For eight Memorial Day weekends, Detroit's Hart Plaza has drawn electronic/techno music fans from around the world. The first fest in 2000 shocked everyone by numbering over a million. Attendance at subsequent festivals--which in those days were free--soared. But the economy, conflicts among the organizers, and other issues almost closed it down entirely in 2005. The next year Paxahau Event Productions took it over and things seem to be going smoothly now. Smoothly but at a pretty steep price for the mostly-young crowd who attends. This year tickets at the gate cost $26 for one day and $46 for the weekend. In 2006 and '07, the numbers dropped to around 50,000. However the quality of music has remained high, folks still come from around the world, everyone seems happy, and in my opinion, Paxahau has done a good job of organizing what they now call Movement 07. For a brief history of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, click here.

I discovered electronic music at my first festival in 2005. It was love at first beat. This year I was down at Hart Plaza for a total of 30 hours in 3 days, dancin' like a fool and meeting hundreds of terrific young people who seem to think it's pretty cool that a 65 year-old white-haired mobility scooter-riding woman loves what they love. They even named me "Grandma Techno"! So sit back and enjoy the ride...