Arts Beats and eats?

[pkbroch]

Bingo!! Yes I do agree that AB&E helped kill the State Fair. Granted it wasn't the only reason... but it helped lower the attendance numbers.

If AB&E help kill the State Fair, then it had to be at the time it was in Pontiac. The first year of AB&E in Royal Oak was 2010, and the fair had been cancelled well before summer of 2010.

The State fair was killed off by rotten management and short sighted budget cutting.

[Pam]

If AB&E help kill the State Fair, then it had to be at the time it was in Pontiac. The first year of AB&E in Royal Oak was 2010, and the fair had been cancelled well before summer of 2010.

The State fair was killed off by rotten management and short sighted budget cutting.

2009 was the last year of the Fair. It ran for more days than A,B and E so it was possible to do both.

[rjk]

Also to blame for the end of the state fair are up north cottages, BBQ grills and baseball games.

You could easily spend $3 at AB&E and have a good time. We spent a little bit more than that and had a great time.
We also had a great time at the Hamtramck festival.

[oldredfordette]

Well, I can't speak to the caliber of every artist at AB&E or at the Rust Belt Market, or at any of the festivals for that matter. Some are great. Some are good. Some are mediocre. And some are awful. I buy what I enjoy or think someone else will enjoy. But I do enjoy the fact that the artists are there and that they are making a living at what they love doing.

As for the admission fee, I'm happy to pay $3 admission. [[from the AB&E website)"This $3 admission fee supports the festival and community as follows: .25 to Arts Advocacy, .25 to the City of Royal Oak, and 50% of the remaining admission fees to 13 local charities after gating costs."

I won't disagree with the parking fee one bit!! I don't mind paying a reasonable price to park, but $15 is steep. Hence, we ride our bikes, or park just outside the permit perimeter and walk in. It's really not too bad of a walk, comparable to parking and walking to the Riverfront downtown.

And we are "lucky". What about the people from around the region who can't ride their bikes, can't walk from the perimeter, who are hostage to the ridiculous fees? Honestly, I can't do anything about their loud intrusive stupid summer event that happens in my doorstep but to pretend it is anything but a faceless money grab is taking cheerleading too far. Enjoy this cheap happy crap. Defend mediocre ovepriced crap. I wish for better.

As I type I can hear the music loud and clear. My taxes won't be lower, my police department will be smaller, nobody will clean up the debris and the puke, a rain will eventually wash it away.

[softailrider]

I think that I'm an event type of person, I like being surrounded by people, crowds don't bother me at all. Last year [[2010) was the last year we went to AB&E. We thought most of the "art" was crap, the food was okay and the music was good. One poster described AB&E as being "soul less" I think that's a really good description. We had absolutely no desire to return this year.

[Hypestyles]

I still had one ticket left after a 'deluxe nacho' and a pepsi max.. I guess I'll keep it as a souvenir..

mostly did a lot of wandering, filling out the 'sweepstakes' at the radio station booths..

saw a presentation there for the "School of Rock" [[this is a real thing, locally?) with a 3-piece teenage rock band.. neat..

I stuck around waiting for the close of the show with George Clinton and crew.. definitely well worth it.. his voice is quite raspy now, but it's good to still see him around..

[Joseph C. Krause]

When I got to Royal Oak all of their street meters were closed and there were signs on every residential street prohibiting parking. I'm always a park-for-free-and-walk person, but I wasn't about to walk from Pleasant Ridge, so I kept driving and went and hung out with my friends elsewhere.

[UpTown]

Went to A,B&E last night, and wholeheartedly agree about the soul less feel to the festival [[even with George Clinton). The streets were too tightly packed in with booths, and left little room for people to walk through. Also, there were one too many window company booths scattered around, along with the traditional traveling carny rides at the north & south ends. What is the personality, the character of this festival? It was too hard to tell. It just seems shoehorned into Royal Oak. To top it off, if you wanted to buy a beer, it was 9 tickets. But they sold 16 tickets for $10, so if you wanted to buy 2 beers for you and someone else, you had to buy 32 tickets and be stuck with an odd number afterwards. It just seems like anti consumer when you gouge and force people to leave money on the "table" at an event. Regardless of whether it's for charity. There are better values in terms of street fair level entertainment in this city [[Dally in the Alley being the gold standard).

