[FresnoFacts]

Creative Fresno, http://www.creativefresno.com/ a Fresno area organization focused on expanding the base of Creative Professionals in the area has 2 events upcoming around downtown Fresno.

The 1st annual FUSEFest, the Fresno Urban Sound Experience Festival, will be this Saturday October 18 in downtown Fresno. Over 20 performers representing rock, rap, alternative, ska, flamenco, jazz, and more will be performing at venues around the Fulton Mall.
http://www.fusefest.com/artists.html
http://www.fusefest.com/fuseImages/FUSElogowskyline.jpg

Then on October 25th will be the 2nd annual Fresno Filmmakers Forum at the Tower Theater. Last year over 100 people listened to advice for independent and documentary filmmakers from industry professionals. A larger crowd is expected for this year's forum.
http://www.fresnofilmmakersforum.com/
http://creativefresno.com/files/u24/FFFLogo-Web-Med.gif

[krudmonk]

Right on, Fresno. I hope it goes well. It'll be cool to have another city in California's crown.

[Echo Park]

i dont know if fresno will really be cool in any way. the bad thing baout not being a coastal city. i think sacramento has the potential, its mid sized, has lots of green and is racially diverse. sac could join portland, KC and austin as americans coolest mid sized cities. but man fresno is pretty bad, i'm sorry. i dont really see it getting much better.

[FresnoFacts]

Obviously a city doesn't need to be on the coast to be "in" or "cool" since you mention Kansas City and Austin. Although being near the coast does allow "cool"er weather. ;)

FUSE will be good exposure for locals and nonlocals who don't know that Fresno is producing bands like Rademacher, who plays clubs in Portland, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
http://www.myspace.com/rademacher
They do good indie but I'm really enjoying Patrick Contreras and what he is doing on the electric violin. He blends rock, latin, and jazz.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ChannelID=100676537
http://www.myspace.com/patrickcontreras

[austinjfox]

rademacher is pretty good! Fresno has a good college. thats a positive!