By: Taylor Christensen | Royal Oak Review | Published June 15, 2024
ROYAL OAK — The nationally recognized festival Arts, Beats & Eats is preparing for the 2024 end-of-summer celebration, and organizers of the event have announced new initiatives and entertainment that they expect will make this year one to remember.
Arts, Beats, & Eats is hosted by Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort and presented by Flagstar Bank.
The four-day event will be returning to downtown Royal Oak on Labor Day weekend from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.
In 2023, Arts, Beats, & Eats event brought in an estimated 345,000 people to the streets of Royal Oak and generated more than $386,000 that was donated to local charities. Since the event began in 1998, the festival has raised more than $7 million.
At a press conference June 12, Executive Director of Marketing at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort Raul Venegas unveiled the new logo for the event. Designer Kelsey Mendez created the logo.
The logo pays homage to the original 1998 poster with a guitar, fork and paintbrush image to represent all three aspects of the festival.
“The new Arts, Beats & Eats logo is a perfect illustration of what is the core of the Arts, Beats & Eats experience,” Venegas said.
Along with the new logo, a commemorative poster was revealed, created by professional artist Julie Roth, who was a “best in show” recipient at the 2023 Arts, Beats & Eats juried fine arts show.
This year, the Detroit Institute of Arts said it will be adding inclusive and cultural music acts to the kids’ stage that will “captivate and educate young minds,” according to a press release.
“We are going to deliver more engaging entertainment in programming that families across this region can enjoy and immerse themselves in,” said Julie McFarland, executive director of public affairs and community engagement at the DIA. “The kids stage will feature over 50 performances across the festival.”
House of Dank will be returning for its second year after making national headlines last year by being the first cannabis company to participate in an event like Arts, Beats & Eats.
In 2023, the House of Dank had its own area where people could buy and consume cannabis at the event.
“They had a lot of eyes on them last year for what they were going to deliver and how it was going to be done,” Jon Witz, event producer, said. “And they overdelivered and also brought us one of the most creative activations we have ever had.”
Mike DiLaura, chief corporate operations and general counsel at House of Dank, said that the company has planned more game-changing experiences for the 2024 event.
“We have Dank Land, we have Dank Way, two of our amazing activations,” DiLaura said. “Inside of our Dank Way this year we are going to be scheduling some special celebrity smoke sessions.”
DiLaura announced HOD’s collaboration with Baker College, which has recently begun a cannabis program dedicated to teaching students about professions in the cannabis industry.
“There are all sorts of jobs up and down this industry,” DiLaura said. “Baker College is on the forefront of this. This year they are announcing their certificate program, where they have started teaching cannabis-specific classes.”
With the continued collaboration between Kroger and Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design, the festival will have three PLC students, Torrence Jackson, Micah Shumake and Joe Cazeno III, creating a mural during the event.
This year marks the 11th Family Days event, which occurs on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, where hundreds of children and young adults who have autism spectrum disorder receive a one-day pass to enjoy the festival at no cost.
Family Days is presented by Corewell Health, an official sponsor of Arts, Beats & Eats, in collaboration with the Judson Center and the Ted Lindsay Foundation Hope Center.
“Royal Oak is this incredible backdrop to host 300,000 people in a safe and secure way,” Oakland County Commissioner Dave Woodward said. “I mean, this is an internationally recognized event that is truly remarkable.”
The 2024 Arts, Beats & Eats festival will be open 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30 through Sunday, Sept. 1; and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 2. For more information, including about tickets, visit artsbeatseats.com.