Clear Skies Greet Vacationers On First Day Of 'Arts, Beats and Eats'

ROYAL OAK (WWJ) -- A sizable crowd greeted the first day of Labor Day weekend and the traditional Arts, Beats and Eats festival in the streets of downtown Royal Oak on Friday.

The four-day event features a taste-fest, 200 concerts on ten stages and a juried art fair. With rain in the forecast over the weekend, Dave Williams of Sterling Heights wanted to check things out on day one.

"The music is incredible right now," Williams said. "There's a high school senior on the Soaring Eagle stage -- outstanding. The weather is holding out, lots of good people-watching."

"There's just something for everybody -- something for the kids, something for the adults, something for mom. It works," another festival-goer said.

If you plan on heading down to the festival, be aware that you park in the correct spots -- one parking enforcement officer alone told WWJ that he had been writing about 25 tickets per hour on Friday.

Organizer Jon Witz said the four-day festival has a little something for everyone.

"There's great art, music and food," he said. "The fabulous art fair with 140 artists that come from around the United States and Canada, and an incredible music lineup with nine stages and 200 bands, some great local acts and also some wonderful national acts."

And don't forget about the best part: The eats.

"There's food from 60 restaurants," Witz said. "Morton's Steakhouse will be there, Mitchell's Fish Market, Famous Dave's Barbecue, Andiamo is new this year as well, just a wonderful lineup including many great Royal Oak restaurants as well."

[Keep up with everything going on this Labor Day Weekend with our Arts, Beats and Eats Guide]