It's all too easy to see the summer as a bit of a social disaster, a morass of solitude and late-night video games. But it doesn't have to be this way. The local art scene is baking at a 52-week high in the summer. Don't worry about all the performances you never made it to in the fall and winter - they were inconsequential by comparison. It's almost as if Ann Arbor waits until the campus is clear to really bring its flare for theatre, music, literature and art.

The Ann Arbor Summer Festival alone will be enough to fill the appetites of just about everyone. Spread between June 13 and July 6, it features new artists like KT Tunstall and popular National Public Radio show Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. The festival also features local artists and free movies in Ingalls Mall in its offshoot program, Top of the Park. Although the individual shows have yet to be announced, expect a huge variety of performances - a perfect way to shoot the breeze in the warm summer evenings.

These events will be covered in depth as they approach, but here's are some of the highlights.

KT Tunstall and Paddy Casey
Saturday, May 17, 8:00 p.m.
The Power Center
$30-$40

Not the kind of fare you might expect from a summer arts festival, KT Tunstall will make a strong and spicy first showing for the Ann Arbor Summer Festival when she plays the Power Center on May 17. Tunstall is performing in the festival's pre-season as part of a tour for her new album, Drastic Fantastic. In the good-vibes, earthy spirit of the festival, Tunstall will be performing in what promises to be a comparatively intimate manner - the entire band will be unplugged, with Tunstall on acoustic guitar. Her jazzy sound should work particularly well acoustically, and the concert has all the ingredients to be a special treat.

Ann Arbor Art Fairs
July 16-19
www.artfair.org

It doesn't really matter that the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (one of the four fairs, held simultaneously) was ranked as the 1st among art fairs in the country in 2004, or that it's been in the top 10 ever year since. Who follows art fair rankings, really? And what does that mean for an art fair, that is has more wicker baskets than any other art fair? No.

What makes the Ann Arbor Art Fairs unique is the vast dearth of wicker baskets, painted signs, and the other takes-a-mother-to-love-it art you might find at another Michigan art fair. The Fairs are packed with legitimately talented artists from all over the country, many of them 'juried,' or individually selected by members of the Fair's board. The result is some of the finest photography, sculpture, pottery, oil painting, and jewelry you'll find on sale anywhere. And art-geekiness is no prerequisite; if you've ever seen a painting, the Fairs will hold some interest.

Ann Arbor Book Festival
May 15-18
www.aabookfestival.org

In a city famous for both festivals and academics, the Book Festival, pinnacle of literary dorkiness, was inevitable. That doesn't mean it will be any less engaging - in fact, with a host of visiting authors, panels, and a street fair, the Festival should be a satisfyingly substantial event.

Although the visiting authors lack name recognition (sorry, Steven King is not in attendance), they more than make up for it in eclecticism and real talent. Among them is a National Book Award Finalist, the author of a book on Mayan beekeepers in Yucatan, a wildly popular Iranian jokestress and a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient. Unlike the Street Art Fair and the Summer Festival, the Book Festival will take a little effort to be involved in, but it should be well worth it to anyone even vaguely interested in literature.