[Scottathew]

The wife and I went. We avoided the ridiculous $15 parking fees by parking on a side street in Huntington Woods [[I'm sure they love being a temporary parking lot).

When we got there there was a long line to get in, but it moved at a pretty good pace. In order to buy food and drink you need to buy "tickets". Tickets are sold 18 for $10. A pop costs 6 tickets, so that's a $3.33 20 ounce Mountain Dew. However, the food is priced a little cheaper. So it's a little pricey.

The live music was good. The art booths offered a lot of variety.

I thought it was a very well organized event and it's only downfall was that it was too popular because crowding was an issue.

It was my first time going and we'll be returning next year.

[bartock]

To sum up a few of you:

- a "festival" with corporate sponsorship.

- a ticket system for food and beverage; not cheap, either.

- charging for parking.

- local musicians over the course of several days, every type of music you could imagine.

- overpriced arts and crafts on display. A lot of it, crap.

- money going to charity.

- a number of local restaurants on display.

- loud music late.

- terrible crowds.

If it is in July and it is in Detroit, then it is a wonderful event.

If it is over Labor Day and it is in Royal Oak, it is "soulless", "corporate", "too expensive", "too loud", etc.

The only differences, as far as I can tell, are the aesthetic, the date, and a $3 charge. And I would bet, for those of you complaining about AB & E, if you put the exact same event [[oh, I don't know, call it Comerica TasteFest or something) in Detroit and put it over the Labor Day weekend instead of when it used to be, its authenticity would be praised, it would be considered "Detroit", it's "competition" with the Jazz Fest would be healthy, and we'd be celebrating the void it filled for the now-defunct [[Lower P) State Fair.

[allisongraw]

arts beats and eats is the worst. stopped in there during the "free" entry before 5 on friday, wanted a beer- 9 tickets. ok, i'll go get 9 tickets. "you can only buy 16 at a time" so if i want 1 beer i need to buy 16 tickets. if i want 2 beers i have to buy 32 tickets. what the what. so stupid! then they block the meters so you have to pay 15 dollas even if you are only stopping at nutrifoods and bean and leaf..

forget it!

we went to the Hamtramck Labor Day festival instead and it was amazing. free to get in, you can buy a beer with money and not get ripped off, plus tons of amazing vendors with pierogis, packzi, pickle on a stick!!! and the best people watching ever! we got to watch the contours lay it down with the coordinated dance moves, and enjoy the day.

[bailey]

Do you think the artists were even worth mentioning? Every weekend at Rust Belt Market, you can do much better.

Each to their own, as a Royal Oak resident, I think our city is held hostage for 1 week a year by this faceless thing. I like a little personality, I will miss Festival of the Arts and CityFest for the funk it brought.

I like it much better than the car and hillbilly thingy. But that's not saying much.

It's not free, it's cheap but it's not free. You paid for your wristband, unless you got a pass. Most people had to pay $15 a day to park plus admission. Last time I checked, $18 is money.

There were 150 acts performing.... and if George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic isn't funk enough for you, kindly explain what is.

Really, what is your fucking problem? Is this just an act? I mean no person could such a miserable crank about something without having an agenda. Did they not use enough union labor for your taste?

OMFG... you had to PAY to get in...what a travesty. I mean what's next concentration camps!?!

Let me just ad at +1 to bartocks point. put the EXACT same event south of 8 mile and the event would be praised to no end.

[bartock]

There were 150 acts performing.... and if George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic isn't funk enough for you, kindly explain what is.

Really, what is your fucking problem? Is this just an act? I mean no person could such a miserable crank about something without having an agenda. Did they not use enough union labor for your taste?

OMFG... you had to PAY to get in...what a travesty. I mean what's next concentration camps!?!

Let me just ad at +1 to bartocks point. put the EXACT same event south of 8 mile and the event would be praised to no end.

The answer, I think, is misanthropy.

[DetroitPole]

There were 150 acts performing.... and if George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic isn't funk enough for you, kindly explain what is.

Really, what is your fucking problem? Is this just an act? I mean no person could such a miserable crank about something without having an agenda. Did they not use enough union labor for your taste?

