With her 2025 novel Katabasis lauded by the New York Times Book Review as a work that "shines with devastatingly real characters and absorbing world building," a bestselling, award-winning takes part in the May 20 virtual conversation Babel-On with R.F. Kuang, a thoughtful and entertaining look into the author's process hosted by Illinois Libraries Present, and offered through the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries.
Mercado on Fifth, the Quad Cities’ premier Latino cultural market and small-business incubator, will kick off its 10th Anniversary Season with a vibrant Opening Day Celebration on May 22, the scheduled events including live music, a marketplace, food and beverage vendors, and cultural activities throughout the evening.
Presented by the Quad Cities Bicycle Club and returning to the Village of East Davenport, an eagerly anticipated Memorial Day tradition returns for its 59th year in the Quad Cities Criterium – a May 25 event featuring hundreds of adult and youth cyclists from across the U.S., Canada, and Europe participating in a dozen bicycle races, with thousands of dollars in cash prizes awarded throughout the day.
Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action will again present a series of outdoor presentations in the first month-plus of the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks: weekly "Explore the River Series" programs that, from May 26 through June 27, will address such topics as raptors, barges, Modern Woodmen Park, and the historically wicked night spot that was Davenport's Bucktown.
Treating literary fans to readings in celebration of the latest chapbook release by the Midwest Writing Center's MWC Press, a pair of lauded poets will take the stage at Rozz-Tox on May 28, the Rock Island venue delighted to host an evening with Jenna Goldsmith and Brittany N. Jaekel.
Every year when the Legislature arrives at mid-May, it’s always tempting to look around, see the absence of real bicameral movement on legislation, and conclude that nothing’s gonna happen in time for the scheduled May 31 adjournment. Succumbing to that temptation this year may not be a bad bet, but things can change. Right now, though, evidence of major movement is super-slim.
Before the House passed the megaprojects bill last month, we were told that the drafters didn’t want to just do some symbolic or “token” property-tax relief. After the chamber passed the bill, we were told the property-tax component will provide meaningful statewide relief for home-owners.
Faterium Bike Race Remembers Its Founder Dustin Collison: This Memorial Day Weekend, the 2026 Quad Cities Criterium Will Feature the Fat Bike Race Collison Innovated in the Rain in 2014Mor
The Quad Cities Bicycle Club (QCBC) is excited to announce the return of the Quad Cities Faterium as part of the 2026 Quad Cities Criterium, taking place Monday, May 25, 2026 (Memorial Day) in the Village of East Davenport. This year’s Faterium will celebrate Dustin Collison’s memory. Dustin's spontaneous and inspired rain-soaked ride in 2014 sparked one of this race weekend's most beloved modern traditions.
More than a year ago, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget was projecting a $3.2 billion deficit for what is now the current fiscal year. Part of the problem was that existing revenues were flat while spending was growing, according to the budget office.
“We’re almost there” on a Bears stadium bill, Representative Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, told some sports radio hosts on a Friday morning before the House returned to Springfield for three days of session last week. “We’re very close.”
A joyous family musical and off-Broadway smash that, as Kennedy Center Vice-President of Education Derek Gordon raved, "will delight both the young and the young at heart," The Tales of Custard the Dragon will enchant audiences in Rock Island from May 19 through June 20, this Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse debut adapted from the whimsical children's stories of Ogden Nash.
Pairing up with Opera Quad Cities proves to be a recipe for greatness at the Black Box Theatre, because make no mistake: There's something truly special about Master Class.
One of the most beloved stage musicals in American history, as well as a Tony Award nominee for Best Original Score, composer Stephen Schwartz's timeless Godspell opens the mainstage season at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, the show's May 29 through June 7 run treating audiences to what NewCity Stage called "a terrific show – fresh, inventive, timeless, and rich."
Fiddler on the Roof is often considered one of the final entries in the Golden Age of Broadway era, a period defined by sweeping scores, big ensembles, and stories rooted deeply in character and community. Director Georgette Kleier’s production checks nearly every one of those boxes handily.
