A three-day festival featuring music, vendors and costume contests returns to Ypsilanti in October 2025 for the third time.
Scheduled this year for Friday to Sunday, Oct. 3-5, Freak Fest was launched in 2023 by Shawn Gates and his friends after he opened the record store Wyrd Byrd in downtown Ypsilanti.
The festival will take place across several venues, including Wyrd Byrd, Ziggy's, Hyperion Coffee Co., and Riverside Park. The music starts at 5 p.m. Friday with shows on South Washington Street, which will be closed off to traffic for the event.
The Ann Arbor-area band Toadally plays at Ziggy's on July 19, 2025.
Most of the venues are open without an admission charge. However, Ziggy's will charge a $15 entrance fee that will go toward paying the artists who are performing throughout the weekend, Gates said.
"We get some money from the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority," Gates said, later adding that funding for the festival also comes from First Fridays Ypsilanti, which, according to an organization directory, is "a grassroots arts and culture initiative founded in 2013 to connect local artists, businesses, and the broader community."
"I believe strongly in paying people for their time," Gates said.
Wyrd Byrd owner and musician Shawn Gates is one of the founders of the Freak Fest, which entered its third year in 2025.
Gates said supporting local musicians also carries personal meaning.
"I played in bands when I was younger, but I took a pretty long hiatus from going to a lot of stuff when I had kids and things, and now I started going again and meeting people," he said.
Gates also discussed the vendors that would be present at this year's event, describing them as "some art, some people selling tapes, some people doing vintage. It's kind of all over the place, some crafts, like really, really cool stuff."
Growing Hope, a nonprofit food justice organization across the street from Wyrd Byrd, will be running a food court on the opening day of the festival from 5 to 6 p.m. Vegan and vegetarian options will be included, according to a post on Growing Hope's Facebook page.
Deante Bland, the Incubator Kitchen Manager for Growing Hope, said they are aiming to have six vendors present at the event, with plates costing $10 to $15.
On Saturday, Oct. 4, the festival will open at 2 p.m. in Riverside Park. After seven bands perform, the Detroit Party Marching Band will lead the crowd to Ziggy's for more entertainment.
Mallory Wayt, one of the artists playing at Wyrd Byrd on Sunday, said she got involved after attending several events at Wyrd Byrd and being invited by the good folks who run the store.
"I’m stoked to see marto.matic, Talented Asian Girlfriend, and Skinned Knees, they’ll be playing at Wyrd Byrd too! Maybe I can ditch work early on Friday and see Dear Darkness at Ziggy’s," Wayt said in a written statement. "I love Ypsilanti and its affinity for freak culture. I’m proud to be a part of it."
Wayt is performing at Freak Fest for the first time.
For more information about Freak Fest, contact Wyrd Byrd using the form on the venue's website or send a message to them on Instagram, @wyrd.byrd.ypsi.
