Courtesy of Detroit Book Festival
Detroit Festival of Books returns July 11 to Eastern Market.
Select events happening in Metro Detroit this week. Submit your events metrotimes.com/calendar.
Thu 7/15-Sat 7/17
Ann Arbor Art Fair
Give us art or give us death, shit! OK, so when we said that thing about killing ourselves, we didn’t mean it like that. We were just trying to express that we desperately need art, as in art in any medium that we can stare at for hours while walking, but also art that we can buy, surround ourselves from, and enjoy it for years. After a year-long hiatus, the sprawling Ann Arbor Art Fair returns with enough art to choke a horse, or, like ourselves (please?) Comprised of three fairs – the Ann Arbor Street Fair: the Original, Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, and the Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair – this Midwestern tradition spans 30 blocks of downtown Ann Arbor and attracts nearly 500,000 visitors each year, which makes it the largest juried art fair in the country. Featuring jewelry, furniture, paintings, tableware, textiles and sculpture, the Ann Arbor Art Fair hosts more than 1,000 artists and their carefully handcrafted products. There will also be live music courtesy of the Ark, and enough hand sanitizing stations to, well, sanitize.
The event is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday July 15 and Friday July 16 and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday July 17; theannaborartfair.com; Admission is free, shuttle rides are $5.
Sun 7/18
Detroit Book Festival
Long before we spent every waking minute simultaneously watching television. series that we have already seen 1000 times (Gilmore girls) as well as the hottest new limited series that was only supposed to last one season, but overzealous studios decided to create a less superior second season (big little lies, anyone?) there were books. Yes, those things that have accumulated on your floors, shelves and bedside tables. You know those things that gather dust and call you out of your weed-induced stupor when you decide whether or not to review. Office or get high and watch that show where people build wild shit out of Legos.
Take it from us Office is it a low-key issue and, like, remember the pain of stepping on a rogue Lego brick barefoot? Get yourself an effing book. Like, literally, any book. want to read Harry Potter? Fine! Pretend JK R*wling is just an alias for someone who isn’t transphobic. want to give infinity joke the old college try? Dark! The options are endless, and for those who don’t want to pick just one, the Detroit Festival of Books returns to Eastern Market for a massive celebration of books and the people who read them. Billed as Michigan’s largest book festival, the Festival of Books will feature booksellers from across the state and is free to attend, while vendors keep 100% of their proceeds. Can’t make it to the event? The Detroit Festival of Books is also hosting a virtual event all weekend. Due to the limited number of in-person meetings, people from all over the world will be able to browse and purchase many of the titles offered by participating virtual sellers this year.
The Festival of Books will be held July 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Eastern Market’s Shed 5, 2810 Russell St., Detroit; detroitbookfest.com. Free entry.
Wed 7/21
Kirk Whalum and Keiko Matsui
We Will Always Love You, “I Will Always Love You”, the untouchable ballad of Dolly Parton immortalized by the great and late Whitney Houston. But while Houston’s voice is the star of the song, who can forget her killer sax solo? Well, the man behind the solo, Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum, toured with Houston for more than seven years, appeared on countless Luther Vandross albums, and was nominated for Grammys, like , 12 times, and picked up a win for Best Gospel Song in 2011. For this Jazzy Night performance, Whalum will share the stage with keyboardist Keiko Matsui. The 59-year-old Japanese smooth jazz/new age pianist has collaborated with greats like Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder and released her 24th solo studio album, Echo, in 2019.
The Aretha, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; 313-393-7128; thearetha.com; $ 16- $ 21
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