By: Kathryn Pentiuk | Southfield Sun | Published August 2, 2024
LATHRUP VILLAGE/SOUTHFIELD — Music lovers are in for a treat as Southfield and Lathrup Village each host free music festivals Aug. 9-10.
The city of Southfield will host the eighth annual Kimmie Horne Jazz Festival on the front lawn of the Southfield Municipal Campus, 26000 Evergreen Road. The festival will kick off at 6 p.m. Aug. 9 with a performance from Damon Terrell, followed by Michael Brock at 7:30 p.m., and Freda Payne, accompanied by the Ralphe Armstrong Trio, will headline at 9 p.m.
On Saturday, the public is invited to the Kimmie Horne Fitness and Fun event featuring the Detroit Twirling Steppers at 8:30 a.m., the Southfield Cruisers bike ride at 9 a.m., a performance by Detroit Twirling Steppers at 9:30 a.m. and a HulaFitNation workout at 10:30 a.m.
The fun will continue with a lineup of jazz musicians, including a 3 p.m. performance by Sean Blackman and the In-transit Band, Duane Parham at 4:30 p.m., Lashawn Gary at 6 p.m., Lin Rountree at 7:30 p.m. and a performance by the world-renowned vocalist, Kimmie Horne.
In addition to music and activities, the festival will feature food trucks and boutique vendors. Parking will be available on the Southfield Municipal Campus for $10, cash only, in both the north and south parking lots. The proceeds from the parking go toward the Friends of the Southfield Public Arts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “furthering public art projects throughout Southfield.” Attendees are advised to bring either a lawn chair or a blanket for seating.
The Kimmie Horne Jazz Festival is sponsored by the city of Southfield, The Chemico Group, Varsity Lincoln, Star Lincoln, Lume Cannabis Co., D’Bo’s Daiquiris, Holly Construction, Moulden LLC, MGM Grand Casino, Avis Ford, GoHealth Urgent Care, DWM Enterprise LLC, The Masters Commission of Greater Grace Temple, Dirty Dog Jazz Café, Grand Tavern and Comcast.
The second annual Lathrup Village Music Festival will be held noon-11 p.m. Aug. 10 at Municipal Park, behind City Hall, 27400 Southfield Road.
This year’s music lineup features Stacey Hotwaxx Hale, Thornetta Davis, former member of Parliament Funkadelic vocalist Paul Hill, funk/rock artist Nadir Omowale, Lathrup resident and internationally renowned DJ Sillygirlcarmen, Cast Iron Cornbread, St.Even Gulian, and Michael O’Brien and the Distractions. The music festival will also feature wine from Vintage Village Wine Shop and craft beer from Dog and Pony Show Brewing in Oak Park, as well as food trucks and other vendors.
Sponsors for the festival include the Lathrup Village Downtown Development Authority, Oakland County, Dog and Pony Show Brewing, Vintage Village Wine Shop, Home Depot, Giffels Webster, Community Congregational Church, Mykale “Kelly” Garrett, Surnow Co., Quality Roots, Fortson Dentistry, Papa’s Pizza, Martin Sema, Sen. Jeremy Moss, Baker and Elowsky LLC, DTE, and the Jagged Fork.
Lauren Beras, one of the event coordinators for the Lathrup Village Music Festival, explained it was a “happy little accident” that Lathrup Village’s Music Festival fell on the same weekend as the Kimmie Horne Jazz Festival in Southfield.
“We can’t help but be proud that Kimmie Horne came from Lathrup Village,” she said. “It’s beautiful. And she just is so big that Lathrup Village couldn’t contain the festival, as it turned out, and it went to Southfield.”
Beras said that the idea for the festival came when a friend who was the deacon of giving at his church approached her with a donation.
“He said, ‘I will give you $1,000 if you can put an event together that will draw the community together.’ So we thought about it. I mean, $1,000 was a generous gift, but it wasn’t going to do much for 4,500 people. How could we draw all these people together with $1,000? So, I gathered two of my friends, Adam Laurie and Jason Hammond. I said, ‘Hey guys, I have this challenge, and I want you in on it.’”
Beras approached the Lathrup Village DDA with the idea, and they told her that they had wanted to do something like this for a while, and they planned the music festival within nine weeks.
With 22 vendors, five food trucks and eight musicians, Beras emphasized the importance of ensuring that the festival reflected the diversity of Lathrup Village. Michael O’Brien, a Lathrup Village resident of 20 years and a performer at this year’s music festival, echoed Beras’ sentiment.
“I always describe Lathrup to everyone who asks, ‘Well, what’s it like there?’ It’s sort of like a multicultural Mayberry. It’s a very sort of hometown feel. There’s still concerts in the park, and people going to the park sharing picnic baskets and neighbors helping one another out and taking care of one another. And the great nuance of that here is that it’s also a completely religiously, ethnically diverse community that still welcomes everyone.”
O’Brien plays “anything with strings.” His band has been together for over 20 years and plays the traditional Irish folk music he remembers his late father playing around a campfire all the way to a Violent Femmes cover with accordion and mandolin, giving the song a “Celtic folky spin to it. So it’s kind of like a little bit of Irish mayhem.”
Horne describes her music festival as a “boutique” festival that she’s carefully curated to be a unique experience featuring her favorite things and an array of options for festivalgoers to enjoy.
“Sometimes, people will say, ‘What makes your festival unique and different?’ And I say, ‘Because I’m an artist, and I’m putting the emphasis on the Kimmie Horne Jazz Festival as like a musical family affair.’ It really is a place for music, fitness and fun, and food for everyone to enjoy. So the emphasis is not put on the performer so much. It’s put on the full experience of what you get,” she said.
The Kimmie Horne Jazz Festival originated in Lathrup Village in 2016, but it soon grew too big to be held there, so it moved to Southfield in 2018. Since then, the festival has become a signature event in Southfield.
Horne remarked that the festival feels sentimental to her after almost a decade. She said that she’s the last one to leave on Saturday night, and early on Sunday morning, she’s the first one back on the Municipal Campus before everything is torn down.
“As soon as the sun is up, I’m out there. I’m back out there … and I reflect, and I take in all of the success that has been, all of the moments that have passed through. I mean, the journey of the whole festival, I reflect on that, and that’s like my Sunday morning prayer and my gratefulness; my gratitude moment is Sunday morning there at the festival.”
For more information on the Kimmie Horne Jazz Festival, visit cityofsouthfield.com/news/kimmie-horne-jazz-festival-returns-southfield-august-9-10.
For more information, visit lathrupvillage.org or contact Adam Laurie at lvmfest@gmail.com.