We're going downtown

By Dan DuChene
Aug. 17, 2009    ·    11:07 a.m.

While the Heritage Festival is quite established in Riverside Park and Depot Town already, people have been trying to make a downtown addition to the event. 

In an effort to bring more foot traffic to the area, the Downtown Association of Ypsilanti is working with several other groups to offer more events and activities downtown for the festival.  

The Crossroads Music Festival will once again be incorporated into the long-running Heritage Festival this year, bringing live music to the stage downtown. 

Crossroads, a weekly outdoor concert series that takes place every Friday night on North Washington Street during the summer, is in its fourth year. There will be two days of live music during the festival, starting at 7 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday. 

Friday night will feature bluegrass and folk music from the Raisin Pickers and Gone Cajun. Gospel, soul, rhythm and blues will be showcased Saturday night with Lady X and the Sunshine Band, Eddie Hughes and the Ypsilanti High School Gospel Choir. 

Aside from live music, the Guitar Hero Contest, sponsored by AM 1700, will also be returning this year. Located at 33 N. Washington Street, AM 1700 is a radio station hoping to launch downtown soon. 
The event will start at 1 p.m. Saturday. There is no fee to enter. 

Kevin Hill, from AM 1700, said last year there were 15 participants who competed for prizes from local merchants. 

He said the event might differ this year, but last year the participants faced off on one song, “School’s Out” by Detroit shock-rocker Alice Cooper. The song was chosen for the participants. 

“We learned many things,” Hill said of running the contest last year. 

The radio station will also be hosting a second video game competition at 2 p.m. Hill said they haven’t landed on a specific game to play yet, but it would most likely be Mario Kart. 

New events

With favorite events returning downtown, there will also be some fresh activities and events during the festival that have people excited. 

Downtown restaurant Haab’s will be sponsoring a bed race at 11:30 a.m. Saturday on Pearl Street between Washington and Huron streets. 

“It’s something I wanted to do for a couple years,” said Denise Cutlip, a DAY member. 

However, she said in years past she wasn’t able to make it happen due to time and because she wasn’t very familiar with the game.  

She said she was excited, then, when David Kabat, who owns Haab’s Restaurant, had approached her with the idea, and the people to help. 

The event is a relay contest. Cutlip said participants register as five-person teams, with a designated rider. Each team must provide a bed, no smaller than twin-sized. 

The race will start at Huron Street. Teams will move their beds toward Washington Street, where the riders will have to switch their event-provided pajamas with another teammate. The two teammates will switch positions, and the rider will have to get out and push. 

The team will race back to Huron Street in the same manor, and rotate positions again. This goes on one more time, until the race finishes back at Washington Street. 

Cutlip said teams will compete with each other by racing against the clock. She said there will be an award for best time, and for best team spirit. 

She said one way teams can earn extra points is by placing their bed in the festival’s parade. 

People interested in forming a team for the bed race can download an application on DAY’s Web site. The application also includes more details about the race, including a 10-point guideline for beds entered in the contest. 

Rules for the bed include the requirement of a fitted sheet, pillow and blanket as well as  setting a 6-inch maximum diameter for wheels. 

Cutlip said teams wishing to participate in the race, but cannot come up with a bed, can contact Haab’s Restaurant, which has one bed available. 

In addition to the bed race, there will be several tents on North and South Washington Street. 

The Downtown Farmers’ Market will be operating a tent on south Washington Street with the Ypsilanti Food Co-op and Growing Hope. There will be several fair favorites running here Saturday. 

Growing Hope will be pitting vegetable against vegetable in their contests to see who has the prettiest and the ugliest. Registration starts at 10 p.m. Saturday, with voting ending at 3 p.m. 

Cutlip said the event will be similar to the Ypsilanti Area Jaycees’ Beautiful Baby contest. So much so that participants are encouraged to put their veggie in a stroller to walk them in the parade and around the festival to garner votes. 

Aside from fair classics, such as four-square and watermelon-seed spitting contests, the Farmers’ Market tent will also have contests for people to identify mysterious herbs and vegetables. The mystery herbs will be identified through smell, the vegetables through taste. 

The seed spitting starts at 2 p.m., the vegetable tasting starts at 2:30 p.m. and the herb smelling starts at 3 p.m. The Four-square runs from 2 – 4 p.m. 

In addition to live music, the DAY has been operating an artist market to coincide with Crossroads this year. The artist market will continue Friday and Saturday of Heritage Festival as well.  
Finally, Dreamland Theater is planning an alien invasion downtown Saturday. 

The performing arts theater on Washington Street will be staging a theatric visitation from intergalactic guests at 3 p.m.  

They will follow-up the performance with two puppet shows. The shows will start at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. 

Further information:

DAY e-mail: admin@daypsi.com
DAY on the Web: click here
Haab’s Restaurant: 734-483-8200 or haabs@provide.net