Celebrating the great offerings in the arts in humanities, the festival began in 2001 under the leadership of Richard Charles Ford.

The choice of theme is intended to spark creativity in the wider community and inspire us to ask questions and discuss what our lives look like in terms of that particular theme. The theme also inspires the choice of a festival book, which the public is encouraged to read and discuss with friends and family. The festival book for 2012 is “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley.

All 35 festival events can be found at www.ahfest.org/events. Events include the Cinema Sundays film screenings and discussions at the Muskegon Museum of Arts, an astrology lecture at Muskegon Community College, an evening with outdoorsman and author Steve Rinnella at Reeths Puffer High School, concerts at the Howmet Playhouse, and a Zombie Prom at the Frauenthal.

On Oct. 13 ahFest will be holding its first active-art competition, ART IN 8. Eight artists will have eight hours to create a new piece of art from a variety of known and unknown materials provided for them. ART IN 8 will be held at the Old Bank Building in downtown Muskegon from 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., with a reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. Visitors will be able to vote for their favorite piece throughout the day and a People’s Choice Award will be awarded to the top vote-getter. The festival’s annual award, the Richard Charles Ford Award, will also be presented at the reception at 7 p.m.

The Whitehall City Council, last Tuesday, approved a National Arts and Humanities Month Oct. 2012 Proclamation by Mayor Emery M. Hatch to urge mayors to build partnerships with the local arts agencies and other members of the arts and humanities community in their cities to proclaim, participate in, and to celebrate the month of October as National Arts and Humanities Month.