GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's the first of its kind in Grand Rapids: The Grand Rapids Ballet is hosting a Summer Dance Festival outside the Peter Martin Wege Theatre starting Friday night.
And while performing outside isn't new for the Grand Rapids Ballet, the fact that the two-day festival is free is something really special.
A stage is being built right outside the Wege Theater on Ellsworth for the festival.
This Friday and Saturday, there will food trucks and plenty of Michigan craft beer to enjoy along with performances by not only the Grand Rapids Ballet but several other Michigan performance groups as well.
"I've invited performers from all over Michigan to perform in this Summer Dance Festival," explained Artistic Director James Sofranko. "It's a celebration of dance, of course we will be performing as the Grand Rapids Ballet and we will also have performances from contemporary groups, hip hop groups. We have other cultural groups like a Chinese traditional dance group, a Mexican dance group, an African dance group, so a big celebration of dance in honor of our 50th anniversary."
The celebration is happening this Friday and Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. It's completely free, but bring money for the food, beer and ice cream trucks. And don't forget your own lawn chair as well.
For more information on the festival, click here.
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