Another celebration of urban living is happening again this Friday at Willy’s Lofts, 444 West Willis in Midtown. Illuminate highlights recent urban residential developments in Detroit. Starts at 7, lasts till at least Midnight, and showcases food, music and art - what more do you need?

Making it happen: Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Slow’s BBQ, Majestic Cafe, R. Hirt Jr., Cost Plus wines and music courtesy of Detour Magazine.

$10 at the door helps StandUp for Kids and CAID. If you can’t afford the ten bucks, volunteer - Detroit Synergy can still use help on the day of the event.

In case you haven’t gotten there yet and you are into the fashion and design scene in Detroit, the last few days of DFW are rapidly drawing to a close.

Go to the St. Regis Hotel, 3071 W. Grand Blvd. @ Woodward in Detroit (next to the Fisher Theater)

Starting at 7:30 Friday,

Camilo, Gretta Wallace, Jill Robertson, Samaher Mohammad - Zaynini Fashion Intl.

Starting at 7:30 Saturday,

La’Tosha Williams-Qahhaar - La’Monee’ Couture
Lasijas Miller - Nethade by Lasijas
Cynthia Lamaide - LaMaide Designs Inc.
Fotoula Lambros / Emily Thornhill - Femilia
Beulah Cooley - The “Beulah Cooley Collection”

More detail and tickets on the DFW site.

Formerly known as TasteFest, this re-engineered music and food event that draws huge crowds downtown is also sporting a new Gallery Preview Party in the Fisher Theater lobby tonight at 8. Eleven artists work will be featured, kicking off a 5 day, 4 stage, 40 restaurant eating, drinking and merry making time. CityFest highlights the ‘D’s musical and entertainment diversity with local rock, rap, R&B, jazz, and more in the main music categories. Highlights include Weird Al and lots of local talent, including Revolva, displaying her exotic hoop routines & leading the way with the World Hoop Day July 7th (who knew the hoola hoop could get upscale!) If food, drink, music & entertainment aren’t enough, their is a skateboard exhibition area, the Detroit Derby Girls, and way more that you can see on the site. Head down to the D!

There is never a shortage of reasons to head for the ‘D’ on any given weekend, and this one is no exception!  With over 50 live performances, 6 stages, and way over a hundred individual artist booths, the Detroit Festival of the Arts will be a celebration of the creative!  In it’s 21st year, the Festival is located in the heart of the Wayne State area, and is easily reached from several major freeways.  If live music, tons of sand, and just about every type of live performance you can imagine sound like a good time, hit it!

Come to the DYC at 8am tomorrow to hear Smart Cities Radio host and CEO’s for Cities President Carol Coletta discussing what it takes to make a city successful and how Detroit measures up. Register here, get more info here, and get directions here. Joining Carol will be Detroit’s own Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future.

Detroit stands second to none when it comes to Techno!  From the beginning, Techno was invented by Detroiters, and the former Techno Festival this year will feature over 75 of the worlds leading electronic artists.  This event is known all over the world - I could start naming names, but essentially everyone is here!  Now dubbed Movement 2007, Paxahau, the event’s principle promoter has established a website with the amazing lineup for this 3 day weekend!  If you are into electronic music, this will be your event this year.  If you are into parties, besides all the entertainment there are a series of pre and post events guaranteed to keep you in the spirit!  Check the site for more details, and be there May 26, 27 & 28!

From 9 until 11:30am at The Parade Company, Josh Linkner, CEO of ePrize, will discuss how to create an entrepreneurial and innovative culture in the ‘D’. Best part - it’s FREE!! Click HERE to register, HERE for more info, or contact Jon Kreger .

Sponsored by

Come to FD Lofts from 7pm to 2am to experience the ‘D’s eye candy. ‘LAUNCH’, an event created by Sabra Sanzotta, Sarah Lurtz and Sarah Lapinski focusing on hot new Detroit fashion, concept cars, artwork, music - and of course food! This Creative Class Party will provide a celebration of Detroit’s fashion, music, urban loft living, and people connecting across regional boundaries. Talent not only from Detroit, but also from Toronto & Chicago will be strutting to a DJ in 10,000 sq. feet of party space.

Click the links above for additional information on the event, or click below to purchase your tickets.

Location: FD Lofts, 3434 Russell St, Detroit 48207 - in the Eastern Market.  Advance tickets $25 here

A new style of home store opens next week in the ‘D’, called Bureau of Urban Living. Located at 460 West Canfield in Midtown, they are conveniently located for many midtowners. Owners Claire Nelson and Francis Grunow are stocking with the loft dweller in mind, whether it be modern or historic. Check the website for more info, or just stroll by next week to see when they open the doors for the general public. For more info, click here.

When the green stuff is mentioned, don’t waste time, especially when it comes to making Detroit shine! The Detroit Metro Visitor & Convention Bureau, or DMCVB, would like to give up $10,000 to a videographer that can put together a 2 to 4 minute video podcast that creatively and positively captures one of Detroit’s strong suites: cars, culture, gaming, music or sports. Besides the money, being able to say your video is the city’s choice to draw millions of visitors to the ‘D’ wouldn’t suck either! The visitors bureau wants to reach 21 to 34-year-olds, and what better way than to get into their iPods?
Here is how it works:

The Detroit video podcast must be between two to four minutes long, and the creator/s must be 18 or older. The 2 to 4 minute video podcast must creatively and positively capture at least one of these five major categories: cars, culture, gaming, music and sports. Of course, more is always better right?

To enter your video podcast, the DMCVB asks you to complete the online registration form at visitdetroit.com and follow directions for uploading your video entry on YouTube.com by April 20, 2007. A panel of judges assembled by the DMCVB will select one winner by May 4, 2007, and that winner will be notified no later than May 18, 2007. The winning podcast will be incorporated in the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau’s marketing campaign.

To view complete contest rules, go to www.visitdetroit.com. Questions should be directed to: contest@visitdetroit.com

Make sure you are allowing popups or use one of our links here, because otherwise you will think the flash contest icon on the left is broke!