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Motor City Pride.

Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Submit your events to metrotimes.com/calendar.

Southern Vegan Weekend with Chef Chris Tucker of The Great American Baking Show

Thursday, 9/16-Sunday, 9/19: In 2021, eating meat is so passé. Or is it pâté? Regardless, more Americans are turning to plant-based lifestyles, aka veganism, than ever before. A study published last year found that more than 9.6 million people in the U.S. are vegan, which is a 300% increase from previous years. Not only are the benefits of eating plants substantial, but the faux meat options for leaf-eaters in restaurants, fast food joints, and in grocery stores is increasing and improving.

Are you v-curious? Meet Chris Tucker, a contestant on The Great American Baking Show and founder of Betta with Butta, an allergen-conscious bakery. Hailing from the South where he learned his baking prowess from his great grandmother, Tucker has reimagined southern cooking through a plant-based lens and he's bringing some soy swagger to metro Detroit when he serves up a Southern Vegan Weekend at frame in Hazel Park. The ticketed dining event will include a four-course meal, featuring a Baby Gem Salad with grilled peaches, candied pecans, and a mustard vinaigrette; Baked Pimento Dip made served family-style in a skillet with veggies and crostinis; CHKN Dinner with fried CHKN, collard greens, mac-n-cheese, and corn casserole; and a dessert flight with deconstructed peanut butter pie and banana pudding. —Jerilyn Jordan

Northville Heritage Festival

Friday, 9/17-Sun 9/19: Stars Hollow. Pawnee. Mayberry. Ah, the power of a small town. For fans of small town charm, the Mitten State has small towns up the wazoo. To celebrate one such town and its rich history, there's the annual Northville Heritage Festival, which is presenting a scaled-down version of previous celebrations. Formerly known as the Northville Victorian Festival, Northville's heritage celebration honors the city's beginnings as a village in 1867. Kicking off the festivities on Friday is the petticoat-heavy Victorian Parade where shit gets, well, downright old-school. The weekend will include school and community nonprofit booths, live and street performances, crafters, a history hike, painting with paws (where folks can make art with their pooche's paw print), a chalk art installation, petting farm, vintage baseball, the annual duck race, and more. —Jerilyn Jordan

FrankenFest

Saturday, 9/18: If the last year has you feeling like a zombie, you're not alone. But good news is the witching season is upon us, and there is no shortage of spooktastic soirees to haunt. Kicking off the madness a wee early (or, if you're a freak like us, right on time) is the first-ever FrankenFest. Brother and sister team Jerry Jodloski and Krista Johnston are behind this single-day Halloween-themed celebration at Detroit's Historic Fort Wayne, which will feature more than 75 artist and vendors offering spooky wares, including illustrations, paintings, photography, ceramics, novelties, literary works, clothing, jewelry, and maybe some dark magic that should only be wielded by experienced witches and warlocks. There will be food trucks, too, as well as exhibits like a killer car show and aerial performances by D3 Circus. Are you afraid of ghosts? Paranormal Experts, Ghostbusters Detroit, and the Michigan Mystery Machine will be on site for all your ghost-hunting needs. —Jerilyn Jordan

50th Annual Habatat Galleries Glass Exhibition

Saturday, 9/18: Are you ready to kick some serious glass?! Wait — don't kick, touch, or breathe on any of the incredible 400-plus glass works on display at the 50th annual international glass invitational. Habatat Galleries, America's first and largest contemporary glass gallery, will once again throw a mind-shattering free exhibition featuring the creations of glass artists from all over the world. "This is an important milestone for Habatat and for the medium of glass," Habatat owner Aaron Schey said in a press release. "And, so we thought it was important to share it with the community at large and with our hometown." Will there be things like paperweights and vases? Sure. But have you ever seen a glass telephone? Glass busts of children? Miniature glass storefronts? What about glass robots? What we're getting at is, if it exists, it can be made out of glass, and if it's made of glass — whether it's annealed, tempered, laminated, frosted, silicate, soda-lime, milk, architectural, or heat-strengthened glass — then you'll likely catch a glimpse at Habatat Galleries. Remember — you break, you buy and go bye-bye. Oh, and if you cannot attend in person, a virtual glass art fair will be available to view online at glassartfair.com. —Jerilyn Jordan

Motor City Pride

Sunday, 9/19: Blowouts aren't just for your hair, henny. Motor City Pride fest is queer and it's finally here. After being postponed from its usual Pride Month slot in June, Motor City Pride returns with the rainbow-powered lovefest filled with music, dancing, protesting, parading, and drag. While Motor City Pride is absolutely a celebration, its origins follow in the footsteps of the trailblazers who rose up in the face of oppression, hatred, and violence. A few years after the Stonewall riots in 1969 — a major turning point in the fight for gay rights, when police violently raided Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village — Motor City Pride was born. The first iteration in 1972 was a march through downtown Detroit to protest homophobic laws and policies and aimed to earn the recognition for LGBTQ+ rights and equality. It later included a post-march picnic and is now one of the gayest and most joyful celebrations honoring the past, present, and the oh so fabulous future. This year's event will once again, center around the Pride Parade, happening at noon on Sunday, Sept. 19 at the corner of Fort Street and Griswold Street. As for entertainment, Motor City Pride will feature performances by Garrison Briggs, Lipstick Jodi, TYLR_, DJ, Ella X, Paytra, Bright Lights, Killer Flamingos, Valerie and the Vulture, and "the bald headed bitch of Detroit," Sabin Detroit. Now, sashay away. —Jerilyn Jordan

Big Freedia

Wednesday, 9/22: When booty-shaking icon Big Freedia said "azz everywhere, azz everywhere," we really felt that. Like, really felt it, like an off-the-Richter Scale booty-quake. For the unenlightened, the 43-year-old rapper, dancer, queen of New Orleans Bounce and master of the azz-shaking club jam, Big Freedia is kind of a big deal. Throughout her glittering career, which started in 1999 with the release of her first single "An Ha, Oh Yeah," followed by her debut record in 2003, Big Freedia has done the following: she's been the star of her own reality show on Fuse for six seasons; co-authored her critically acclaimed memoir, God Save the Queen Diva; collaborated with Beyoncé on "Formation"; landed her own Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, Big Freedia's Bouncing Beignets; avoided major jail time for allegedly stealing close to $35,000 in federal housing voucher money; and starred in a documentary called Freedia Got a Gun, which explores the complexities of gun violence and her commitment to gun control advocacy, which followed the death of her brother, who died as a result of gun violence. Detroit-based non-binary queer artist Reginald Hawkins is also on the bill. —Jerilyn Jordan

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