OMFG... you had to PAY to get in...what a travesty. I mean what's next concentration camps!?!

Let me just ad at +1 to bartocks point. put the EXACT same event south of 8 mile and the event would be praised to no end.

As usual, criticize something in the suburbs that is purportedly "cool" and people here act like its an offense against God.

I don't think if you put the exact same event south of 8 Mile you would generate praise. It is evidenced in that people here are using the Dally and the Hamtramck Festival as examples. I don't know how you want to describe them, but they are decidedly different than ABE. Of course if I say they're less "corporate" or more "organic" of course we're going to have another tirade about how ABE is actually awesome and that the complaintant is a miserable so-and-so with an agenda.

I think people have made plenty of good points on how they clearly tried to squeeze people for every dime with parking, ticketing for refreshments, admissions, etc. People don't like to feel they're being taken advantage of. Hell, in Hamtramck you could brown bag it if you really wanted to. Plenty of people did.

[Django]

Ive been working for the Dally now for a while. A few years ago KKs people came and wanted something like $200 for each table set up for each vendor. Since we are not sponsored by Miller or Coors there is no way we could afford to pay that price. We have John from Motor City Brew who supplies all the beer and as I understand thats where much of the Dallys profits come from. We charge $4 a beer like we have for years, not $8. Theres a lot of love that goes into the Dally, mostly run by volunteers [[which I am not, I get paid for most of my work) from the NCCU North Cass Community Union. As I understand a portion of the profits go into helping the Corridor, back into the community.

Its too bad the Fourth St Fair couldnt find their way. That was a great party.

Still looking for a couch BTW..



The Dally should be the blueprint for other up and coming events. Pretty good for a bunch of old hippies

[MizMotown]

The last state fair was 2010.

Many things contributed to it, including rotten management. Also, competition for entertainment within a certain radius [[DTE, Chene Park, Fox, Ford Field, etc...) and the high cost the resulted from that. Yes, AE&B was competition for Labor Day weekend as well as a few other events. Labor Day weekend was also the best money maker. No need for discounted tickets. Also, the lack of interest from the State for capitol improvement was making the place more and more dangerous each year. And some fear from attendees to come to Detroit. Now it's a junked out site with a burnt out stove. It'll sell for nothing ;-) Maybe that's the plan.

[bailey]

As usual, criticize something in the suburbs that is purportedly "cool" and people here act like its an offense against God.

I don't think if you put the exact same event south of 8 Mile you would generate praise. It is evidenced in that people here are using the Dally and the Hamtramck Festival as examples. I don't know how you want to describe them, but they are decidedly different than ABE. Of course if I say they're less "corporate" or more "organic" of course we're going to have another tirade about how ABE is actually awesome and that the complaintant is a miserable so-and-so with an agenda.

I think people have made plenty of good points on how they clearly tried to squeeze people for every dime with parking, ticketing for refreshments, admissions, etc. People don't like to feel they're being taken advantage of. Hell, in Hamtramck you could brown bag it if you really wanted to. Plenty of people did.

and as usual...anything that happens in the suburbs is immediately met with sneering derision about how it fails to keep it real. I supposed I must have missed the free festival of unicorn rides and double rainbows that was ABE before it got all corporate once it moved 10 minutes down woodward?

[rjk]

Could we all at least agree that renaissance festivals suck?

Or does it depend on where it's located?

[bartock]

Could we all at least agree that renaissance festivals suck?

Or does it depend on where it's located?

Exactly! I am a bit incredulous to those who pine for the days of Comerica TasteFest, yet loathe the Chrysler ABE. If it isn't a geographic thing, then I wonder what will be said about WinterBlast. [[Pssst: they are all the same fucking thing!).

[[D-Pole, I left the festivals you cited out for that very reason. They are not comparable to the ticket-and-trinket fests. Although the organizers might disagree, ABE WAS south of 8 mile, and took place in July. It was called TasteFest. It still exists south of 8 mile, and takes place in February. It's called WinterBlast.)

[Melody]

Sorry, never been. I am sure Hamtramck Labor Day festival is far more interesting...in countless ways...foremost being the crowd...great people watching to say the least...

