20th Arts, Beats & Eats Announces Cultural, Health, Musical, and Gaming Features

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The Arts, Beats & Eats Festival sponsored by Ford and presented by Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort returns to Royal Oak over Labor Day weekend (Sept. 1-4). For its 20th anniversary, festival organizers today announced a new gaming competition, health and wellness programs, and offerings from local restaurants.

“This milestone year for Arts, Beats & Eats is certainly going to be a celebratory occasion, and not just for festival organizers, partners, participants, and attendees, but for all the people, nonprofit organizations, and community groups who call metro Detroit home,” says Michael Gingell, chair of the Oakland County board of commissioners. “The positive economic impact this great event has on our county helps us continue to thrive and grow.”

Gingell says the festival will have a $10 million economic impact for Royal Oak, and $25 million for the region.

New this year, the Soaring Eagle Casino on 6th Street will have complimentary games including blackjack and roulette inside a Vegas-style air conditioned tent. Festivalgoers can win prizes including VIP concert tickets and weekend getaways at the resort. The casino is also bringing Native American art from the Ziibiwing Center for Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe to display at the festival.

The new official bank sponsor, Flagstar Bank, will also debut Flagstar Culture on 4th Street, between Lafayette and Washington streets. The block will celebrate the visual and performing arts highlighted by an exhibit produced by Garage Cultural, the iconic community arts education collective. Musician, Ismael Duran, leader of Garage Cultural, will perform on the Flagstar International Music Stage along with other global musical acts.

In turn, Priority Health is sponsoring Practice for a Purpose presented by Life Time Fitness, which includes two yoga classes. Classes will be hosted by Thrive Hot Yoga and Citizen Yoga. The festival will also bring back their Zumbathon on Saturday, which had 1,500 participants in 2016.

For health-conscious attendees, food items will be designated as Priority Health Healthy Options. The new ABE Veggie Cafe will feature the cuisine of Green Space Cafe in Ferndale and Nosh Pit, a local food truck enterprise. Additional culinary participants include Carrabba’s, Lazy Bones Smokehouse, and Sedona Taphouse, with more to be announced in August.

Festival organizers say with this year’s expected charitable donations, including from ticket sales, more than $5 million would have been donated to local charities over the past two decades. Last year’s event drew more than 415,000 attendees.

More information about Arts, Beats & Eats can be found here.