Have you noticed a festive vibe in the air?

October is almost upon us and with it returns Arts Month. The initiative was started in 1993 by Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit organization that works to advance the arts in the United States.

Last year Colorado Springs hopped on the Arts Month bandwagon for the first time thanks to the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region. To celebrate, COPPeR will once again present Artini, a kickoff party at The Mansion on Thursday.

“It’s (Arts Month) a way to focus attention from across the community on arts and culture, and to encourage local cultural organizations to find new ways to collaborate and new ways to elevate their work,” says Andy Vick, executive director of COPPeR. “We’re giving them a platform to do whatever they want to raise the visibility of what they’re doing creatively.”

Miguel Dakota and the Differents will headline the downtown shindig. The young singer-songwriter from Monument was a finalist on last year’s “America’s Got Talent” reality TV show. Other performers include Aerial Dreamworks, Fine Arts Center, Opera Theatre of the Rockies, Stick Horses in Pants and Tejon Street Corner Thieves. There’ll be art activities, performance poetry, fingernail painting by the Beauty Bar, filmmaking with The Schuermann Collective and a demonstration by makeup artists from Syfy Channel’s “Face Off.”

During the month, local residents are encouraged to go out and try one new cultural experience with friends or family.

“In the public school system arts aren’t as accessible as we might like,” Vick says. “If you don’t grow up with a comfort and awareness with the arts, you don’t have exposure to it and don’t know where to find it or have the confidence to go out and engage it. So much of it is out there for free. People need to know it’s there, where to find it and that it’s a lot easier and more enjoyable if you take a friend or family member with you.”

Something else: Vignettes by local theater companies introducing their season and style of work, 6:30-9 p.m. Oct. 8, Studio Bee at Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave., free; 465-6321, coppercolo.org.

More: Business and Arts Lunch, featuring live performances and awards for leadership, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 9, Antlers Hilton hotel, 4 S. Cascade Ave., $45; springsbusinessalliance.com/ bizarts.