I always look forward to July and Detroit’s annual Concert
of Colors diversity festival.
The Concert of Colors is a cooperative venture
between the Arab American National Museum, New Detroit (a coalition of
community leadership aimed at positively impacting race relations), Detroit
Symphony Orchestra and ACCESS (Arab Community Center of Economic and Social
Services).
New Detroit and ACCESS established the event in 1993
as an outdoor festival at Chene Park on the Detroit riverfront. The Detroit
Symphony Orchestra joined the presenting team in 2006, and the symphony’s
beautiful home at the Max M. Fisher Music Center became the festival’s new
home.
The weekend celebration of Detroit’s cultural
diversity offers plenty of free fun for everyone in the festival’s outdoor area
next to the Max that includes drumming circles, Native American hoop dancers
and vendors where you can grab a quick samosa snack, get a henna tattoo or choose
a unique gift from a selection of multicultural food and products. Organizers
encourage especially budget-conscious festival goers to bring their own picnic meal
to enjoy in the outside festival area.
Inside the Max, an eclectic bill of artists
entertain festival goers on two different stages—a larger Main Stage where the
symphony calls home and a smaller stage in an adjacent room with a dance floor
that quickly fills with dancers.
Concert of Colors offers every type of music
imaginable, from symphonic selections to country folk to zydeco to rock, rap
and more. This year’s July 18-19 concert features a revue of some of the
most distinctive and diverse acts from around the Detroit metropolitan area in
a Super Session organized by Detroit musician and producer, Don Was.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for
creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts
across the Web.
© Dominique King 2009 All rights reserved
Super fun, couldn't count how many hoops the girl is working. I can't even make one hoop work properly.
Posted by: Cate | July 10, 2009 at 09:52 AM
What a fun looking event!
Posted by: Angie | July 10, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Great shots! That looks like a lot of fun! We love to head to the festivals!
Posted by: Jen | July 10, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Fun! Makes me wanna hoola hoop, too!
Posted by: Wanderluster | July 10, 2009 at 03:13 PM
Can't wait for the Festival! The hoop dancers are amazing and Don Was is nothing short of a genius.
Posted by: Tim | July 10, 2009 at 03:27 PM
you need to become the spokesperson for Detroit, because every time I read a post, I just want to get my butt over there:)
Posted by: marina villatoro | July 10, 2009 at 07:59 PM
Cate-The hoop dancers, some of them quite young, were amazing. Some of them looked like they had more than a dozen hoops interlaced around their arms and torsos by the time they finished dancing.
Angie-We really look forward to this festival every summer. There's always something new, and we usually seem to end up with some new CDs to take home.
Jen-The festival is fun, and the music is really amazing.
Wander-I'd be lucky to get the hoop to go one revolution around me :P
Tim-Can't wait to see Was' Super Session II this year!
Marina-From your lips to someone's ears!?! We do have a lot of great events and things in Detroit..as well as the rest of Michigan and the Midwest in general. One of the reasons I started blogging about our region is that I wasn't seeing a lot else out there about us when it came to travel blogs.
You'd love a lot of the festivals here. Concert of Colors is one of our favorites because of the eclectic variety of music.
Posted by: Dominique | July 10, 2009 at 08:42 PM
This looks like a fun festival!
Posted by: Amy @ The Q Family | July 11, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Amy-We love this festival. Lots of great music, and there was plenty of fun for kids, too!
Posted by: Dominique | July 15, 2009 at 03:22 PM