This past week, I got to enjoy a ton of music and events around the city. The main thing I did this weekend was attend different stages and events of the Concert of Colors. The first day of the festival was actually the 5th of July and then it started up again over this past weekend. The first day was at New Center Park, and I ended up seeing a lot of familiar faces, people from my softball team, and older family friends there. The performance was a young group called the Chicago AfroBeat Project and this really awesome Afro-Latin group Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca. The Concert of Colors is an annual festival that I have been going to since I was young, so I wasn’t surprised to see people there but it always refreshing to see people of all ages, styles, and backgrounds be together and enjoy the happiness and peace of each other’s company (and obviously good music) I also went on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to random shows as I was passing by on Woodward or at the DIA.
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My Arts and Scraps cello. I know, I’m cool.
Another thing I got to do was Zumba at UNI (Urban Neighborhood Initiatives) which is located at All Saints Community Center in Southwest Detroit on Longworth St in the Springwells/Southwest neighborhood. I used to go there for the youth program when I was a kid, and it was the first time I had been there in years. It is run by UNI, which was not there when I went to All Saints. However, everything felt and seemed the same to me. Probably because everything looked exactly the same, even the houses and park across the street. I also indulged in Family Treat (formerly Tastee Freeze, which is just an ice cream shop) chili cheese fries and ice cream afterwards, which completely negated my Zumba workout. Still worth it though.
Although this and the Concert of Colors were two different experiences, both of them made me very nostalgic. It’s not like I am old enough to know “old Detroit” or anything like that, but there still has been a lot of noticeable change in Midtown and Southwest in recent years. It’s still new around here, but it’s nice to see that there are still those little events and moments that have been the same since I can remember, like eating chili cheese fries and listening to lively music by Orchestra Place and at the DIA.
I did not take many pictures of these events, but I will share some stuff from during the week that I took otherwise.
I’m not actually sure why there is a Fanta bottle in broken light post. I just know that I like hot pink.
I took this picture at Belle Isle today! The clouds and light were awesome, in the true definition of awesome.
These events sound awesome! 🙂 It’s great that this Detroit tradition is still going on and that you can come back to the Concert of Colors community every year! It’s important to have events like these to bring a community together and to also introduce new people to the great locations and people.
P.S. Your snack descriptions were making me super hungry. I’m definitely craving some ice cream! Also, I love your Belle Isle photo!