What’s that? The 4th of July has come and gone and STILL you don’t have any vacation plans?

Typical Irish, always waiting until the last minute! Here are a few ideas to catch some cool Irish tunes that will get you away from the hot city.

If you want to make a quick plane ride or a long road trip, there are some great musical weekends planned in the Midwest. The Cleveland Irish Festival will take place on the weekend of July 18-20 on the Berea Fair Grounds. The lineup is absolutely stellar! Black 47, Ronan Tynan, the High Kings, and Damien Dempsey are the main headliners of the weekend.

What I love about these festivals is that the local talent have an opportunity to feed off the headliners, and the Cleveland Festival is no exception.

One interesting band on the bill is Scythian, a group named after Ukrainian nomads. They play immigrant rock with thunderous energy, technical prowess and storytelling songwriting, beckoning crowds into a barn-dance rock concert experience.

Celebrating 10 years of getting people dancing all night, Scythian is releasing their new album, "Jump at the Sun," August 15, and they will be giving the crowd a preview of the CD in Cleveland. Check out the Cleveland Irish Festival website at www.clevelandirish.com for more information.

The sprawling, monstrous Dublin, Ohio Irish Festival spans 3 days (August 1-3) and feels more like a county fair than an Irish festival. You’ll need every minute of that time to make your way through the sprawl of it all!

Solas, Sharon Shannon, the Hooligans, Brigid’s Cross and the legendary Red Hot Chili Pipers are among the highlights. The festival apparently decided to skip the big name brands this year in favor of giving bands like Rice Brothers and Homeland a chance at the main stage. For more information, visit www.dublinirishfestival.com.