Hamtramck Packs its Streets & Venues for The Hamtramck Music Festival

Close to 200 of the best bands Metro Detroit has to offer gathered in Hamtramck this weekend for the third annual Hamtramck Music Festival. Let's just focus on that for a second. Here at Hip In Detroit we talk a lot about how lucky Detroiters are to have such an awesome music scene, with shows happening every night of the week. There are so many amazing musicians and bands in this city, that's not something that many places can say. This festival showcases many of these amazing musicians and venues, while allowing fans to experience it all for a super low price. To top things off, the money goes to a great cause, supporting music education through Ben's Encore.

This year 24 venues throughout Hamtramck participated in the festival, from old favorites like Small's to newer bars on the scene, like Trixie's. There were a ton of great bands playing everywhere, making it difficult to decide who to see. So just like with the venues, we went with a few old favorites, and some new comers to the scene. Check out a few videos we shot throughout the weekend below.

One of the best performances of the weekend (which we only captured on Instagram) was Radio Burns last show on Friday night at Small's. It's no secret that we are HUGE fans of this band. Well, they saved the best for last. This was definitely one of the band's best performances. Fans were sad to see them go, but they had a great time partying and singing along. Some other highlights of the weekend were The Belle Isles at the kickoff party Thursday night, Go Tiger Go at Baker Streetcar, James Linck (as always), and the food trucks. Yeah, we're going to throw the food trucks in there. They were an awesome addition to the festival this year and just what crowds needed when running from bar to bar.

Overall this year's HMF was a huge success. It seemed like there were more people out on the town than there have been in past years, from all walks of life. Middle aged suburbanites were side by side with city dwelling college students, all having an awesome time and enjoying one of the best things this city has to offer; music. Cheers to all of the organizers behind The Hamtramck Music Festival on a job well done! We can't wait to do it all again next year!

~C