Touring in support of the June 26 release of their album Elephant in the Room, the Boston-based alternative rockers of Fai Laci headline a May 20 engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the outfit praised by RIFF magazine for delivering "bold, in your face, balls-to-the-wall, good old-fashioned rock."
Touring in support of their recently released album Dungeon Vision that New Noise magazine deemed “easily one of the best heavy, riffy albums of the year,” the New Zealand-based alt-rockers of Earth Tongue headline a May 21 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their latest also hailed by Tinnitist as a recording that "pulses with human energy, fuzz guitars, bone-battering drums, and hauntingly tuneful vocals."
He is Henry the eighth, he is, and on May 22, a pop-rock icon returns with the band that made him famous in the Adler Theatre's hosting of Herman's Hermits Starring Peter Noone – a night of British-Invasion favorites boasting such radio classics as “I'm Into Something Good,” “Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter,” “Silhouettes,” and, of course, “I'm Henry the VIII, I Am.”
Composed of lead vocalist Paul Wandtke on guitar, Mike Petrasek on bass, and Joe Kus on drums, the hard-rocking tribute artists of Smells Like Nirvana play a May 22 headlining engagement at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, celebrating the legendary sounds of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain through smash hits, B-sides, rare songs, and more from albums including Nevermind, In Utero, and Bleach.
Lauded by The Beverly Review as "a multi-talented musician from the northern suburbs of Chicago" who "brings a unique sound blending elements of funk, jazz, indie, and country," singer/songwriter Josh Spinner returns to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on May 22, the artist also hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "the epitome of a hardworking musician."
There are so many smart, promising ideas floating around in the comedic horror of Obsession that it almost doesn't matter that few of them feel properly explored, and that writer/director/editor Curry Barker doesn't seem to have entirely figured out either his principal characters or his film's overall tone.
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morning team of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too. Or you can check the Reader Web site and listen to their latest conversation by the warm glow of your electronic device. Never miss a pithy comment from these three scintillating pundits again
Thursday, May 14: Discussion of The Sheep Detectives, Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard & Soft - The Tour Live, and Mortal Kombat II; previews of Obsession, Is God Is, and In the Grey; and an advance peek at upcoming events at The Last Picture House, leading to the revelation that Dave has never seen Dazed & Confused. Oh, the shame.
The Sheep Detectives is kind of like Babe meets Paddington meets The Wild Robot meets Agatha Christie … which means, unexpectedly yet delightfully, it's also kind of perfect.
Presented as part of the library's long-running Community Connections series, a May 21 screening of The Last to Fall from Hero Street will find local Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films sharing their moving documentary at the Bettendorf Public Library, this fifth work in the Rundles' acclaimed Hero Street series followed by a question-and-answer session with the area talents.
Always an eagerly awaited series at the Figge Art Museum, the latest incarnation of Young Artists at the Figge will be on display from through May 24, with the Davenport venue celebrating the accomplishments of budding creative talents whose works will be showcased in a continuing series of individual exhibitions.
Two gifted, thought-provoking Midwestern artists will showcase their most recent works in a pair of exhibits at Dubuque's Voices Studios venue on view through May 30, with stunning examples of the power of photography on view in Randall Richmond's Palimpsest in the Voices Gallery and Amy May Laskye's The Edge of Light in the Joan Mulgrew Gallery.
Guests of the Muscatine Art Center are invited, through May 30, to explore powerful local stories of sacrifice in the exhibition Muscatine & the Civil War, with an April 18 event enabling patrons to experience special Civil War programs featuring a portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, a presentation on Iowa’s first soldiers, a book signing with Dr. Randee Fieselmann, and a live-music performance by Bob and Kristie Blake.
A trio of gifted Midwest photographers, one of them based in the Quad Cities, will have their latest works featured at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through June 19, with the Huang, Jackson, & Terry exhibition showcasing the talents of the Peoria-based Qingjun Huang and Natalie Jackson, as well as those of Davenport's Matthew Terry.
For the Davenport's final new exhibition of 2025, the Figge Art Museum will be taking an up-close-and-personal look at some of its most arresting in-house works in A Surreal Lens: Photography from the Figge Collection, a celebration of the medium on display in the Lewis Gallery hrough June 21.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?)
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