Can Street Festivals Rethink the Layout to Embrace Downtown Brick-and-Mortar Businesses?

One of the highlights for communities all across the State of Michigan during the summer months is the magnitude of quality fine art, craft and street festivals that bring vibrancy to main streets in the Fresh Coast State. Thousands of people flock to them, often times they serve as a massive weekend-long tourism engine, and the arts are in the spotlight to highlight this thriving industry in Michigan’s creative economy.

These events boost the economy, certainly, but the question is being asked – should we be thinking about the layout of these festivals and examining how they could better serve the needs of the community and brick-and-mortar businesses?

That was the discussion for an event that took place earlier this summer in Downtown Lansing, The BLOCK:AID, a festival hosted in partnership between the City of Lansing, Downtown Lansing Inc. and Lansing 5:01.

The team of organizations in Michigan’s capitol city began to discuss how this festival, which is intended to provide aid and support for Lansing’s downtown district including a wide variety of retail shops, restaurants and entertainment offerings, was best supporting those they intended to assist.

The BLOCK:AID first took place in the summer of 2021 following a devastating year for many main street communities due to the pandemic, to encourage residents to visit Downtown Lansing for a street festival with over 50 artisan vendors, three music stages, street performers and more. “Lansing 5:01 was created to highlight the best of Lansing to Lansing’s future, and in our community, Downtown Lansing is critical for the growth of this place we call home, and our ability to attract and retain young people that will love Lansing – just like we do,” described Chris Sell, Founder & Executive Director of Lansing 5:01.

But in 2021, they found that as residents and visitors came to the Downtown, they walked down the center lane of the street, many people still patronizing the businesses, but many who maybe did not.

And how did it feel to businesses? The downtown businesses showed their love and appreciation for the event, but when those downtown businesses looked out the windows of their shops, they saw the backside of street vendors as crowds barreled down the center line of the street.

So when these organizations partnered again to bring The BLOCK:AID back to Downtown Lansing in 2022, they strategized about how they could flip the event on its head – lining the street vendors back to back along the center line of main street, facing outwards to encourage attendees to walk down the road and sidewalk between both pop-up vendors and permanent establishments.

Every downtown is structured differently, and the event organizers had to think strategically about how they could achieve the goals of the event but also working with public safety officials such as the Fire Marshall to ensure adequate fire and safety lanes in the event of emergency.

Is it possible to rethink the ways in which we can provide aid and support for downtown districts during a time when they need it most? YES. Are our cultural organizations creating these street fairs and art festivals to bolster the economy and bring visitors to Michigan Main Streets? YES.

Now is the time to work together and find solutions to the challenges that face these incredible festivals that make Michigan such a wonderful place to live, work and play!