{"id":1953905,"date":"2025-08-11T12:48:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T12:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1953905"},"modified":"2025-08-11T12:48:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T12:48:15","slug":"best-bets-excalibur-con-at-decc-duluth-news-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/best-bets-excalibur-con-at-decc-duluth-news-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Bets: Excalibur Con at DECC – Duluth News Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

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DULUTH \u2014 From Stormtroopers to Schubert, the Northland has plenty to offer this week.<\/p>\n

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A Batman cosplayer emerges from the shadows at Teeb Con in 2024. The event, now renamed Excalibur Con, returns to the DECC on Saturday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Aug. 17.<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ Excalibur Con<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Don’t be surprised to see Jawas, Spider-Men and Power Rangers walking along the harbor on Saturday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Aug. 17. Excalibur Con, a gathering for fans of “nerd and geek culture,” is returning to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center with activities including tabletop gaming and a cosplay contest. Celebrity guests, such as actors and comic artists, will also be in attendance <\/p>\n

(mnswca.org).<\/a><\/p>\n

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‘Boreality’ and ‘Book Art Reveal and Retrospective’<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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A mural by Ann Klefstad, on display in the Zeitgeist Atrium.<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ Zeitgeist<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

A 120-square-foot mural by artist Ann Klefstad is on display in the recently refurnished Zeitgeist Atrium. The mural, featuring birds and clouds, is accompanied by panel paintings on cradled birch panels. A Wednesday, Aug. 13, reception will celebrate the opening of Klefstad’s exhibition, titled “Boreality,” and a concurrent Zeitgeist Restaurant and Bar show titled “Book Art Reveal and Retrospective” by Two Harbors artist Lisa Perrin-Kosmo <\/p>\n

(facebook.com\/zeitgeistduluth).<\/a><\/p>\n

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Duluth Chamber Music Festival<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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The Duluth Chamber Music Festival returns to UMD’s Weber Music Hall on Thursday, Aug. 14.<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ DCMF<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

The annual Duluth Chamber Music Festival brings some of the country’s top chamber music artists to the Zenith City for a series of performances that culminate in a mainstage concert at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Weber Music Hall on Thursday, Aug. 14.<\/p>\n

According to the festival’s <\/p>\n

program book,<\/a><\/p>\n

“the mainstage concert begins with a single musician on stage, gradually unfolding as more performers join in, creating a tapestry of sound that culminates in a powerful finale featuring all five string players” <\/p>\n

(duluthchambermusicfestival.org).<\/a><\/p>\n

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Accessible opera comes into the great wide open with “The Return of King Idomeneo,” playing in four Northland communities from Wednesday, Aug. 13, through Sunday, Aug. 17.<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ Mixed Precipitation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

The Pickup Truck Opera and its predecessor, the Picnic Operetta, have been Minnesota outdoor musical traditions since 2009. In 2025, Mixed Precipitation’s pickup truck is rolling to the Northland for a run of four shows that kick off Wednesday, Aug. 13, in Ely and run through Sunday, Aug. 17, in Finland.<\/p>\n

“The Return of King Idomeneo” is a reprise of a show originally created in 2012, bringing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 1781 opera into the 1950s. Think doo-wop, girl groups and a vengeful Neptune, god of the sea. Through the magic of theater, it all makes sense <\/p>\n

(mixedprecipitation.org).<\/a><\/p>\n

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Who needs MTV when you have “Rock of Ages,” performed by high schoolers at the NorShor Theatre from Friday, Aug. 15, through Sunday, Aug. 17?<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ Duluth Playhouse<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Duluth Playhouse is having what SJ Olson, director of the Junior Intensive production of “Cats,” <\/p>\n

calls<\/a><\/p>\n

a “little ’80s summer.” Having already presented youth performances of that 1981 show, the Playhouse is moving on to a Teen Intensive production of “Rock of Ages”: a jukebox musical featuring songs made famous by artists like Journey, Pat Benatar and Twisted Sister.<\/p>\n

Newly hired<\/a><\/p>\n

associate artistic director Charlie Sutton, who has worked extensively with the creative team behind the Broadway production, directs “Rock of Ages.” The show opens at the NorShor Theatre on Friday, Aug. 15, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 17 <\/p>\n

(duluthplayhouse.org).<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\"Theatrical<\/p>\n<\/picture>\n
“Dirty Dancing” plays at Zeitgeist on Tuesday, Aug. 19.<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ Vestron Pictures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Do North Shore resort employees convene after work to perform scandalous dance duets out of sight of the guests? Do they practice their lifts in Lake Superior? Do they caution overprotective parents not to put Baby in a corner?<\/p>\n

Such questions may occur to moviegoers making their way to Zeitgeist on Tuesday, Aug. 19, for a screening of “Dirty Dancing.” The surprise 1987 smash, which exemplified that decade’s nostalgia for pre-Beatles America, still brings the heat <\/p>\n

(zeitgeistarts.com).<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n