With the addition of the Westobou Festival, an annual 10-day celebration of art and performance, the arts in Augusta are more vibrant and exciting than ever.

The festival, established in 2008, features more than 100 performances by local and national acts at venues across the city. Marquee performances at the inaugural festival included Slow Dancing, a large-scale multimedia piece, and a concert by recording artists Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt.

Musically, the community boasts both the Augusta Symphony, which stages a season of MasterWorks concerts featuring guest performers, three annual Pops concerts and a selection of child-friendly family shows, and the Augusta Opera, which presents three productions a year and a holiday concert at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

The Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society features a series of concerts by touring ensembles.

The Augusta Choral Society, the Augusta Chorale, the Augusta Children's Chorale and the Columbia County Choral Society all present seasons of vocal music.

Other musical offerings come from the Augusta Concert Band and the Tuesday's Music Live concert series. The Army Signal Corps band, based at Fort Gordon, also performs regularly.

There are several theatrical companies in the area.

The Augusta Players specializes in musical theater, and the Fort Gordon Dinner Theatre serves both the civilian and Army communities, with farces and thrillers proving particularly popular.

Le Chat Noir operates an intimate downtown venue and offers a season of challenging drama and crowd-pleasing comedy.

Columbia County's Stage III fills its season mostly with American comedies and has a particular fondness for Neil Simon.

The Aiken Community Playhouse schedules a diverse season that usually includes at least one drama, one musical and one comedy.

The University of South Carolina Aiken and Augusta State University maintain theater departments, each of which presents a season of plays.

The dance world is represented by the Augusta Ballet, the Columbia County Ballet, Dance Augusta and Cutno Dance.

The visual arts are represented by the Morris Museum of Art, the first museum dedicated solely to the visual art of the South, the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art and the New Space Gallery on the campus of Augusta State University.

Arts education opportunities include the Jessye Norman School for the Arts, which recently moved into a new facility downtown, the Art Factory, the Augusta Mini Theatre, the award-winning John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School and the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art.