Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music ( www.ffotm.net) is a club that gathers local musicians for contra dances, open mic nights, jam sessions and other activities on a regular basis, so if you are looking for informal performances by local musicians, drop in on one of those events. Besides the events the club hosts itself, the calendar on their website also lists other performances in the Flagstaff area, which may be worth a short drive out of town. The society also holds an annual Folk Festival in June featuring live acoustic music. Usually this is held at the Coconino Center for the Arts at 2300 North Fort Valley Road. As the festival is sponsored by Acoustic Music Arizona, artists from this recording company usually give a few live acoustic performances. There are also workshops for music and songwriting at this festival, as well as informal jams by local musicians, both professional and amateur.

Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music also performs at the annual Arizona Highland Celtic Festival in Foxglenn Park. This mid-July festival, sponsored by the Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society, offers concerts with local bands, sports contests, Irish/highland dance and bagpipe performances, educational exhibits and Celtic arts and crafts workshops.

Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music also produces Pickin' in the Pines Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival each year. This year's festival will be September 18, 19 & 20, 2009, and features the Gibson Brothers, Claire Lynch Band, Steep Canyon Rangers, Crooked Still, and Burnett Family Bluegrass. Other performances by regional and local bands, plus children's activities, workshops, contra dancing events, informal jamming and more, round out this weekend-long festival. For more information about this festival, visit pickininthepines.org

Another fun event is the Grand Canyon Music Festival around Labor Day, which features concerts by local and guest performers over two weekends. Visit www.grandcanyonmusicfest.org for tickets.

 There is almost always some sort of event going on in Flagstaff, especially in the summer. If not an event definitely some sort of live music at a local bar or the new amphitheatre. The Flagstaff CVB has a quality events calendar on their website www.flagstaffarizona.org.

for the health and wellness types, the first annual Flagstaff Yoga Festival will be held August 7th 8th and 9th of 2009. www.flagstaffyogafestival.com