Della Paul, winner of the 2012 Ford Arts, Beats & Eats official poster design contest, poses with her winning design that beat out entries from more than 50 other artists.  Paul is from Shelby Township and studies graphic design at the University of Michigan. (Photo by Thomas Richardson/Tell Us Detroit)

All-Star entertainment lineup for 15th Annual Ford Arts Beats & Eats

R.E.O. Speedwagon, Morris Day & The Time, The Guess Who lead lineup of outstanding music Labor Day Weekend

ROYAL OAK, MI - Celebrating its 15th year and returning to the bustling streets of Royal Oak from Aug. 31 – Sept. 3, Ford Arts, Beats & Eats presented by Citizens Bank will entertain thousands of visitors from across the region with its outstanding music line-up, stellar arts programming, mouthwatering selection of food, as well as a number of high-impact community initiatives.

TONS OF MUSIC FOR ALL AGES AND TASTES
In its yearly tradition of bringing some of the country’s best recording artists to southeast Michigan, Ford Arts, Beats & Eats has once again assembled an outstanding lineup of acts for the Michigan Lottery National Stage and across a total of nine music stages, featuring more than 150 local bands. Among the national recording artists performing are: R.E.O. Speedwagon, G. Love & Special Sauce, Theory of a Deadman, Travis Tritt, Mayer Hawthorne & The County, Saving Abel, Morris Day & The Time, The Guess Who, and Detroit deaf hip-hop artist Sean Forbes.


Morris Day & The Time

The local band line-up includes 50 Amp Fuse, Stewart Francke, and Larry Lee & Back in the Day on the Michigan Lottery National Stage; Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys, Longneck Strangler, Annabelle Road, and The Orbitsuns on the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort Stage; Killer Flamingos, Dirty Americans, The Infatuations, and Eliza Neals on the Ford Focus Stage; Amy Gore & Her Valentines, The Howling Diablos, Grievous Angel, and The Reefermen on the Budweiser Stage. Also headlining will be Priscilla Price, Thornetta Davis, Hotsauce, and Laith Al-Saadi, all on the Pepsi Stage.

The Made in Detroit Stage will return this year with interactive fun and hi-energy performances from local bands and electronic music artists. The stage also will be home to the crowd-favorite “Detroit’s Got Talent” Karaoke Contest provided by Zodiac Entertainment. Each day, the stage will feature talented karaoke singers performing their own mini-show from 1-5 p.m. These featured singers will be selected through a series of competitions in bars throughout Metro Detroit in the months leading up to Ford Arts, Beats & Eats. The general public is invited to come and sing on the stage during open karaoke as well.

NEW ADDITIONS TO LINEUP OF DELICIOUS FOOD
This year’s Ford Arts, Beats & Eats will be one of the best tasting ever, with more than 50 of the area’s favorite restaurants, caterers and food-related attractions taking to the streets of Royal Oak to share their food and unique takes on the culinary arts with visitors. The array of food will have something for everyone, with booths featuring everything from flavorful cultural dishes, to seafood, to summer fun food, to mouthwatering sweets and deserts. Additionally, visitors will be able to once again stroll down BBQ Alley and take in the smoky aromas, the sound of the sizzling grills and the strictly summertime joy of some sticky fingers as they sample food from local restaurants including Lockhart’s BBQ and R.U.B. BBQ.

New restaurants include Mitchell’s Fish Market, Bastone Brewery, Gaucho Steakhouse, BD’s Mongolian Grill, Beans & Cornbread, Gemmayze, Kouzina, Hudson Café, Hamlin’s Corner, Happy’s Pizza, Polish Village Café, Slab-n-Slice, and Alia’s Catering. Returning festival favorites include, the Soaring Eagle Cuisine Machine, Pronto!, Palm Palace, Sangria Tapas Café, Jackson’s Five Star Catering, Peking House, D’Amatos and Hudsonville Ice Cream.

AWARD-WINNING JURIED FINE ARTS SHOW
As one of the nation’s premier art shows, the Juried Fine Arts Show again will be a high point of this year’s festival, with high quality artists from across the continent vying for cash awards totaling $7,500. It will showcase art in a variety of media, including ceramics, fabric and fiber, leather, painting, photography, sculpture, wood, digital art, drawing, graphics and printmaking, glass, jewelry and metal. Artists will come from all over North America to display, share and sell their work. Festival patrons have the opportunity to peruse works at more than 140 booth spaces. Guests with U.S. Bank FlexPerks Visa cards will receive double points on all art purchases.

Title sponsor Ford and its Southeast Michigan Ford Dealers will donate exhibit space for the first annual Deaf Arts Festival featuring the work of a number of outstanding artists that are hearing impaired, including Detroit’s own deaf hip-hop artist Seam Forbes, who will take to the Michigan Lottery National Stage on Friday evening. Exhibit space also will be donated by Ford to the Cultural Alliance of Southeast Michigan to showcase a lineup of regional arts organizations, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings and the Arab American National Museum. In total, Ford is donating more than $15,000 of exhibit space to support the outstanding work of great organizations and talented artists.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FUN
Ford Arts, Beats & Eats has long been recognized for the quality and quantity of its family-friendly entertainment. Among the high points will be the Kids Zone, guaranteed to attract youngsters with fun, interactive programming throughout the four days of the festival. The creativity will flow at the Genesis Church Arts and Crafts area. Additionally, long-time festival partner Meijer will have an interactive area set up with product and sample displays for the whole family. The Oakland County Parks Kids Stage will feature an exciting lineup of family-friendly performances. Bringing smiles, laughter, amazement and awe to youngsters’ faces will be ventriloquists, music, magical tricks, clown acts, story telling and puppet shows. Among the lineup are many favorites, including Rosco the Clown, Mysterious Illusions, Dog Gone Mystery, Pure Imagination Magic Show, Harpbeat’s Musical Revue, Punch & Judy Puppet Show, Cool Tricks & Funny Stuff, and Ventriloquist Vikki Green.

