We like to say that metro Detroit has it all, but you only have so much time to experience it! Every week is a choose-your-own-adventure, and we have some fun options to raise if you don’t know were to start.

This weekend, prepare to laugh with shows like “Shucked” and “Jurassic Park: The Musical”. Celebrate local efforts and learn about food sovereignty with the Detroit Food Commons Fest. You can also take a nice walk through downtown Royal Oak on Mother’s Day looking at everything you could ever need to make your yard a mini-paradise.

Check out the events below for more details! 

Upcoming events (May 8-14)

Jurassic Park: The Musical

Planet Ant Theater

May 8-9

$30-35

Back by popular demand, “Jurassic Park: The Musical” is a retelling of the classic high-stakes dinosaur film—this time, as a prehistoric parody for your amusement with original songs. This show contains mature humor, and isn’t recommended for audiences under 16 years of age. Both showings start at 8 p.m., and this is the last weekend to experience it, so don’t wait!

Detroit Food Commons Fest

8324 Woodward Ave.

May 9

Free

Join the award-winning Detroit People’s Food Co-op for their second anniversary celebration! They’ll have vendors, food, political education and activities for guests to enjoy. Plus, a bouncy house and fun games for kids! This event is in the North End and will be going from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Shucked

Midland Center for the Arts

May 9-10

$49.50+

On May 9 and 10, the Midland Center for the Arts will show the Tony Award-winning musical, “Shucked.” Saturday performances will be held at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday performances will be held at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Admission starts at $49.50. For more information, visit the Midland Center for the Arts’ website.

Royal Oak in Bloom

6th and Main Street lots in downtown Royal Oak

May 10

Free

A long-held Mother’s Day tradition in downtown Royal Oak. Step out and start beautifying your outdoor space with offerings of flowers and plants, statues, decorations, furniture and more. You can add another lawn gnome to your collection, get starter plants for your garden, or make a backyard perfect for attracting birds and butterflies. Food vendors will be there to make sure you don’t go hungry or thirsty either. Stop by anytime from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Arab Film Festival

Arab American National Museum

May 8-10

$15

The Arab American National Museum is bringing a world of film to metro Detroit with a curated set of global short films, documentaries, and full length feature. All are subtitled, making a tremendously rich selection of cinematic art accessible for all. Many showings also include discussion and activities to experience film to the fullest. View the showings and buy tickets in advance for this final weekend of films, themed “Remember. (Re)imagine.”

Riverfront Herbal Walk

Cullen Plaza

May 11

Free

Stroll along the beautiful Detroit Riverfront with local herbalists. As you walk, you’ll learn how to identify and best handle different plants, and be able to take home your own herbal creation. Bring a water bottle and dress for the weather. This event runs from 5:30-7 p.m.

This past weekend, Spirit Airlines shut down and ceased all operations after decades in business.

When Spirit travelers entered the Evans Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, or DTW, for their scheduled flights, they were met with an operational update from the airline. Screens on ticket and check-in kiosks read:

“We regret to inform you that Spirit Airlines has ceased global operations. All Spirit flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available.”

The airline carried more than 1.7 million passengers in 2025 alone. The full impact of the Spirit Airlines shutdown is not yet clear.

Additional headlines for May 4, 2026

Detroit pitch competition

6 Mile Soup is hosting a pitch competition for business owners.

The Community Choice competition takes place this evening and features businesses on West McNichols Road.

Attendees will get free samples from restaurants and cast their votes for their favorite businesses. Three businesses will win cash prizes: $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place and $1,000 for third place.

The event takes place today, May 4, at Sips on Six, located at 7512 W. McNichols Road in Detroit. Doors open at 5 p.m. Winners will be announced at 8 p.m. The event is free.

Detroit Friendship House gardening event

The Hamtramck-based food pantry Detroit Friendship House is hosting a gardening event.

It is part of an effort to upcycle and recycle goods to create a sustainable garden for the food pantry.

Keep Growing Detroit will lead a Gardening 101 workshop as part of the event and provide free seed packets for households receiving SNAP benefits.

People will also be able to paint planters with Solstice Art. Participants can bring seeds and seedlings to swap with neighbors. They can also take home herbs for their own gardens.

There will also be a native edible plants exhibit by Detroit Friendship House’s Women’s Empowerment Group.

The Community Garden Event takes place May 16 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Detroit Friendship House, 9540 Conant in Hamtramck.

Learn more.

Arab American Film Festival begins Tuesday

The Arab American National Museum’s 21st Arab Film Festival kicks off Tuesday.

