After the first delayed start in the long history of Arts, Beats & Eats, the skies relented, the crowds rolled in, and Michigan’s biggest Labor Day weekend festival powered up across downtown Royal Oak.
Friday afternoon brought entertainment on 11 stages, a tempting hodgepodge of aromas from 50-plus food vendors and street tents filled with offerings from 125-plus artists as Oakland County’s 28-year tradition kicked off the first of four days.
AB&E’s opening was postponed to noon to allow the completion of infrastructure setup across the 18-block festival site following two days of severe weather in the area.
After being pinned indoors this week by the storms, fest patrons seemed happy to be back outside for Oakland County’s ceremonial last taste
of summer, which typically draws about 350,000 over the holiday weekend.
At AB&E, daytime is traditionally family time, and on Friday afternoon the parents and children were flocking to the north-end carnival rides and a kids’ zone featuring magic shows and storytelling on a stage sponsored by the Detroit Institute of Arts. At night, the stage was destined to become “Beatbox After Dark,” with a lineup of local DJs.
Down the way along a stretch of Fifth Street, Royal Oak got to show off its new multimillion-dollar pedestrian plaza, full of green spaces, a winding boardwalk and decorative lighting. The construction project was completed just in time for Arts, Beats & Eats and its rock stage, where Friday’s early schedule was devoted to performances by musicians affiliated with the Detroit School of Rock & Pop.
At Sixth and Lafayette, the R&B-jazz stage brought the sounds of classic soul and contemporary vocal jazz from the Martyna Quartet, one of the nearly 200 local music acts booked for the weekend. They’re part of a lineup that includes a slate of national performers on the main stage, led by headliners Jason Bonham (Friday), Third Eye Blind (Saturday), Chris Young (Sunday) and Kool & the Gang (Monday).
No AB&E participants were more affected by the inclement weather than the arts and crafts vendors, who were delayed from opening until midafternoon Friday because of the more valuable and vulnerable nature of the goods on display.
Among them was Tim Gralewski of Rochester Hills, whose computer-designed screen prints come with a midcentury aesthetic and an eye for Detroit music history, from Motown to the White Stripes. He’s been part of Arts, Beats & Eats since its 2010 move to Royal Oak from Pontiac, and as a veteran of arts events across the state, he takes Mother Nature's impulses in stride.
“It’s not the first time there’s been rain during an art fair,” he said with a laugh. “If you do this, you’ve got to expect it. We’ve seen it all.”
Arts, Beats & Eats is part of a traditional flurry of Labor Day activity across southeastern Michigan. Here’s more of what folks will be enjoying over the holiday weekend:
- The Detroit Jazz Festival is underway downtown, marking its 47th year with a four-stage setup now consolidated at Hart Plaza. The free fest features dozens of performers, including artist-in-residence Joe Lovano and homecoming sets from musicians such as Ron Carter.
- The free Hamtramck Labor Day Festival will run from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with a traditional assortment of food vendors, children’s activities and local musicians on two stages.
- In Novi, the modern incarnation of the Michigan State Fair has returned to the Vibe Credit Union Showplace with its familiar array of livestock attractions, family shows, monster trucks and demolition derbies. The fair will run daily through 8 p.m. Monday.
- The 95th annual Romeo Peach Festival kicked off Thursday in Macomb County, while the long-loved Franklin Cider Mill in Bloomfield Hills will open Saturday for a season of cider and doughnuts that runs through Nov. 29.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Arts, Beats & Eats opens as metro Detroit dives into Labor Day weekend
