The seventh annual Forward Festival, taking place Aug. 18-25 at various locations in the city, will bring various startup and entrepreneurial groups together to learn, share and innovate, according to organizers.

“Forward Festival, now with the most events to date, could not thrive without our community’s support of entrepreneurs,” Laura Strong, festival committee member and president of Quintessence Biosciences, said. “That’s why we’ve made the festival as accessible as possible, as all events are open to the public and many are free.”

The festival’s headliner event is the Forward Technology Conference, slated for Aug. 23 at the Monona Terrace. The day-long conference will give attendees the opportunity to network with top entrepreneurs and hear from various speakers, including e-commerce expert Amy Africa, UrgentRX CEO Jordan Eisenberg and Widen Enterprises CEO Matthew Gonnering. Read the full story here.