tThe Detroit Design Festival — expected to draw up to 170,000 attendees from Sep. 23-28 — will join forces for the first time with Dlectricity, a biennial light art festival that brought more than 75,000 people to the Woodward Corridor in 2012.
t“A collaboration between the Detroit Creative Corridor Center and Midtown Detroit bringing DDF and Dlectricity together in the same week was a simple decision,” says Matthew Clayson, DC3’s director. “We have an exciting week planned, which will only further reinforce Detroit’s reputation as an internationally well-known center of design.”
tThis year’s Detroit Design Festival — featuring a varied program of exhibitions, openings, installations, shows, talks, open studios, fashion shows, product previews, performances, and workshops — is its most concentrated to date, Clayson says. More than 20 design events will take place in six core clusters at venues along Detroit’s Creative Corridor, from Downtown Detroit to New Center, in Eastern Market and in neighborhoods throughout Detroit.
tHighlights include the festival’s kick-off party on Sept. 23 at the College for Creative Studies’ A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education and a design crawl on Sept. 26. For the latter, the curated self-tour will take festivalgoers behind the scenes of various Detroit architectural gems and design studios.
tFrom 7 p.m. to midnight Sept. 26-27, visitors can see works of light art by 35 international, national, and local artists that will illuminate Detroit’s Midtown as well as attend various performances and artist talks.
t“The quality of artists for this year’s Dlectricity is extraordinary,” says Michelle Perron, of the College for Creative Studies and head of the Dlectricity Curatorial Committee. “The city’s cultural center will literally light up with the creative energy that continues to put Detroit on the map with international artists and visitors.”
tOn Sept. 27, thousands of cyclists are expected to bike a 4-mile route in the Dlectricity Light Bike Parade through Midtown Detroit, adding extra light and energy to the streets. To register for the event, sponsored by Shinola with support from Wheelhouse Bikes, click here.
tFor more information about the Detroit Design Festival, visit detroitdesignfestival.com. To learn more about the two-day light festival, visit dlectricity.com.
