Sixth Forecastle Festival this Weekend

This weekend marks the sixth year for the Forecastle Festivalwith its emphasis on music, art and activism. Festival founder JK McKnight has featured regional music and community and environmental activists at the annual event. This year, he added music industry discussions to help regional musicians and tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as its keynote speaker to appeal to a wide range of people."This year, I really kind of wanted to have someone very recognizable in the environmental community and also someone to kind of bridge the generational divide," McKnight says. "You know, I think a lot of people have looked at Forecastle as something that centers around youth and young people."Last year, the festival drew nearly 4,000 people .McKnight, who founded the festival in 2002, says the Forecastle Festival has paralleled the rise of others like Bonnaroo, but features more regional talent to draw visitors from communities throughout the Midwest and Upper South."We have 10 cities that are participating this year in the festival in six states and we’re about representing the communities of this region," he says. "Just from a music, art and activism standpoint, anyone that comes from one of these cities will see their city represented."Participating cities include Cincinnati, St. Louis, Nashville and Indianapolis.The festival is today through Sunday on the Riverfront Belvedere.