Grinds and flips will take center stage this May at a skateboarding event set to bring together music, street food, and community stoke.
The Cartoons & Stereo festival is the brainchild of Detroit music artist Ade Olaniran, known as Stoop Lee, who said it was inspired by a similar party a few years back.
Sponsored by Red Bull and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the event will take place from 2-11 p.m. May 17 at Big Pink near Mt. Elliott Park and the riverfront. It will feature a pop-up skatepark, basketball dunking contest, vintage clothing market, and local food trucks.
Lee said the idea first came together after he attended the House of Vans event in 2019. The California shoe, clothing and accessory empire created a free weekend pop-up skatepark in the former Jefferson school in Midtown with skateboarding, screen printing and zine workshops, and musical performances by Amber Mark, Protomartyr and Thundercat.
“I went to that event and I was just blown away by the fact that Vans or somebody could do an event like this in the city for free, and incorporate two really cool communities in music and skateboarding,” said Lee. “But since that happened I feel like the city is kind of missing that feeling, and an event of that nature.”
In 2022, Lee, a longtime skateboarder, hosted a similar party at Bishop Park, and tried, but couldn’t make the event work again until this year.
Cartoons & Stereo tickets are free by RSVP, but cost $20 at the door. Musical acts include: Zelooperz, Pink Sifu, Stoop Lee, Datsunn, Curtis Roach, Rob Apollo, Pia the Band, and Shaii David.
“I definitely wanted to serve the community that enjoys where hip-hop and alternative music kind of intersect,” Lee told BridgeDetroit about the lineup.
MEDC’s Michigan Growth Office contributed $5,000 toward the event, which aligns with its priorities based on results from more than 10,000 Michigan residents, said Michigan Growth Office spokesperson Brittany Hill. The office was created last year to lead the state’s population growth through programming, storytelling, research and policy initiatives.
The event, Hill said by email, “seemed to align with our growth priorities to retain folks who already call Michigan home by showcasing and supporting Michigan’s creatives and welcoming places, but to also be a beacon for those around the country to come and join us.”
Lee has steadily grown his music career with performances at The Magic Stick, Sanctuary Detroit, El Club and for the Detroit Pistons halftime show. This week, he’ll perform and participate in a panel talk at the 2025 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
Red Bull’s sponsorship of Lee’s event comes years after it supported a skateboarding competition in Hart Plaza called Hart Lines, with a top prize of tens of thousands of dollars and a car. The last one was in 2017.
Red Bull did not respond to a request for comment about the upcoming event or why the Hart Plaza competition had been discontinued.
Lee said he hopes that one day the festival can be as big as Mo Pop, a music festival that drew thousands of attendees to Detroit’s riverfront for two-days of indie rock, pop and hip-hop before organizers announced in 2023 it would be discontinued, citing “unexpected challenges” coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee said he’s trying to fill the gap and return the feel of the House of Vans events, and Mo Pop.
“I just wanted to do something different that I feel like hasn’t existed in the city for a while and I want to make a consistent thing that happens years to come,” he said.
