July 7, 2007

Food, music draw crowds to CityFest
Jonnelle Marte


Bassist Marion Hayden and saxophonist Allan Barnes, both of Detroit, play with Malik
Alston and Friends on one of CityFest's four music stages.

Nelsol Batalla, 22, and Kristy Duprey, 21, both of Troy, share barbecued ribs and fries
during the 19th annual Comerica CityFest in the New Center area of Detroit.

Detroit artist Daniel Muhammad, 73, draws
a portrait of Machelle Lee, 35, of Detroit on Friday.

DETROIT -- Daisy Gulley sat in the shade by one of the stages at Comerica CityFest 2007, bobbing her head and tapping her toes to jazz music. While she waited for a friend to join her, she finished off a bowl of butter pecan ice cream, but it wasn't the food that drew her there Friday afternoon.

"We just like to listen to the music," Gulley said.

There was a lot of eating, strolling and humming on the third day of CityFest, formerly known as Comerica TasteFest.

Barbara Profit brings five of her grandchildren, nieces and nephews to the festival every year. They fed goats at the petting zoo and joined an interactive African drumming performance before scouting out the food options.

More than 100,000 people have come out to the New Center area for the 19th annual summer festival, where businesses tout their best merchandise, local eateries show off their best dishes, and bands blast all types of tunes.

"It's been going pretty smoothly so far," said Becki Carr, a spokeswoman for CityFest. "The performances are going great. We're expecting a pretty big turnout the last two days, for sure."