Dally In the Alley

Dally in the Alley is a great time for a small local event. The music is good, food is great and I love all art. There are also lots of local Detroit area vendors to purchase from, which Is great because I love supporting local business. My favorite part is when painters battle on stage to paint something wonderful I the time a band performs. Fun to watch it happen live and to the beat of the music. Only downfall is how small the event is. Does not take much time to get through. Hopefully over the years it will grow.

Pretty cool area within the Downtown Detroit area. Midtown (A.K.A Cass Corridor), has made a huge comeback!
I took my dog to the shinola dog park before we strolled through the crowded alleys of midtown.
Everyone seemed to be having a great time and were very dog friendly!
Next year, I will leave my dog at home. Only because, I was constantly protecting her paws from being crushed

This was so much fun last year I can’t wait to go back. My first time in downtown Detroit and I would recommend for anyone to come check this out!

A street fair for all the Wayne State Hipsters. Alumni included. Motor City Brewing Works supplied the beer $ 6 a pop and the food was nothing to write home about, Slows To Go, where were you??? But, the ambience, the live music, the people watching, the art and t-​shirt booths, yes, yes, yes. I will be coming back, of course.

Oh yeah, that was one fun street fair. Can’t wait till next years event. If anyone been to Ann Arbor’s Madison Street Fair, the Hash Bash post party. (not saying it was a Hash Bash) Has that good nature vibe to it.
Wide variety of music, real artists, people watching. Really good beer. Freaky people, felt right at home. And this was my first time, so going next year. One of the best street/​art fairs around.

Always an amazing time. Probably one of the most unique events in Detroit proper. This is coming from someone who considers Movement/​DEMF to be his favorite festival. The charm of the neighborhood, the people in the area, the general laissez-​faire attitude of everyone, cops included, the unique bands and artists and vendors, everything about this says «This is what Detroit is, a weird mash up of everything you could imagine». If you haven’t been in a while, or have never been at all, make sure to mark your calendar for next year. This event is not to be missed. Oh, and its free.

What a great event! We were in town for the Lions game and just happened to see this street fair. So many vendors, lots of live music, food, drinks and lots of people watching! What more could you ask for in a street fair! Check it out next year!
Only bad thing is there is no parking anywhere! Just park and walk over!

Detroit’s best street fair and the official unofficial end to summer. Still completely non-​corporate with local vendors galore. Too bad I always have to work as my job is usually slammed wall-​to-​wall with Dallyers. But at least almost everybody going there is in good spirits. And even if I sleep in so late I’m only able to walk around for fifteen minutes I always see people I know having themselves a grand old time. It’s fun to crowd watch and try to figure out what substances any one individual is on, and how much of them.
The bands aren’t always the crème de la crème, everybody is having such a good time that the music just seems like gravy anyway. Zydeco Hepcat awakened Ely these year and that sounds enviable.
Seems like people who’ve moved away or just never go out anymore show up for the Dally. Mark it on your calendar. And beware the parking gestapo! They ticket until like 10 Saturday night, so don’t let em poop in your toboggan!

If i were abducted by aliens and put on task to show them a good time in Detroit or face death, i would take them to dally in the alley. I have been a street vendor at this event for the last ten years and participate in the local artist show. Dally is THE home game. The organizers are all volunteers and really make the magic happen. I cannot mention Dally without sending some love out to Felix who is the vending coordinator and all out BMOC. I look forward to seeing him and his wife every year. To me they are a part of the old school that keeps Dally in check and on course.
We have had an on going battle with the clowns from theater bizzare over a single vending space for quite sometime now. The vending arrangements are all first come, first serve. Every Dally eve, we post up after the bar closes with a bottle of whiskey and watch the transformation form before our very eyes. Light show Bob usually keeps us entertained untill the sun comes up, and if our karma is straight, a friend from a local brewery stops by and blesses us with a quarter barrel of brew at around ten o clock. It turns this event into the longest drinking day of the year and an absolute shit show by midnight.
It amazes me to see so many people in love with Detroit in the same place at the same time. This is seriously the premier event of the town to attend. It is a celebration of all the people that make this a great place to live. Local artists like Mark Arminski, Carl Lundgren, Footoula Lambrose, Gwen Joy, Leni Sinclair, Urban Pheasant Glass and the Aptemal Crew really step up and offer some amazing deals on original artwork. In addition to shopping, there are four stages set up around the alleyway featuring local talent, and one of the streets is a dedicated food court from all your favorite spots in midtown.
For some reason the city is always giving Dally a hard time. There is a small fee to vend, and most of it goes into the city coffers. I will never understand the angst the city has for street festivals, especially this one. It has always been such a peaceful gathering. Come down, sport a drink in public, get some people watching in and enjoy the fruits of Detroit and it’s creative class.

