Eastern Market After Dark
Eastern Market
Detroit
Sept. 16
I am becoming a hermit. The older I get, the more my introversion grows, and the idea of going out at night, being surrounded by hordes of people, sounds like a hell that I would like to avoid at all costs. I am also what I call “Millenial old.” I’m at the age where I can’t go to live music events without wearing earplugs, my back hurts, and I’m useless without eight hours of sleep. But every now and then, I feel the strange urge to indulge in the energy of the night and be social. This month it was Eastern Market After Dark that lured me out of the house.
Last year, when I tried to go to Eastern Market After Dark, I drove in circles for 30 minutes trying to find a parking spot and gave up. This year, my mom and I got there early, and understood why the parking situation was so hectic. Seemingly the whole city of Detroit comes out for this event where art, music, and community organizations take over the market district during the Detroit Month of Design.
Live paintings are happening in various corners while techno music blasts through all the sheds. Smells from a row of food trucks crash into music notes from the saxophone man who plays jazzy renditions of R&B and contemporary pop songs. The stalls are packed with silk kimonos, paintings, ceramic mugs, African headwraps, ponchos made from upcycled blankets, wire-wrapped crystals, paper lanterns, photo prints, body butters, home baked cookies, candles, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
Sheds 3 and 4 had many of the staple vendors that are at Eastern Market on the Saturday farmer’s market and Sunday artisan markets. Shed 5 was a bit more chill with some live paintings, guest vendors, and a pop-up photo booth with Jade Lilly. Shed 2 was off the chain. The entrance to this part of Eastern Market was flanked by massive prints of Elonte Davis’s photos from Movement Music Festival and the Hart Plaza fountain. This is where DJs like the legendary WAXTAX-N DRE, who I grew up listening to on 105.9 in the early 2000s, spun house and techno music emceed by Nick Speed. The whole scene was pure Detroit, jit included, but after a while my throbbing ears reminded me that I forgot to bring earplugs so I had to cut it short.
The evening stretched beyond the sheds, too. Levon Kafafian was selling his hand-weaved scarves out of a makeshift storefront outside of his studio across from Donald Calloway, who had his multimedia artwork set up. There was a vintage alleyway lined with clothing, accessories, and housewares, where Zoe Villegas read tarot. And all the way down on the Dequindre Cut, were food trucks, DJs, and a crowd who did not want to stop doing the hustle, even though the event was over.
Some of my favorite moments from Eastern Market After Dark were running into people I haven’t seen in a while. I ran into Detroit muralist Sydney James at upcycled fashion designer Blight Hernandez’s booth and we snapped a photo together.
Was I overwhelmed? For sure. But seeing people come out in droves to support the city’s arts community and small businesses was a beautiful sight. Having so many Detroit artists who fuel the creative undercurrent of the city, many of whom I’ve written about over the years, in one place was magical.
I recently traveled to Cleveland for a writing conference, and my Airbnb host pointedly asked me, “How’s Detroit doing these days? Are things OK over there?” I wish she could feel the energy of Eastern Market After Dark — how the city, and its creative community, is thriving.
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