Ford Arts, Beats & Eats Announces Entertainment Lineup for Labor Day Weekend

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson joined Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison and event producer Jon Witz at the to present a sneak peak of this year's Ford Arts, Beats & Eats.

Patterson call the festival a "diversion" and an opportunity to see 175 fine artists and 250 entertainment acts on 11 stages.

At Tuesday's sneak peak, community and business leaders got to sample food offerings and see some of the art that will be showcased at the Labor Day weekend event Sept. 2-5.

Witz promised the crowd that Arts, Beats & Eats will be "the most incredible festival this country has ever seen."

Ellison was equally optimistic. 

"Last year, I walked around the event, and I kept a notebook," he said. "I wrote down all the things we needed to fix."

The mayor said he received very few complaints and worked with community members to make improvements for this year, including expanding the footprint to ease congestion.

Ellison said organizers have come up with a plan that will open up the sidewalks, which will be better for pedestrians and the restaurants and businesses along Washington. 

"Last year, businesses were looking at the backs of merchant booths," he said. This year, organizers have opened up the plan so there is more space to move around.

Here's a preview of what Royal Oak can look forward to at the Ford Arts, Beats & Eats:

The Arts

The high point of the festival is the U.S. Bank FlexPerks Juried Fine Arts Show, featuring a variety of media including ceramics, fiber, leather, painting, photography, sculpture and more.

More than 175 artists will come from all over the United States, Canada and Mexico to participate in what Art Fair SourceBook ranks the fourth best art show in the country in terms of sales.

New this year, 20 artists will display their works in the air-conditioned lobby of the Royal Oak Music Theatre, giving visitors a chance to take a break from the heat while enjoying fine art.

The Beats

Ford Arts, Beats & Eats will have 11 stages, featuring more than 250 bands, including a "cool" option of seeing 25 local bands in the 80,000-square-foot air-conditioned Royal Oak Music Theatre. (A complete of Royal Oak Music Theatre music lineup will be announced Monday.)

The Marching Band will kick things off at 5 p.m. Friday on the Michigan Lottery Stage.

Here's the list of the much-anticipated entertainment.

Sept. 2

5 p.m. — Royal Oak High School Marching Band

6 p.m. — Devin Scillian & the Arizona Sun

7:30 p.m. — Jessica Hernandez

9:00 p.m. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

10:15 p.m. — Panic at the Disco

Sept. 3

10 a.m.-noon —

4 p.m. — Saline Fiddlers

5 p.m. — Beatlemania Live

7:15 p.m. — Lou Gramm of Foreigner

9 p.m. — Saving Abel

10:15 p.m. — Brett Michaels

Sept. 4

9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. — Church service and performance featuring Peak

4 p.m. — Alexander Zonjic & The Motor City Horns

6:15 p.m. — Starship

8:15 p.m. — Hunter Hayes

10:15 p.m. — Vince Gill

Sept. 5

2 p.m. — Gods Made Love

3 p.m. — Tom Tom Club

4:30 p.m. — Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

6:00 p.m. — Psychedelic Furs

7:45 p.m. — George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars

The Eats

The newly expanded footprint means this year’s event will have the largest array of culinary offerings in the event’s 13 year history with nearly 70 food vendors. Among the restaurants on the site will be , , ! and Rangoli. will be part of an expanded dessert district.

The 36-foot long Soaring Eagle Cuisine Machine, a restaurant on wheels, will offer Siniikaung Signature Beef, Isabella’s Lasagna and Prime Rib.

and will present “The Duel,”  featuring eight Metro Detroit chefs competing for a $10,000 cash prize. The competitors include chefs from Atlas Global Bistro, Joe’s Produce & Gourmet Market, The Majestic Café, Ronin Sushi, Table 5, Toasted Oak Grill, Townsend Hotel and Wolfgang Puck MGM Grand.

New this year is BBQ Alley, featuring Royal Oak’s and the .

Nearly all vendors will provide healthful food options this year. Priority Health is sponsoring a contest that will let visitors know what the best food choices are for maintaining a healthful diet. The best-tasting healthful food choices will receive a prize from Priority Heatlh.

Come back to Royal Oak Patch for regular features and updates on Arts, Beats & Eats.