Hubby and I have attended for the past couple years and will definitely be attending again this year.
The title describes the event perfectly. One meanders through the streets and alleys, people watching, listening to music and enjoying the day.

I come home for this yearly street festival regardless of wherever I may be. the whole area turns out and so does the rest of the arts crowd.
music, food, deals, fun. it’s all here in the alley and on the street. the most fun is meeting up with friends you only see here once in a year; and geting that deal on something someone has in the alley that they’re ready to part with. good old books, records, fabu tees and loads of ethnic and handmade crafts, clothes and jewelry.
Theres’ so much to do that you absolutely have to see it to believe it. this is the only festival in the D with Real Hometown Flavor and it’s own Fire Eaters. yes the fire eaters are here every year.
I’ve got a video of 2010’s Dally in the Alley festival up on youtube — go enjoy and then share. Yeaaaaa Dally !!!

If I make it in 2011 it will be my third in a row! It’s a lot of fun and you definitely get to see what Mid-​Town is all about. There’s tons to see, eat, listen to and drink! I always end up meeting a ton of new people and it’s a total blast. It’s always around the end of the summer when people are just getting back to school, maybe that’s part of the excitement!

This festival is super fun every year. I highly suggest that anyone who hasn’t been to one, go next year!
It always occurs the weekend AFTER Labor Day.
If you need to stock up on Shea butter (there’s plenty of it, lol) or need to buy a new belt or tshirt, this is the place to go.

Over the top awesomeness. Its so simple and so fun. Just get several hundred people with an interest in art and music and spend a day hanging out in a bunch of alleys listening and buying and conversing.

The BEST hidden gem and ONE day festival in the State!!!

i attended last year with a group of my friends & boy was it fun. many different art & music is on display on 4 different stage areas. lots of vending areas with different kinds of refreshments. the music was outstanding ranging from underground hip hop to straight up detroit techno. as long as i live in detroit, i definitely wont miss this every year.

Plastic cups of alky in the alley… and the po-​po isn’t there to bust you!
This is a great festival to get to listen to music, mix and mingle with other music heads. I look forward to this event every year. It is a great use of the local scene, incorporating food and music.
It started out as this small thing and has become an amazing event.

Starting in 1977, Dally In The Alley, a street festival celebrating art, music, and all that is Detroit is one of those essential local things to experience.
Held on the first Saturday of the fall semester of Wayne State, college kids, locals, and suburbanites, gather along the streets of Cass Corridor to listen to local bands, taste fare from local restaurants, delve into a little, or a lot of debauchery.
Festival goers have the opportunity to peruse street after street of vendors selling anything from vintage dresses to records to African drums. In addition, the festival books some of Detroit’s best local musicians, anything from folk to hip-​hop to indie rock.
Don’t be shocked that while floating through the area, beer in hand, you’ll met some local folks inviting you to their porch for a drink, this is the sort of random act, that makes Dally so unique and gives that wonderful sense of community to Detroit, that many think is lacking.

Who can forget Dally in the Alley?!
It’s a block in the middle of Detroit that becomes a festival for one fateful day a year. It’s been going strong since 77! And everyone knows that you can’t mess with the spirit of 77. (or was it 76…)
The festival hosts a number of musical guests (4 stages in all.) I was pleased that Jeff Jablonski, Coffee slinging ninja from Trixie’s café played last year, along with a great number of artists, both local and national.
What’s more, there’s massive amounts of shopping to do! Whether you’re into geek chic, rummage, gutter punk, or any other kind of deviant fashions, Dally in the alley is the place to look for new threads.
Last year MOCAD participated with DitA, and hopefully again this year as well. An art presence has been strongly growing since I’ve been attending, and hopefully it will continue to grow so DitA will be a beautiful fusion of art, music, food, and threads!