Grand Standing

Downtown fest pulls together art, fashion, and more

Comments (0) By Jose Gonzalez Thursday, Sep 23 2010

When most people think of downtown Phoenix, they envision the hustle and bustle of First Fridays on Roosevelt or the shiny newness of CityScape. On Saturday, September 25, allow the west end of downtown to reintroduce itself with the second annual Grand Avenue Festival.

More About

The establishment of the funky diagonal street has a diamond-in-the-rough quality that rewards the adventurous. In addition to highlighting the sprinkling of eateries, dive-bar drinking, and local-art havens, the celebration features specially scheduled walking tours, fashion shows, local performers, and musicians.

Devious Wigs & Things, 1229 Grand Avenue, mixes local fashion, comedy, and spoken word starting at 2 p.m., while over at Bragg’s Pie Factory, 1301 Grand Avenue, check out Without Apologies, a three-pronged attack of fashion shows (recycled materials at 5, local boutiques at 7, and local designers at 9).

Other highlights include performance art and storytelling during Show and Tell at Sweets & Beats, 1504 Grand Avenue, as well as the last Phoenix performance by Cali lo-fi dance-pop project Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, which costs $7 and takes place at 8 p.m. at Trunk Space, 1506 Grand Avenue.

Sat., Sept. 25, 8 a.m., 2010