Michigan Fashion, Art Festival Coming to Birmingham in September

Get ready for the catwalk, Birmingham, and a whole lot more. Monday night, the Birmingham City Commission approved a request to hold the first annual Michigan F.A.S.H. festival on Sept. 15 in .

The festival will showcase Michigan talent in the worlds of fashion, art, sound and history (hence, F.A.S.H.), with all proceeds benefiting Forgotten Harvest, said festival executive committee member Leslie Ann Pilling Monday night.

With runway shows, historical exhibits, art installations, concerts and various competitions, Pilling said the festival was conceived as a way to promote Michigan artists as well as to advocate for Forgotten Harvest, which donates prepared and perishable foods to emergency food providers across Metro Detroit.

The festival will be  10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15. Tickets are $2, and entrance to Shain Park will be controlled through a temporary fence installed around the park's perimeter.

Pilling said her group has already reached out to several Birmingham merchants, restaurants and catering companies in an attempt to make the city part of what is largely a regional event.

"We are including Birmingham in this but also bringing the Michigan fashion world to Birmingham," Pilling said.

Though Commissioner Tom McDaniel said he didn't like the idea of fencing off Shain Park, he said the F.A.S.H. festival could be one of Birmingham's signature events.

"I think this has the potential to be every way as good (as the , also held in Shain Park)," he said.

What to expect at the 2012 F.A.S.H. Festival

Fashion

• Runway shows, including a Prestigious Runway Showcase and a tween-age "Pop-Up" Showcase
• Installations of the collections of local fashion designers
• Hands-on interactive exhibits for adults and kids
• Competitions for established designers, university students and teenagers
• Trunk shows
• Competitions featuring public judging

Arts

• Galleries of digital media, performance art, public art, miniatures, puppetry, culinary arts and other displays
• Experiential art displays
• Hands-on, interactive exhibits for adults and kids
• Competitions featuring public judging

Sound

• Live entertainment from classical performances, to jazz groups and rock music
• Sound-enhanced installations
• Pop-up stages
• A chance to interact with musicians from around the world
• Create-your-own-percussion-instrument competition

History

• Live storytelling exhibits
• Exhibits displaying documentary and digital media
• Hands-on, interactive exhibits for adults and kids

For more information, visit the group's website www.michiganfashfest.com. Ticketing information on the website will be coming soon, though artists, sponsors and prospective volunteers are welcome to visit the website for more information on becoming involved.