Armored Medieval Martial Arts combines cage fighting with armored combat. The competitors seem ripped from the Middle Ages, donning gambesons, gauntlets, greaves and helms before stepping into the ring. The blades are dulled.

A Cincinnati-based Americana duo which once called Bloomington-Normal home is returning to play in the Twin Cities next month — in a venue they helped launch that's been on hiatus since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The historical reenactment band will perform on Monday, July 27, on the ISU quad. The band will play Civil War Era music on authentic instruments from the era.

The band will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its only album, Revolutionary Product, during its 45-minute set on Friday.

More Than a Game! will remain installed at the McLean County Museum of History for at least five years. It's a rare new permanent exhibition drawing from the museum's collection and local baseball lore on loan for the occasion.

Nan is based on the true story of Stevi Zabawa's grandmother, who picked up the pieces when her husband unexpectedly left her and her children in 1960.

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona" is taking the stage at Illinois Shakespeare Festival, bringing a dog along to help tell the timeless story of betrayal, friendship and forgiveness.

At first, concerns rolled in from all sides of the political spectrum about the politics of patriotism. The collection of pieces by local artists respond to a series of questions about revolutionary moments, how migration and settlement impact the natural world and what it means to be an American.

Pontiac's Diaz Sign Art created a custom mural for Sprague's Super Service commemorating significant landmarks in the Town of Normal: the Normal Theater and Steak and Shake. It will be officially unveiled Friday, ahead of a 1950s-themed celebration as part of the Cruisin' through the Century Route 66 Centennial.

John Burroughs, whose account of the Rendlesham Forest incident helped make it one of the world's most famous UFO cases, is bringing a UFO conference to Bloomington and will discuss his decades-long effort to obtain medical benefits for health challenges related to the event.