Children joined hands, the parents close by, every one of them dancing to the music in the middle of North Washington Street on June 11 at the Crossroads Music Festival. The music series runs from 7-10 p.m. at the same spot every Friday evening until the final street concert Aug. 21. The festival features an eclectic mix of genres from local, national and international bands.
Troy Radikin, mandolin player for Dragon Wagon, a progressive bluegrass band that played on June 11, said, “It feels great. You’re out on the street. They got the street closed. That was so much fun. The stage sounded great between these buildings, like a natural amphitheater.”
Denis Cutlip, volunteer coordinator of this year’s event and Eastern Michigan University alumnus, said, “We are looking for something that we could do that would be a signature event for us. And we decided to put on a music festival. We are trying to make a fun, safe, family-friendly event.”
The Crossroads Music Festival began in 2005 in an effort by the Downtown Association of Ypsilanti to support local artists as well as downtown restaurants and retail businesses. A number of vendors set up tents selling wares including food and clothes as the music played.
“It is so important to hire local musicians because they are from the community, they spend their money in this community and they are a very big part of this community,” Cutlip said . “People are amazed when they get down here and walk around what diversity [there is].”
One of the vendors present was Wolverine Grill, one of the oldest restaurants on Michigan Avenue, which has been run by the same Ypsilanti family since 1963.
“We’re just trying to sell dogs at a dollar a piece for decent people and just have a good time doing it,” said Nicholas Jarvel, a vendor for the Wolverine Grill. “This is the second year we’ve been doing it. It helps on advertising, so we can talk to people-let them know about the Wolverine.
Deborah Cromer, owner and operator of the Wolverine Grill as well as Jarvel’s mother said, “The last time I was here, I sold about 250 Coneys. It’s worth it.”
Although the businesses are about building Ypsilanti, many are heavily tied to the EMU population almost to the point of dependence.
Jarvel said, “That’s what hurts us, when school goes out, our business slows down. It’s hard enough trying to keep a restaurant. It’s pretty rough with the economy and people being broke all the time.”
“We need more people downtown,” Cromer said. “I look outside my door at the College of Business and there are kids standing there at the bus stop at all times of day. I would like to know what the students want. How do I get them to come downtown? I’d like to know the answer to that.”
The Crossroads Music Festival has expanded since its opening night in 2005 when the attendance for the entire event was seventeen. Now, thanks to e-mails and word-of-mouth, as well as Facebook and Twitter, Crossroads had 300 people last week, its biggest opening night.
Jarvel said “I like mojo the people have, just trying to have fun, just trying to kick back. It’s a good place of style. They’re not upbeat, they’re not high-class, they’re just good people. A little bit of everybody, it’s like a melting pot.”
According to Cutlip, downtown Ypsilanti is edgier and more youth-oriented than Depot Town, with clubs like The Tap Room and The Elbow Room.
Radikin said, “Ypsi’s got the most potential in Michigan for live music. As far as a small place to play that is real intimate, there’s many. It’s all right down this block.”
Depot Town is more family oriented.
But with the help of the Crossroads Music Festival, Cutlip’s goal is to have people comfortable coming to visit the shops and restaurants during the day.
“I like walking through,” said EMU student Lily Glaeser, member of the EMU swim team. “Some of the shops, I’m not really interested in but it’s still a different environment compared to U of M where it’s hectic all the time. And I see more than just college kids walking around.”
Glaeser attended June 11’s street fair on a whim after a shopkeeper told her to check it out. She decided to stop by and she ended up staying for close to an hour, though she admitted more rock ‘n’ roll-type music and interesting vendors would make her stay longer.
“I liked how we got up there and did impromptu dancing in front of the stage,” Glaeser said. “I got a schedule and I plan on going throughout the summer to these little Friday concerts. The campus feels really empty [during the summer] so when there are events going on with people gathering, it’s again, like an actual community”
The members of the Central Business Community decided to put on a music festival because music appeals to people of all generations and economic strata.
Cutlip said, “You will see the homeless out there as well as people from the richer neighborhoods of Ann Arbor around the same area in front of the stage.
“Because music unites, we decided to go with that.”
