Following is one writer’s highlights in cultural experiences in Lowell and the Merrimack Valley this past year. These are events I attended, so this list is not an attempt to rate the best in the arts and culture for 2012. That’s for another post. Send in your favorite and unforgettable moments, such as the 25th anniversary event for the Angkor Dance Troupe, which I missed because I was away.—PM

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Ziggy Marley performed at Boarding House Park in the Lowell Summer Music Series

First annual Writers and Publishers Roundup at the Old Court pub (January)

Bread and Roses Centennial museum exhibition opening in Lawrence (January)

Lowell Folklife Series: Afro Caribbean Percussion Workshop with Jorge Arce at Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center (February)

Mass. Memories event at the Tsongas Industrial History Center, Boott Cotton Mills Museum (March)

“Dickens in Lowell” museum exhibition opening at Boott Cotton Mills Museum (April)

Greeley Peace Scholar John Prendergast “Day without Violence” talk at UMass Lowell (April)

Jane Brox’s talk on writing about place in the Lunchtime Lectures series of the Moses Greeley Parker Lectures and UMass Lowell at the UML Inn & Conference Center (April)

South Common Haiku Book Project event for Earth Day at the Rogers School (April)

Remembering Mary Sampas tribute event by the Hellenic Culture and Heritage Society (April)

City Stories by Image Theatre at the Old Court pub (May)

Ziggy Marley in the Lowell Summer Music Series at Boarding House Park (June)

“River Muse” literary anthology launch event with Sons of Liberty Publishing at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center (June)

Michael J. Fox in the Middlesex Community College Celebrity Series at Lowell Memorial Auditorium (June)

Kenny Loggins at Boarding House Park (July)

Lyle Lovett and His Acoustic Group at Boarding House Park (August)

KD Lang at Boarding House Park (August)

World Premiere of Kerouac’s “Beat Generation” play at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in partnership with UMass Lowell (October)

A Tribute to Peter Stamas produced by James Ostis in partnership with the Moses Greeley Parker Lectures, Hellenic Culture and Heritage Society, Lowell Heritage Partnership, and Greater Lowell Community Foundation at the Whistler House Museum of Art/Parker Gallery (November)

A Conversation with Stephen King at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell (December)