You got that right. I was in Hamtramck for a minute Sunday and all day yesterday. It was really fun. No tickets, no lines, easy parking, and very little corporate presence. Polka Floyd was great, too!

[sirrealone]

I went to just about every AB&E in Pontiac, may have missed one. My most memorable was in 2003. It was my birthday but I was in a bad mood about it. My friends were trying to cheer me up but I was determined to be grumpy. Eventually, so as not to ruin the good time that my friends were having, I wandered over to the bar at Have A Nice Day to get a cup of water. Being ignored for ten minutes by the bartender did nothing to improve my mood, and when a girl walked up next to me and had a water in her hand less than thirty seconds later, I couldn't help but finally crack a smile. The girl noticed and we started talking.

Our four year wedding anniversary is on Thursday

We went to AB&E every year to commemerate until they decided to move it to Royal Oak.

During the festival in Pontiac, there was never a safety issue. We always felt that we were safe no matter what.

In Pontiac, we were able to park a few blocks away for free or maybe $5 max depending on whether we were willing to take a stroll. I refused to pay $10 or $15 or whatever the heck Royal Oak is charging.

The ticketing system has always annoyed me but I usually looked past it. What it basically meant is that I bought a lot less than I probably would have had they allowed you to buy exact number of tickets or use cash.

I understand that the decision to move to Royal Oak and everything associated [[the increased parking, etc) was so that someone could maximize their profit. Fine. But I didn't meet my wife in Royal Oak. I met her in Pontiac. So the one thing that kept me overlooking the fact that it was getting more and more commercial, more and more focused on national [[rather than local) artists, and more and more expensive got taken away. So personally I have no reason or desire to go.

But I did have to laugh when talking to a neighbor who went this weekend, arriving and thinking 'Wow, it's really not that busy here today' only to realize she forgot it was no longer in Pontiac.

[DetroitPole]

Exactly! I am a bit incredulous to those who pine for the days of Comerica TasteFest, yet loathe the Chrysler ABE. If it isn't a geographic thing, then I wonder what will be said about WinterBlast. [[Pssst: they are all the same fucking thing!).

[[D-Pole, I left the festivals you cited out for that very reason. They are not comparable to the ticket-and-trinket fests. Although the organizers might disagree, ABE WAS south of 8 mile, and took place in July. It was called TasteFest. It still exists south of 8 mile, and takes place in February. It's called WinterBlast.)

I agree that those festivals are very much the same and very much crap. Tastefest I thought in particular was rather stupid. Why spend $10 for a "taste" of some local fare when I could go to the actual restaurant, down the street, in many cases, and sit down at the actual restaurant and have an actual meal for virtually the same price? Granted I did like that the New Center had something going on - its a cool area but there isn't much reason to go there for the average person.

As an aside, a couple tenacious young Hamtramck ladies [[Bittner and Srodek) actually saved the Hamtramck festival and for the first time last year made it profitable. Didn't have to put a corporate name in front of it, either. For the best, anyway, really, because corporations have been giving Hamtramck the big FU for a while now [[read: Mexican Axle).

[gazhekwe]

I loved the Tastefest, but then, I worked in Cadillac Center [[former GM Building). My office was next to a window on the third floor overlooking the Boulevard, so I had a front row seat. It was great to run out at lunch, walk around, buy tickets and lunch and be able to retreat back to my office to sit and eat. That is the one factor I hate about all these festivals. Eating is celebrated, but there is no place to eat comfortably unless you are lucky enough to work or live nearby.

[sturge]

Eating is celebrated, but there is no place to eat comfortably unless you are lucky enough to work or live nearby.

Good point! Didn't think about that until I read your post.

Yesterday was the first time I've gone to ABE. We mainly went to just look at the art. A bit more than what Farmington Art on the Grand had to offer. Some cool things but nothing I wanted to drop a lot of money on. There was one framed picture I considered getting that was actually under $100.

I also thought the Eats part was about sampling various foods, but the prices didn't really lend to any of that. A shame because there were certainly tons of food vendors.

Ignored the Music completely. Might've been cool to listen to the Furs, but didn't feel like hanging around that long for it.

[Gingellgirl]

Not crowded today at all! Kinda quiet, though. Lotsa traffic.