it was. It wasn’t... Read More

Karen Westmoreland and Andrea Stueve are super-friendly moms, who have regular jobs and kids, but when they get on stage, they literally become someone else – uninhibited, unpretentious, fun-loving burlesque dancers. Westmoreland, 45, who performs as Kinky Taboo, and Stueve, 40, who is Kitty Bardot, are burlesque veterans who are leading a brand-new troupe – Taboo Burlesque. They make their debut Saturday, June 12 at 8 p.m. at the Village Theatre, Village of East Davenport. The 100-capacity in-person show is sold out, but you can livestream it for just $5 – reserve your ticket HERE. “There’s... Read More

CONCERT PRE-SALE ALERT!: John Crist’s Fresh Cuts Comedy Tour is coming to the Adler Theatre in Davenport on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. Reserved seat tickets will go on sale this Friday, June 11 at 10:00 a.m. online at Ticketmaster.com and in person at the Adler Theatre Box Office (136 E. 3rd St.). Tickets are $32.75, $42.75 and $52.75. But YOU can get your tickets NOW AT THIS LINK until 10 p.m. in a SPECIAL PRE-SALE! Use offer code MILLENNIAL to get your tickets before they go on sale. “The Fresh Cuts Comedy Tour is unlike any tour we’ve ever done. It’s been quite... Read More

After its first ride in 1978, the ride known affectionately as “TOMRV” (pronounced tom-rahvv) returns this weekend.  TOMRV stands for Tour of the Mississippi River Valley.  Hosted by the Quad Cities Bicycle Club, it has grown in ridership over the years.  In 2019, most of the 950 riders were from Iowa and Illinois, although 15 other states were represented.  It was cancelled in 2020.  This year 500 people have registered so far. TOMRV is a two-day cycling adventure on scenic paved roads, through rolling Midwest farmland, quaint little towns, and along the big, beautiful Mississippi River. ... Read More