Street Team Experiences Arts Beats & Eats

Thousands of people crowded the streets of downtown Royal Oak for a display of the arts at the 17th annual Arts Beats & Eats festival this last weekend.

"This festival is great," said Chris Jackson, a participating artist from Chicago. "You get a culmination of the arts and some fantastic music– you've got to check out the music. There are about 150 fantastic artists from all over the country. It's just a great celebration of all three arts."

Big name musical acts like Third Eye Blind, The Village People and The Spinners even made appearances. If that wasn't enough, the event consisted of 10 separate stages, each dedicated to a different genre, with live performances throughout all four days of Arts Beats & Eats.

"I jammed out to the jazz R&B stage," Frank Lepkowski said. " That was pretty cool."

However, the artists and musicians weren't the only ones attracting the crowds.

"We're getting a lot of business," said Destinee Vines of Taste 'N' Tell. "The weather is good, there's a lot of positivity. Everybody is just out having a good time in Royal Oak."

"We came all the way from West Palm Beach, Flordia," said Mustafa Shabazz of Taste 'N' Tell. "My favorite is the Paia. It's a seafood dish."

But, if seafood isn't your cup of tea, more than 40 other vendors offered plenty of variety that the Street Team was happy to 'test'.

Arts Beats & Eats is an annual event and The CW50 Street Team looks forward to returning next year.