The 14th street party taking place June 3 will also feature sets by Bedrock, Cabildo, Molly from Vox Vidorra and students from Triumph Music Academy.
Summer Street Party: Local First has a strong lineup and hoping for blue skies for this year’s 14th celebration. (Photo/Local Spins)
The 14th Local First Street Party aims to pump up downtown Grand Rapids in early June with a dynamic lineup of local acts, including The Crane Wives, Hollywood Makeout, ConvoTronics, Cabildo, Bedrock and Molly Bouwsma Schultz from Vox Vidorra.
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The 2017 Lineup
Triumph Music Academy’s band of young students, Wealthy & Diamond, will get the street party rocking at mid-afternoon on June 3, with a host of food and beer vendors, children’s activities and business displays also on hand.
Local First today announced the lineup for the free-admission, Saturday street party, which will run from 3 p.m. until midnight in front of Bistro Bella Vita at 44 Grandville Ave. SW.
The event once again will take place the same weekend as the three-day Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts, which features hundreds of bands and dance performances on several stages north of Fulton Street. The Local First Street Party takes place on the south end of downtown.
“We share the crowd,” said Mieke Stoub, marketing manager for Local First of West Michigan. “It’s a nice thing. It makes both events more robust.”
Robust might also describe the street party’s musical lineup, which features the folk-rock of The Crane Wives, the hip hop and R&B of ConvoTronics and Bedrock, the Latin fusion of Cabildo, the soul of Molly Bouwsma Schultz, and the rock of Hollywood Makeout, which releases a new album in May.
Returnees: The Crane Wives will headline the party after playing through the rain in 2016. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Audacious Hoops and 61Syx Teknique Street Dance Academy also will return for street-level performances.
In addition, the Local First Street Party this year will feature an expanded kids’ area hosted by the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum and Sanctuary Folk Art Gallery, plus henna tattoos by Happy Henna and an interactive photo booth.
And while last year’s Local First Street Party suffered through lengthy rain showers that severely impacted turnout, Stoub insisted organizers are hopeful the weather will cooperate for 2017. (So are The Crane Wives, who’ve attracted downpours for both previous appearances at Local First Street Party events.)
Presented by Founders Brewing with support from Celebration! Cinema, the event also raises money for the Local First Educational Foundation.
To help launch this year’s event, the Mayor’s Bike Ride will take place earlier in the day, ending at the Local First Street Party site. The music will start with Bouwsma Schultz & Friends, followed by Wealthy & Diamond, Hollywood Makeout, Bedrock, Cabildo, ConvoTronics and The Crane Wives, with 61Syx and Audacious Hoops performing between sets.
Check out Local Spins coverage of Local First Street Party 2016.
VIDEO: Festival and Local First Street Party 2016
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