GLASGOW — Forecasts are calling for temperatures to be in the 80s, so there’s no excuse not to get out and enjoy the  many festivals scheduled for Labor Day Weekend.

Barren, Hart, Metcalfe and Monroe counties have each chosen the holiday weekend to host festivals.

The annual Global Fest in the Barrens will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 4 in downtown Glasgow. This year marks the 10th year for the festival, which is a celebration of world cultures and unity.

Ethnic foods, live entertainment by various musical groups, a belly dance performance and a demonstration by the Omega Force Strength Team, among others, will be featured at the festival.

Because it is the 10th anniversary of the festival, many performers who have appeared in the past will be returning.

“The one thing we strive to do is to help educate people about the different cultures, but we also strive to have quality entertainment,” said Alma Glover, event founder.

Headlining the festival will be Black Widow, a band that hails from Nashville and will be performing a variety of musical genres including Motown and country.

Other groups performing are: the Ernie Small Blues Band, Arthur Hatfield and Buckcreek, and John Edmonds’ gospel group.

“We just have an array of different genres of music for everyone,” Glover said.

There will be performances by the Glasgow Children’s Theatre’s Bunche of Players and the Zingara Belly Dance Troupe.

The festival will once again host a teen idol contest.

“We want to encourage teenagers to register early because space is limited. They go online and download the application at www.barrengobalfest.com,” Glover said.

The festival will also feature carnival-type programs, visits from Dora the Explorer and Spongebob Squarepants, free health screenings, inflatables and door prizes.

Metcalfe County

The Edmonton-Metcalfe County community will celebrate its sesquicentennial anniversary beginning Sept. 2 and continuing through Sept. 5.

“We are expecting 10,000 people to visit Edmonton during the sesquicentennial celebration. That’s because we are throwing one of the biggest birthday parties that has ever been given in this region,” said Jessie Crabtree, event organizer.

The celebration begins Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. with the crowning of the sesquicentennial prince and princess.

There will be a variety of booths, exhibits and demonstrations available on Sept. 2, including the Museum of Metcalfe County’s display of antiques and photographs.

Other events scheduled for Sept. 2 are an old fashioned citywide sidewalk sale and frontier day at the Metcalfe County Fairgrounds.

A welcome and opening ceremony will take place Friday at noon followed by performances from 12:30 to 4 p.m. by the Metcalfe County Middle and High School choruses, Jessica Taylor, Gilbert Curry, Ronnie Dial, Ben Hubbard and the Kentucky Ridge Runners.

Items for a time capsule will be displayed from 2 to 3 p.m. followed by a penny auction and a performance by the Clinton County Cloggers.

“Our hometown boys, the famous Kentucky Headhunters and Black Stone Cherry, will be in concert on Friday night,” Crabtree said.

Joining the Kentucky Headhunters and Black Stone Cherry in entertaining festival go-ers will be the local band WillowShade, which is set to take the stage at 6:30 p.m. followed by the Kentucky Headhunters at 7:30 p.m. and Black Stone Cherry at 9 p.m. All performances are free.

The festival continues on Saturday at 8 a.m. with a veterans breakfast followed by a veterans recognition at 9:30 a.m. The sesquicentennial parade will begin at noon.

There will be live entertainment from 10 a.m. throughout the day.

“Nashville recording artist Clay Underwood will perform Saturday night,” she said.

Twelve43 will perform at 6 p.m. followed by Underwood at 7 p.m. Both performances are free.

“One really exciting guest will be Oscar from ‘Lonzo and Oscar.’ He is from Edmonton and is 91 years old and will be performing for us,” Crabtree said.

Events will conclude on Sept. 4 with a fireworks display at 9 p.m.

On Sept. 5 the party continues with free hot air balloon rides at the fairgrounds beginning at 8 a.m. Also taking place at 8 a.m. will be the frontier breakfast.

An inspirational choir will perform at 10 a.m. followed by a communitywide church service at 11 a.m. and dinner in the courtyard at noon.

“We’re calling it ‘dinner on the courthouse lawn’ and everyone is supposed to bring a picnic basket and quilt to spread out on the grass,” Crabtree said.

Gospel groups set to perform on Sept. 5 beginning at 3 p.m. are The Cassadys, Carol England, Bobby Parnell and Wendy and 3 ’n 1.

Also beginning at 3 p.m. will be the Metcalfe County High School reunion for classes from 1957 to 1994 at the Metcalfe County Middle School.

The burying of the time capsule is scheduled for 6 p.m.

For more information about the celebration call the Edmonton-Metcalfe County Chamber of Commerce at (270) 432-3222.

Monroe County

In Monroe County the annual Watermelon Festival is scheduled to take place Sept. 4 in downtown Tompkins- ville.

Due to the construction of the county’s new judicial center, festival booths will be placed along Main Street.

“There’s 109 booths so it will be a full street,” said Susan Turner, co-chair of the Watermelon Festival Committee.

Registration for the 5K Fun Run and Walk in front of Bruton’s Supply on Third Street will start the festival.

The annual parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the Monroe County High School football field and will go past the Monroe County Health and Rehabilitation Center on Magnolia Street, ending at the corner of Magnolia  Street and Capp Harlan Road.

A new event for the festival will be a magic show for children in the town’s new Printer’s Park on Main Street.

“The magic show will be at 11:30 a.m. and at 2 p.m. Brad Lowe is the magician,” Turner said.

Watermelon games and activities for children will take place in the Monroe County Courthouse lawn beginning at 1 p.m.

Also taking place at 1 p.m. will be a presentation by folklorist and historian Dr. Lynwood Montell at the Tompkinsville Methodist Church.

The festival will feature a variety of musical performers.

“We will have our stage set up in front of Edmonton State Bank, so all of our daytime music this year will take place on the stage,” she said.

The Barren River Cloggers will perform at 6 p.m. followed by a street dance from 7:30 to 10 p.m. on Main Street.

The festival will also feature a quilt and art shows, a Rolley Hole marble tournament, a cornhole tournament and antique car show.

“Just about anything you want to do that day, we’ve got it,” Turner said.

Hart County

In Hart County the DeaFestival-Kentucky 2010 will take place next weekend in downtown Horse Cave. This will be the ninth festival for the Kentucky Commission of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

On Friday and Saturday there will be a showing of the movie “See What I’m Saying,” a Deaf Entertainters Documentary at Kentucky Repertory Theatre. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased in advance by contacting the theater at (270) 786-2177 or (800) 342-2177 or tickets@kentuckyrep.org

More than 8,000 visitors are expected, according to event organizers.

The festival will feature SpotLights, a performance by actors and comedians; a children’s program featuring American Sign Language in Wonderland and the evolution of communication from cave drawings to wireless technology.

A schedule of events, is available online at www.kcdhh.ky.gov