From Hancher's new Infinite Dream Festival to the Refocus Film Festival, there is plenty to do in Iowa City this weekend.

Iowa City offers a weekend of cultural delights, celebrating the arts with multiple festivals, from the eighth annual Iowa City Book Festival to the inaugural Infinite Dream Festival.

Check out a roundup of upcoming festivals and events centered around the arts:

Infinite Dream Festival

Hancher Auditorium introduces the new Infinite Dream Festival. The Infinite Dream Festival is a multidisciplinary festival that explores the American Story's complex fabric, celebrating its accomplishments and failures through music and discussion.

Starting on Oct. 11, the festival will feature performances, presentations, and discussions from artists and thinkers as well as students, faculty, and staff from the University of Iowa. The Infinite Dream festival runs through Saturday, Oct. 21.

Here are a few of the festival's can't-miss happenings:

John Irving, in conversation with Lan Samantha Chang

American novelist and screenwriter John Irving won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay by adapting his novel “Cider House Rules.” Irving is an Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate. He will sit down with the Iowa Writers’ Workshop director, Lan Samantha Chang, to discuss his life and creative process at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 13 at Hancher Auditorium.

The next day, at 1 p.m. on Oct. 14, Irving will be at the FilmScene at the Chauncey for a post-film discussion following the rescreening of “Cider House Rules,” a part of the event catalog for Refocus Film Festival.

Storytelling Across the Arts: A Conversation with Lonnie Holley & Kurt Vile 

Presented in collaboration with the Iowa City Book Festival, Lonnie Holley is a self-taught artist from the visual to musical arts. Earlier this year, Holley released his fourth album, a musical storytelling journey of his youth growing up in the Jim Crow era in the South. Kurt Vile is regarded as one of the most influential songwriters and instrumentalists of rock subgenres. Holley and Vile will discuss their creative processes and the ability to dive in head first to experiential expressions of art.

This event is free and open to the public, but pass holders receive guaranteed admission.

Refocus Film Festival

The Refocus Film Festival returns for its second year with more than 30 films and events. The festival highlights new releases and screenings of cult classics.

Refocus welcomes directors and writers to discuss filmmaking and their creative processes.

Here are the can’t-miss Refocus events:

Filmspotting Live

The New York Times called Filmspotting the number-one podcast for movie buffs. Since 2005, hosts Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen have shared in-depth movie discussions, interviews, and Top 5 lists. Now, the co-hosts are taking the show live to discuss their picks for some of the best recent films adapted from fiction, plays, musicals, and more.

The Movie Orgy

A free event, “The Movie Orgy,” is a five and half hour film with two screenings during the weekend. “The Movie Orgy” is a one-of-a-kind movie-going experience, using cultural artifacts like commercials, newsreels, clips from feature films, TV bloopers, and much more to create this convergent film from the director of “Gremlins,” Joe Dante.

Refocus is hosting two film screenings on Saturday, Oct. 14, the first at noon and the second at 5 p.m. Festival organizers suggest popping in and staying for five minutes or five hours.

Iowa City Book Festival

Iowa City is one of three North American cities in UNESCO’s City of Literature program, launched in 2002 to promote UNESCO’s Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity initiative. For the eighth year running, The Iowa City Book Festival brings a week of free literary programming to Iowa City to celebrate the storied history of literature.

Some of the week's highlights include:

Eskor David Johnson at Prairie Lights

At 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, Eskor David Johnson, a graduate of Harvard University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will read from his debut novel, “Pay As You Go,” which will be officially released later this month. The novel is a fantasy journey through the fictional city of Polis, where the main character, Slide, tries to find the perfect apartment, meeting odd characters and finding himself in peculiar situations.

Nathan Hill at The Iowa City Public Library 

Best-selling author and Iowa native Nathan Hill will read from his recently released novel “Wellness” at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Iowa City Public Library. “Wellness” is a novel about modern marriage, the pursuit of health and happiness, and the stories that bind us together. Hill reimagines what audiences have come to know about love stories through a healthy dose of insight and irony.

Downtown Fall Gallery Walk

The Downtown Gallery Walk has transformed the downtown district for more than 20 years, filling local businesses with art. From 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13, guests can pop into downtown businesses and see art from international and local artists while also shopping and grabbing a bite to eat.

The Gallery Walk is a free event and open to the public.

Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@presscitizen.com.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City offers a weekend of art, music and movies