If there is any doubt in your mind as to why the “I Love Macon” campaign is such a raging success, check out the calendar of events slated during the next few weeks.

Not only is this weekend loaded, but February will bring some of the leading events of the entire year, for example the Macon Film Festival, the Macon Symphony Pops Concert, the annual Civic Club show, the CollegeTown Film Series and a visit by the National Players, just to name some highlights.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: There’s plenty to keep us busy in January, including the final performances of Theatre Macon’s Youth Actor’s Company’s “Robin Hood” and the Mercer University Opera production of “Iolanthe.” Director Martha Malone calls “Iolanthe” one of the funniest operas Gilbert and Sullivan ever wrote. On Sunday, the Music and the Arts Series at Vineville United Methodist Church will be presenting “Red Letter Jesus,” a show that actor Brad Sherrill has performed at several leading cities in the U.S.

Monday afternoon, the closing concert of the 10th annual International Conductors Workshop is slated for Wesleyan College’s Porter Auditorium.

Meanwhile, let’s return to the schedule at Mercer’s Fickling Hall. Last weekend’s concert by the Cortona Trio was a total sellout, with the “Elegy” by Josef Suk dedicated to the memory of Neva Fickling. There’s a lesson here for local music lovers planning to attend “Iolanthe,” and even more so for the upcoming concert by Wesleyan pianist Edward Eikner and baritone Vratislav Kriz, in honor of Neva Fickling’s birthday.

Also on the immediate horizon at Mercer is a recital by pianist Ian Altman, a concert by international star of Broadway and opera Lisa Vroman, a recital by Robert McDuffie himself and a crossover concert featuring vocalist/saxophonist Matt Catingub, Amy Schwartz-Moretti and others. On top of all that, the Macon Chapter of the American Guild of Organists is getting ready for “The Superbowl of Hymn Festivals” on Feb. 3.

Art news

The Middle Georgia Art Association has not one but two receptions slated for this weekend. “Flowers, Buds and Twigs” opens Friday night at the MGAA gallery, while “Full Spectrum” is set for 3-5 p.m. Sunday at the Tubman African American Museum.

In Atlanta, the High Museum’s visiting exhibition from the Museum of Modern Art ends Sunday.

Contact Larry Fennelly at LarryFennelly@AvantGuild.com