ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Are you looking for something fun to do? It’s the final weekend of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival.
“It’s great energy and positive vibes out here,” said attendee Hannah Baiardi from South Lyon, Mich. “You get to see people from your community and listen to some great music and have great eats.”
Her boyfriend, César Cañón, from Colombia added: “We specifically went today for the AcroYoga activity. We did some AcroYoga before coming to enjoy the Bluesy band.”
The Water Balloon Gladiators entertained audiences on Wednesday evening. They are described as a clown duo known for their water bombs. The Gladiators came all the way from New York City.
“We wanted to see the water balloon performers tonight,” said Julia Weinberg, who brought her daughter, Veronica, to the festival. “It was a beautiful night to be out in downtown Ann Arbor. It is a great event, I started coming here when I was a student 25 years ago and I still love it.”
Pat Johnson and Ian Parkes traveled all the way from Western Australia to visit their daughter Emily who attends the University of Michigan.
“I think it’s a wonderful festival for a medium size town,” Johnson explained. “It’s all free, terrific.”
The KidZone tent is an interactive area for younger festival goers aged 4 to 14. On Wednesday, children had the opportunity to make bubbles and look at artifacts from the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.
“I saw the Water Balloon Gladiators and that was a lot of fun,” said attendee Mollie Ruth from Ann Arbor. “I’ve just been sitting here people watching. I’m going to have some friends come out later.”
Mollie’s father played the harmonica in the band Madcat Midnight Blues Journey. They were the headliner on the Top of the Park stage Wednesday night
“There’s some good Mexican food…Lots of variety,” Cañón added.
Each weeknight wraps up with a movie under the stars with a giant inflatable screen on the top of the park stage. Films range from recent hits to classics and animated movies.
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival wraps up on Sunday, July 3 with performances by Oh Brother, Big Sister, The Whiskey Charmers, Whit Hill & The Postcards and George Bedard & The Kingpins, who are always the last band of the season. Attendees can watch the classic film “West Side Story” at 10 p.m. on the giant inflatable screen.
For more information about the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, visit www.a2sf.org.