Another fun-filled activity for the whole family will be the Metro PCS USA Basketball Dream Tour. Visitors will be able to show off their skills on the Metro PCS basketball court in games of HORSE, Around the World and Shootout, all with an exciting Android twist. Basketball fans of all stripes will want to make sure they stop by the booth on Friday between 5 -7 p.m. and Saturday between 1 – 3 p.m. when former NBA and USA Basketball star Muggsy Bogues stops by to meet and greet guests, sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Festival favorites the Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music will take to the Kids Stage and the Budweiser Stage every day of the festival, providing a hands-on interactive music activity for people of all ages, suitable for beginners to seasoned performers. Festival guests are encouraged to stop by and learn more about the instruments that go into turning “music” into “rock.” The Detroit Red Wings also will have hockey skill clinics setup to help the stars of tomorrow improve their game.

The sights and sounds of a summer carnival will be in the air as the Moonwalk presented by Royal Oak company Inflatable Playspaces and the Kiddie Carnival will be sure to bring out the “oohs and aahs” and lots of giggles in the “little ones.”

WIN A FORD OF YOUR CHOICE
Setup throughout the festival will be a number of interactive displays from Ford. Visitors will be able to stop by the display areas and check out the latest Ford vehicles and technology and test-drive an all-new 2013 Ford Escape! The attractions offer skill competitions, technology demonstrations and the opportunity to win exciting prizes, including a new Ford vehicle of the winner’s choosing, valued up to $30,000.

HEALTH & COMMUNITY CONSCIOUS ACTIVITIES
Thousands of children and their families across Michigan live within the autism spectrum every day. This year, Ford Arts, Beats & Eats is teaming with Autism Alliance of Michigan and Autism Speaks to offer select families a unique experience and an all-access pass to the festival. On both Saturday and Monday, hundreds of children on the autism spectrum and family members will enjoy access to the festival that includes free parking courtesy of the City of Royal Oak, as well as free admission, free lunch, free carnival rides and moonwalks. In addition to the special day for families, the Autism Alliance of Michigan and Autism Speaks both will be among the nonprofit beneficiaries of this year’s gate proceeds.

The initiative that will likely have the biggest financial impact at the festival will be a new radiothon named “Soft Rock 105.1 Calls for Kids,” benefitting the Children’s Miracle Network at Beaumont Children’s Hospital. In addition to generating pledges, festival guests will be selected each hour to enter the Citizens Bank “Miracle” Money Booth with the chance to keep all the cash they can grab in the eight foot wind tunnel in 20 seconds time. Citizens Bank will match each guest’s winnings in the form of a donation to the Children’s Miracle Network.

As the premier health and wellness sponsor, Priority Health, one of Michigan’s largest health insurers, is bringing healthy options to the festival again this year, with a real focus on fun and active events for a great cause. This year, Saturday will feature a health and wellness celebration with the culmination of two great events back-to-back. The morning will kick-off with the Priority Health Arts in Motion 5k presented by DMC and benefitting Michigan Youth Arts. The race will end just as Priority Health kicks off a Zumbathon celebration to benefit the Karmanos Cancer Institute. The event will be an hour-long workout combining Latin and International music and more than 1,000 participants are expected. Registration for both events will be available starting early July and can be accessed through www.artsbeatseats.com.

This year Blue Care Network will sponsor the festival’s Bike Corral in conjunction with KLM Bike and Fitness in Birmingham and Rochester. This initiative is good for the environment, eases traffic congestion and also raises awareness of health and wellness issues by encouraging area residents to bike to and from the festival and lead a more active lifestyle. The Bike Corral will be located on the right southbound lanes on Washington, extending south from Lincoln Street.

CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
An eclectic display of multi-cultural performers will take to the Citizens Bank Stage and the International Stage. Programming also will occur on the Michigan Lottery National Acts Stage and in the Kids Zone.

The lineup of cultural programming offered at this year’s festival includes music from around the world in the form of chamber music ensembles, classical guitar, flamenco musicians, traditional Japanese taiko drummers, as well as youth singers and performers.

WHERE TO PARK
Parking information will be available on the festival website starting August 15.

For additional information, visit www.artsbeatseats.com, or call 248-334-4600.

The 15th annual Ford Arts, Beats & Eats, Oakland County's Taste, Music & Arts Festival, will be held over Labor Day weekend in downtown Royal Oak, August 31 – September 3, 2012. Approximately 335,000 visitors attended the 2011 Ford Arts, Beats & Eats in its second year in Royal Oak. Fan us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter@artsbeatseats.