It’s often assumed that nothing happens in theater in summer. So wrong. Just because nothing happens on Broadway doesn’t mean theater grinds down to a halt.

The biggest, most prestigious event is the Lincoln Center Festival, which this year runs on July 7-26. My list of picks will be in tomorrow’s paper, and I’ll supplement it here.

But there’s also a slew of Off and Off-Off events well worth your consideration.

Dixon Place’s monthlong Hot Festival, which focuses on “queer performance and culture,” kicks off in earnest tonight with Big Art Group’s “Cinema Fury: The Imitation,” featuring Justin Bond and Theo Kogan. I don’t know what to expect but I’ve enjoyed all these people separately over the years.

Other promising shows include Penny Arcade’s new piece, “Old Queen”; “Cabal,” a cabaret-type series that will be familiar to fans of curator Earl Dax (“Weimar New York,” “Tingel Tangel Club”); choreographer Sean Dorsey’s “Uncovered: The Diary Project”; a reprise of Carmelita Tropicana’s “Your Kunst Is Your Waffen.”

Starting next week is the Summer Play Festival, held at the Public Theater on July 7-August 2. The fest focuses on emerging artists working within relatively mainstream parameters. Looking intriguing: Ally Sheedy in “Reborning,” Aya Cash in “Whore” and the Trip Cullman-directed “The Happy Sad.” And all for a meager $10 a show!

Starting at about the same time and more adventurous is Soho Think Tank‘s 16th annual Ice Factory festival at the Ohio Theatre (July 8-August 15). Here you get more downtown companies such as International WOW (doing “Reconstruction”) or Banana Bag & Bodice (“Space/Space”). Tickets will set you back $15 ($10 for students and seniors), which is still a bargain.

Finally we zoom back uptown with the 2009 East to Edinburgh festival at 59E59 (July 14-August 2). The idea is to fine-tune American productions before they travel to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I admit to not being familiar with the names there, but again, the price is right at $15.