Grand Rapids’ Festival takes it to the streets – and stages – for sunny Day 1

‘A great place to share peace and love and spread music’: An apropos theme for the opening day of a revamped Festival of the Arts 2018. Check out the story, photo gallery and some video highlights.

 

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Street performer Tabhu Aizer views it as “a fun opportunity to share music, chill with musicians, eat good food and see all sorts of different people from different cultures. It’s a great place to share peace and love and spread music.”

Indeed, Grand Rapids’ Festival of the Arts kicked off its three-day celebration on Friday with plenty of that, not to mention bright sunshine and an altered footprint that meandered more than usual due to construction downtown.

The 49th Festival — boasting food booths, artist displays, children’s activities and nearly 200 performances on several stages — definitely had some folks getting used to that new layout.

The usual straight line of food booths and foot traffic down Ottawa Avenue to Rosa Parks circle now weaves down Lyon Street to Ionia Avenue near Kendall College. Activities on Rosa Parks Circle (including the new Comic Book Arts attraction) and at the Grand Rapids Art Museum are separated from the rest of the festival hoopla. (See the map below.)

George Abdoo and Michelle Ritz, returning volunteers with the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, definitely noticed the change in layout. Their food stand, which sells Lebanese fare, is located at the corner of Ionia and Lyon.

HOT BUT BEAUTIFUL OPENING DAY

“Due to the fact that it is more spread out, it seems like there’s not as much going on as past years,” Abdoo said on Friday. “It’s a bit early to tell though because Saturday and Sunday are the busier days usually.”

Ritz also noted there seemed to be space and time slots that weren’t being used on Friday. “Usually there are always multiple concerts going on at the same time, but this year that doesn’t seem to be the case,” she observed. (Although Festival kicked off at noon Friday, performances on the Kendall Stage didn’t start until 3:30 p.m. and on the Ottawa Stage until 5 p.m. On Saturday, however, most stages will be filled throughout the day)

Still, street performers could be found filling the gaps and providing entertainment for smaller crowds (and crowds were definitely smaller overall on Friday), mostly people waiting in line for food. Aizer has attended the past three Festivals and, on Friday, was selling her album for the very first time — something that could only be bought at Festival.

On the big Calder Stage, the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony under the direction of conductor John Varineau captured the crowd’s attention while the rock group VOID uncorked Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” a few hundred feet away at the di Suvero stage. The orchestra played each piece with enthusiasm and charisma despite being hit with the blinding sun the entire performance.

“It was pretty hot on stage, but that didn’t bother me much,” said a cello player in the orchestra, Jagienka Timek, who was making her first appearance at Festival.

A SUPPORTIVE MUSICAL COMMUNITY

Grand Rapids rock band Bowery, which kicked off performances at the pop-up Ottawa Stage in late afternoon, drew a crowd that was diverse in age and the group encouraged interaction with its fans. During the third song, the bassist’s young daughter, Zoey, was induced to assist with percussion. She reluctantly walked up to stand next to lead singer Heather Palaszek and shook the instrument on the beat.

“We love that there is still a community within this city and with the musicians from here, that’s what attracts the band to come to the festival,” said Palaszek, who also revels in the variety of food at Festival not to mention performances by the zany rock band PotatoeBabies, which plays at 6:15 p.m. Sunday on the Kendall Stage.

For those who find parking — and downtown traffic congestion due to construction and closed streets — a nightmare, there’s an alternative: bicycle down to Festival instead.

Festival volunteer Karen Dunnam, an emcee at the event the past three years who prides herself on her stand-up comedy skills, said she likes the peace of mind that comes with riding your bike to the event and leaving it at the free Bike Corral on Lyon Street.

“You drop your bike off there and there are volunteers who watch the area. When you drop it off there, they put a tag on your bike and give you a ticket,” Dunnam explained. “You must show this ticket and the numbers have to match up with the numbers on the tag on your bike in order for you to have it back.”

See the Saturday and Sunday performance schedule at festivalgr.org.

PHOTO GALLERY: Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts 2018 (Day 1)
Photos by Veronica Leigh Anderson and John Sinkevics

PHOTO GALLERY: Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts 2018 (Day 1 and 2)
Photos by Anthony Norkus

VIDEO: Festival Friday 2018 (Love Handle, Coldville, The Rockit King)

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