Minnesota Fringe Festival

Aug. 2-18: For its 25th anniversary, the independent performance festival shows no signs of slowing down. With big-cast musicals, intimate dramatic shows, dance, comedy, storytelling, juggling, plays for kids and theatrical experimentations, it's a chance to see a ton of talent in a short amount of time (all shows are under an hour) and be a part of Fringe fever. There's a mix of established artists hailing from all over the country and newbies testing the waters for the first time. (Various locations, Mpls. Tickets and passes on sale in July; minnesotafringe.org.)

Sheila Regan

Jack White

Aug. 6: He earned a lot of eyerolls over his rather goofy new album "Boarding House Reach," but the tall cool rocker still has fans here excited over his first Minnesota appearance as a frontman since the White Stripes gigs in 2005. For many, it'll also be their first show at the impressively remade Armory. White's setlists have included plenty of Stripes tunes, plus a little Raconteurs and Dead Weather. Some of those playful new tunes actually could be fun in concert, too. (The Armory, 600 S. 6th St., Mpls. Sold out; resale tickets from $133.)

Chris Riemenschneider

Beyoncé and Jay-Z

Aug. 8: After putting on one of the grandest concerts of the decade at TCF Bank Stadium on 2016's "Lemonade" tour, Queen Bey is coming to Minneapolis' glitzier but inferior new football palace with her rapper husband Jay-Z adding to the scale of the show. Rumor is she'll drop a new album on us by then. He delivered the stripped-back and inspired "4:44" last year. Having them together should be fun, but otherwise it's all about Bey. (U.S. Bank Stadium, Mpls. $47-$1,993, ticketmaster.com.)

C.R.

The Fringe Festival is back Aug. 2-18 in various locations.

Minnesota State Fair

Aug. 23-Sept. 3: A fancy new Pronto Pup production center will let fair­goers see how the sausage, er, corn dog is made. A new Pet Pavilions exhibition space will overtake the former Machinery Hill. Other than that, summer's grand fair finale looks to be the same as it ever was, and thanks for that. Grandstand concerts will be heavy on choose-your-own-nostalgia, including Earth, Wind & Fire (Aug. 26), the Beach Boys (Aug. 27), 311 (Aug. 31), Boy George and Culture Club (Sept. 3) and more, plus free concerts TBA. (Minnesota State Fairgrounds. $11-$14 daily admission; mnstatefair.org.)

Simon Peter Groebner

Taylor Swift

Aug. 31-Sept. 1: Taylor always tries to beat the system. Her latest move was adding a second concert in many major cities on this year's Reputation Stadium Tour. Why? To thwart the secondary ticket market. Even though her top ticket prices are stratospheric ($795 for a VIP package), the 28-year-old megastar seems to be in touch with her fans. In 2017, they gobbled up her latest album, "Reputation," like it was the hottest thing since Adele's "25." Charli XCX and Camila Cabello open. (U.S. Bank Stadium, Mpls. $47.50-$897, ticketmaster.com.)

Jon Bream