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— Summer is returning to the lakes area, and with it, the first festival of the season.

Downtown Detroit Lakes will host the 24th Annual Street Faire at the Lakes on Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1.

"We have over 120 booths, with about 20% of those being new artists," says Emma Tomb, outreach and special events manager for the Historic Holmes Theatre, which has been the festival's main sponsor for several years now.

Tomb, who just started her duties at the Holmes in January, says that this is one of the biggest events that she's been involved in organizing thus far.

"I'm excited," she said. "It will be fun to see some of the people I've been emailing with in person."

Among the newcomers that visitors might see this year are "a couple of new woodworkers," she added. "We've also got some macrame and weaving, as well as a couple of painters that are new, and there's a new leather worker as well. He's from North Dakota."

Tomb noted that the artists who exhibit at the Street Faire come from throughout the Midwest. "We have a good handful of local artists, but they're also coming from Fargo-Moorhead, North and South Dakota, the Twin Cities, Wisconsin ... this is the first (festival of the season) for many of them," Tomb said.

Detroit Lakes Tribune file photo

Also new this year is a trio of food vendors, including Caribbean Fusion, Hot-Off-the-Press Paninis, and the Mediterranean Corner Grill, with the latter providing mainly seafood options, Tomb noted. These will join Food Court favorites like Oof Da Tacos, the Aladdin Cafe, Shake Shack, Ruby's Pinoy Foods and a handful of others.

"We have 15 food vendors in all," Tomb said.

And then there's the live music. Most of the performers will be local favorites like Eric Reitan, Tim Eggebraaten, Pat Lenertz (and Friends), Hardwood Groove, Island Time and Sagebrush Revisited, but there are a couple of new names as well.

"Smoky Grooves used to be known as Blue Red Roses, but they've gone through a few changes," Tomb said, while Undecided — yes, that is the band's name, she emphasized — is a new act that will be playing for the Eagles Street Dance on Friday night.

Detroit Lakes Tribune file photo

The exact music schedule for the Holmes Street Stage is as follows:

• Friday, May 31: Eric Reitan, 10 a.m.; Smoky Grooves, 12:30 p.m.; Pat Lenertz & Friends, 2:30 p.m.; Tim Eggebraaten, 5 p.m.; and Undecided, 8 p.m. (for the Eagles Street Dance, which takes place at the same location, in front of the Eagles Club on Holmes Street).
• Saturday, June 1: Island Time, 10 a.m.; Hardwood Groove, 12:30 p.m.; and Sagebrush Revisted, 3 p.m.

Hours for the Street Faire are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Friday (with the Eagles Street Dance starting at 8 p.m.); and 10 a.m.-5 -p.m. on Saturday. The event will take place rain or shine, Tomb noted, though, of course, they're hoping for great weather to boost attendance.

More information is available on the website, as well as on their Tomb said that they will be featuring a new Street Faire artist on their Facebook page every day until opening day.

One thing that local residents might like to take note of: The portions of Washington Avenue, Holmes Street and State Street where the Street Faire will take place are going to be closed to traffic starting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 30, and remain closed to all but foot traffic until approximately 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, after cleanup has finished.