Fireworks, Corktown Aglow, Big Bright Light Show: 5 things to do in metro Detroit
Get into the holiday spirit and soak up the festive vibes across metro Detroit this weekend. Southwest Detroit will be buzzing with three festivals, all connected by free shuttle rides. In downtown Rochester, experience the magical glow of more than a million lights illuminating the evening sky. Take a tour of homes decorated for the season, and enjoy music and caroling in Detroit.
Here are five things to do for the weekend of Dec. 8-10.
Corktown Aglow / Southwest Holiday Fest / Let it Snow Festival
Three exciting festivals will take place in southwest Detroit with many events paying homage to the community's Hispanic heritage. You can count on food, live music, entertainment and family-friendly activities. Free shuttle service to each event will be offered from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Corktown Aglow
● The eighth annual Corktown Aglow, presented presented by Ford Motor Co. and Corktown small businesses, will include live music, Christmas ornament decorating, an inflatable slide, a s’mores and hot chocolate station, a snowman-making contest, an artisan market with merchandise from local artisans, crafters and independent makers, food trucks and more.
2-11 p.m. Saturday at Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation at 1211 Trumbull in Detroit. Free.
Southwest Detroit Holiday Fest
● At the Southwest Detroit Holiday Fest, you can stroll the Bagley-Vernor corridor and explore the neighborhood's shops, restaurants, bars and cultural institutions.
Highlights will include a performance by Living Arts and an interactive experience with Matrix Theatre Company’s playback Theatre Performances & Un Theatre Performance. A posada procession, a Mexican Christmas custom that re-enacts the journey of Mary and Joseph as they sought lodging before the birth of Jesus, will lead participants on a tour through Mexicantown.
Other activities will include a children’s bounce house, face painting, cookie decorating, a balloon artist, petting zoo, piñata parties, photos with Santa and more.
Participating businesses, organizations and sponsors include: Matrix Theatre Company, Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, Ford Resource and Engagement Center-Mexicantown Mercado, Xochi’s Gift Shop, We The People, Living Arts, Plaza del Sol, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, El Popo Supermarket, Los Galanes Restaurant, Mexicantown Restaurant, the Hubbard Richard Residents Association Southwest Detroit Business Association, The Hubbard Richard Mexicantown Mainstreet Designated Area and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.
3-8 p.m. Saturday in the Mexicantown Hubbard-Richard Neighborhood, along the Bagley Street and W. Vernor Hwy. corridor between 16th and 24th streets. Free admission.
Let It Snow Festival
Enjoy a festive atmosphere filled with live music, food and beverages in the North Corktown community presented by the Cultural Crossroads Council with support from the Ralph Wilson Foundation.
Activities for children will include arts and crafts, taking photos in a holiday photo booth and more.
2-6 p.m. Saturday at the Pink Flamingo, an outdoor pop-up dining spot at 2746 Vermont Street in Detroit. Free admission.
Rochester Big Bright Light Show
Brighten your holidays and visit downtown Rochester and witness the display of buildings covered with more than a million lights as they illuminate the night sky with holiday cheer.
The display will be lit 5 p.m. to midnight through Jan. 21 along Main Street in downtown Rochester. Most stores will be open Monday-Saturday until 9 p.m.
Holiday Home Tour
This tour will showcase five homes in the Rochester area in a fundraiser for the Friends of the Rochester Hills Public Library.
The tour’s popular Gift Boutique will be hosted at Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm’s Dairy Barn, where there will be holiday items for sale and cider and donuts for each person with a ticket. Attendees will also get free admission to the model train display in the Van Hoosen complex.
Docents will be at each location to guide visitors and answer questions.
Tour stops will be open noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $35 per person and will include a map to the homes and the boutique. Tickets can be purchased at The Friends Store inside the RHPL lobby, Wild Birds Unlimited in Rochester Hills, Werner’s Hallmark in Oakland Township and Lytle Pharmacy in Rochester.
Bonus event: Russell Woods Winter Wonderland Festival
This holiday event by Detroit's Russell Woods-Sullivan Area Association will include festive music, performances, caroling, food, hot refreshments, an ugly sweater contest, holiday market, a fireworks display and more.
3-6 p.m. Saturday at Russell Woods Park at 12655 Broadstreet Ave. in Detroit.
Bonus bonus event: Hawaiian holiday
Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro, known for his lightning-fast fingers, will bring “Holidays in Hawaii” to Ann Arbor’s Hill Auditorium on Friday, Dec. 8. Shimabukuro shot to fame 17 years ago, when a video of him playing George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was posted to YouTube and became one of the site’s first videos to go viral. He’ll draw on a vibrant catalog of holiday classics for this return performance that includes Jackson Waldhoff on bass and Justin Kawika Young on vocals and guitar.
7:30 p.m., Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor. www.ums.org. Tickets start at $14.
Brendel Hightower is an assistant editor at the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at bhightower@freepress.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fireworks, Corktown Aglow, light show: 5 things to do in metro Detroit