This year’s theme is “Remember. (Re)imagine.”

The festival will feature drama, comedy and documentary films about the Arab world and Arab American filmmakers.

Films from Michigan and across the U.S. will be shown with English subtitles in person and online.

The film “Palestine 36” will be shown May 5 and 6 at the Arab American National Museum.

The festival runs May 5-10. Cinema Lamont is a partner.

Learn more.

Men’s mental health panel planned in Detroit

The City of Detroit and the Board of Police Commissioners are hosting a mental health panel.

The Men’s Mental Health Awareness Panel is being hosted by District 2 Police Commissioner Lavish T. Williams.

Guests include several prominent African American speakers. There will also be a special guest appearance by the Mumford High School marching band.

The Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network will provide information, resources and suicide prevention training on-site.

The panel will take place May 23 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers Road in Detroit.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

There’s so much energy in the local arts and music scene. There is always something to experience, from the next big thing hiding in a dive bar, to a stand-up comic about to break through, to a visual artist in a DIY gallery about to sell a piece to a buyer in Europe.

There also could be a huge all-local music festival, too, bringing together more than 160 bands into 11 venues over the course of three wild, music-filled nights, or there might also be a comedic musical, filled with terrific arrangements, catchy choruses, and gusto performances, inspired by the plot and characters of “Jurassic Park.”

The seventh Corktown Music Festival kicks off Thursday night, hosted entirely in the neighborhood of Corktown, with venues like The Lager House, The Gaelic League, Nancy Whiskey, and more, with dozens upon dozens of bands and artists, like Carmel Liburdi, Mild Pulp, Anthony Retka, and my in-studio guests, Go Tiger Go and, by extension, The Plultophonics!

Ameera Bandy is a singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of the Plutophonics, but she’s also the VP of the Corktown Music Festival. She’s spent the last few months helping to organize this vast multi-day event.

Bandy talked about her passion for the local music scene, the origins of this festival, and some of the things local music fans can anticipate. There are wristbands you can purchase online, and all proceeds go to benefit the Hamtramck-based nonprofit Passenger Recovery.

Ameera’s band, The Plutophonics, are playing the same night as another indie-rock group, Go Tiger Go! That quartet is led by singer-guitarist Paul Corsi, who formed the band in the early 2010s and went on to release a slew of sleek, well-produced, high-energy pop ballads threaded with a signature complex guitar style.

Go Tiger Go performs live on MI Local on April 21, 2026.Go Tiger Go are experiencing a bit of a comeback this year, after a period of time away from the stages. Corsi is joined by guitarist Adam Toolin, bassist Ethan Hunter Smith, and drummer Brian Moore.

The entire band was hanging out in-studio to talk about their latest single, “Tokyo Rain,” and then treated WDET listeners to an exclusive premiere of their next track, “Paint.” To wind out the night, the band performed an acoustic version of their first breakout single, “Inhale.”

Along with these interviews, we heard new tracks from the Americana indie-folk duo Payton & Annabelle, and an awesome cover of “I Am The Walrus” by Jemmi Hazeman.

We also heard a recording of the cast from “Jurassic Park: the Musical,” with the song “Never Together,” from the ongoing show that you can catch at Plant Ant, described as “An original comedy where dinosaurs, disaster, and show-stopping numbers collide.” And the song is an absolute gem! I love all of this creative energy surging through the metro Detroit area, week-in and week-out!

Young people have stories to tell. The Detroit Teen Truth Film Festival is a place for them to share those stories. It started in 2019 and has been growing ever since.

Teens from Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties create films that are just fifteen seconds long.

Watch the 2025 grand prize film from the 2025 Detroit Teen Truth Festival, directed by Johan Calderon.

Fifteen seconds to share a perspective. Fifteen seconds to express what matters to them. Each year, the festival chooses a theme. The teens help pick it, so it reflects what they care about most. The films are creative, honest, and often really powerful. This year’s is “My Mental Health, Myself.”

Finalists can win cash prizes and scholarships. But even more important, they get a chance to be heard. These films help communities see the world through young people’s eyes. It gives teens a voice and empowers them to share it.

In this conversation, we were joined by Y Arts Executive Director Margret Edwartowski and Y Arts Board member Nicolas Cucinella. We learned more about the importance of giving teens space to express their ideas.

The 2026 festival is Saturday April 25 at 2:00 p.m. at the Marlene Boll Theatre at the Boll Family YMCA.

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