Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Submit your events to metrotimes.com/calendar. Be sure to check venue websites for COVID-19 policies.
FoolMoon and FestiFools
Friday, 4/1 and Sunday, 4/3: Grab your glow sticks and head to Ann Arbor for this funky annual festival of art, light displays, costumes, and good old-fashioned merriment. FoolMoon is going down on Friday with interactive, light-filled experiences in Kerrytown, Main Street, and State Street districts. Check out local businesses, join family-friendly arts and craft activities, or just dress up in a funky costume and stroll around town. Sunday is FestiFools, where street performers put on a wacky parade with massive, whimsical puppets. You can stand and watch the procession, but it's better if you join in and dance. Sound foolish? Well, duh, that's the point — it is April Fool's Day after all. The whole weekend is about letting your inner child out to play, releasing inhibitions, and getting silly, which are things we all need to do after the last two years. —Randiah Camille Green
FoolMoon is from 6-10 p.m. on Friday, April in Ann Arbor's Kerrytown, Main Street, and State Street districts. The FestiFools parade is from 4-5 p.m. on Sunday, April 3 on State Street. Maps of the parade route and FoolMoon festivities are available at wonderfoolproductions.org.
Techno & House Research Group third anniversary party
Friday, 4/1: What started as friends sharing music on Facebook has since become Techno & House Research Group, a YouTube channel and curator of the annual THRG live event. For its third anniversary, the group is bringing DJs Swisha and Kush Jones from New York City for their Detroit debut. They join a lineup that includes AK640s, Diego, and other THRG DJs. —Lee DeVito
From 8 p.m.-2 a.m. on Friday, April 1 at Marble Bar; 1501 Holden St., Detroit; 313-338-3674; themarblebar.com. Tickets start at $8 advance.
The Hash Bash
Saturday, 4/2: After two years of online celebrations, the Hash Bash is officially back on the Diag at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Crowds of pot-smoking enthusiasts and advocates will gather at high noon on Saturday, April 2 for the 50th annual gathering. Toking up at home doesn’t even compare to celebrating this beloved plant medicine while watching live music and listening to passionate speakers among thousands of other cannabis enthusiasts. This year’s return features appearances by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and legendary Detroit poet and pot activist John Sinclair, whose 10-year prison sentence for possessing two joints inspired the first Hash Bash back in 1972. —Randiah Camille Green
Monroe Street Fair: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. a few blocks down from the University of Michigan Diag. The Hash Bash starts at noon at the Diag, and an afterparty will be held starting at 7 p.m. at the Blind Pig.
John Salvage & New Twenty Saints
Saturday, 4/2: John Salvage is a Hamtramck-via-Toledo singer-songwriter who moved to the Detroit area about a decade ago, originally for grad school before realizing that his true passion was music. He dropped his debut record, Coyote Hasten, last year; its release was delayed by the pandemic. Since then, he's fleshed his sound out with a live band made up of Kirk Scarborough, Josh Budiongan, and Evan Eklund. On the group's latest LP, Nikita, the sound is further fleshed out with the addition of Maritza Garibay on violin on the title track, and Todd McNulty on accordion on "Trouble Boys." The record is released via Outer Limits Records and gets a release party on Saturday at Outer Limits Lounge. Milk Bath is also on the bill, as well as DJs Jam Jam and Blake Hill.
—Lee DeVito
Doors at 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 2 at Outer Limits Lounge; 5507 Caniff St., Detroit; outerlimitslounge.com. Tickets are $8.
La bohème
Saturday, 4/2, Wednesday, 4/6, and Sunday, 4/10: Imagine what it would be like to live life in reverse. Your soul comes into your body at death, your health steadily improves, and you go from painful breakups to rediscovering love with your partner. This is pretty much what the Detroit Opera House has done with this trio of performances of La bohème. For this run, the classic Giacomo Puccini opera has been reimagined and will be presented in reverse order. This experimental production is (apparently) the first time this play has been staged from end to beginning, and is a co-production with Boston Lyric Opera and Spoleto Festival USA. We imagine it'll be like one of those movies where you already know what happens at the end, and the fun is in watching how the characters end up there. —Randiah Camille Green
Showtimes are 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 10 at the Detroit Opera House is located at 1526 Broadway St, Detroit; 313-237-7464; michiganopera.org. Tickets start at $29.
Stay connected with Detroit Metro Times. Subscribe to our newsletters, and follow us on Google News, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, or TikTok.
