Events
Annual Events
REO Town may be best known for its special events. Our organization is volunteer-driven, and we are always on the lookout for sponsors (both in-kind and financial), volunteers, and interesting new event concepts.
Roughly half of REO Town’s events are coordinated by the REO Town Promotions Committee while the other half are partnerships with other neighborhood and event planning organizations.
REO Town Art Attack!
Nightmare Off Elm Street
Nightmare Off Elm Street is REO Town's neighborhood Halloween party! Businesses stay open late, housing pop-up shows from local artists. Come from 5-8 to grab a bite and check out the exhibitions, then stick around for an evening of costume parties, burlesque and drag shows, and spooky hijinks! This event takes place in late October.
Lansing Beer Fest
Lansing Beer Fest is an outdoor beer festival on Washington Avenue between South St. and Elm St. in REO Town. The festival features 20+ Michigan breweries and around 100 craft beers, as well as a variety of ciders and spirits.
Hosted in mid-June, the event offers food trucks, live music, vendors, a great beer selection, and more!
REO Town Thrift Gala and Burlesque Extravaganza
REO Town’s biggest, weirdest fundraiser, the Thrift Store Gala features burlesque and circus arts performers in a warehouse space in the REO Town area.
Attendees are encouraged to wear thrift or vintage apparel featuring the Decadence Dolls, a Lansing pin-up photography studio who sponsored a ‘Miss Thrift” pageant.
How to Get Involved
There are lots of ways to get involved in REO Town!
- Attend board meetings
- Join a sub-committee
- Become a member of the commercial association
- Sponsor an event
- Or hang out and become a regular at one of our local businesses!
The Black Feathers (UK) at The Robin
1105 S Washington Ave, Lansing, MI, United States, Michigan 48910 Map
8PM (7:30 doors)
All ages ($20 adv, $25 door)
BYOB from Sleepwalker!
Superb vocal harmonies and songs from the UK, The Black Feathers caught our ear and we knew you'd love them, too!
“They are one of the finest harmony duos in the UK, writers of gloriously sad ear-worms, and heavenly harmonisers with a telepathic understanding” - Gavin McNamara (Bristol24/7)
”...stunning harmonies that were so good it reminded me of seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings" - No Depression
The Black Feathers, Irish and English-born singer-songwriters Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler are currently residing in Wales, UK — married in life and to the stage since 2012. Over the last few years, they have been spreading their wings across the US and western Canada.
Video 1: youtu.be/CEKyAq1IAd4?si=oUWvHZhhbFk8GLc6
Video 2: youtu.be/FjZnPKVMyl0?si=1-8ozlDuVo-ySC72 (Pogues cover)... See MoreSee Less
Ambient Annotations: August, 2024
The Robin Theatre
Drop in to enjoy ambient sounds and experimental electronica performed by local artists in a welcoming environment. Meet other people interested in making this kind of music, or just enjoy strange sounds in a cozy book shop / theatre setting. Donations welcome, but not required. Performances will begin at noon, and last until about 1:30PM.
Featured artists:
Stephanie E. Vasko (Performance art & mallwave)
@stephanievaskostudio
Platypus Focus (Ambinet synth pop)
Evrgreen (Ambient)
Worm Moon (Goblin synth soundscapes)
wormmoonwormmoon.bandcamp.com/
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Want to get involved? Email Dylan@therobintheatre.com
RSVP to stay informed about future events, or send us a message to inquire about future lineups!
www.therobintheatre.com/events/ambient-annotations-august-2024... See MoreSee Less
RTCA Board Meeting
REO Town
The RTCA Board meets at 6pm on the third Tuesday of each month to discuss updates from our various subcommittees, upcoming events, finances, development news, and any other big-picture REO Town stuff. Board meetings are open to anyone.
A Nightmare Off Elm Street
REO TownLansing, MI48910 Map
It's baaaaaaaaack! Located just off Elm Street is Lansing's historic REO Town, home to some of the city's oldest (and darkest) history. Join us as we once again transform the neighborhood into a spooky spectacular! Details to come...
Natalie & Brittany Haas + Nic Gareiss at The Robin Theatre
1105 S Washington Ave, Lansing, MI, United States, Michigan 48910 Map
7:30 show, 7PM doors
* BYOB from Sleepwalker, next-door to The Robin
Join us in welcoming Natalie & Brittany Haas to The Robin! The sisters bring a collaboration a lifetime in the making, and a music reflecting a wealth of string traditions. The beloved, world-class dancer and musician, Nic Gareiss, opens the show. More below!
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NATALIE & BRITTANY HAAS
Sisters Natalie (cello) and Brittany (fiddle) Haas began their musical lives together, filling their childhood home with Bach suites and old-time tunes alike. It was on their own, however-following divergent paths through disparate musical traditions, countries, and cultures-that they both arrived as virtuosi and composers at the highest levels of contemporary string music. Fans of acoustic music can hardly mention one without referencing the other's work. With HAAS, these singular musicians finally record together - in duo form - for the first time. It is a collaboration a lifetime in the making, and a music encompassing travels through time and through the world From Nashville to Norway, the Celtic Isles to California, Natalie and Brittany have absorbed, adapted, and made their own world of music. The result? HAAS.
“I think I've listened to and loved every recording Natalie and Brittany Haas have made down through the years, but I have been waiting for this recording of just the two of them. Chops, verve, taste and musicality... phew. I love every note. I continue to be in awe of Natalie and Brittany–stars of their or any generation. "Haas" is a stunningly gorgeous album from two of my absolute favorite musicians.” - Liz Carroll
Full EPK: www.nataliehaas.com/haas-press-kit
Video: youtu.be/uI3ykRZEeTA?si=q4O90F2I_fQu4rIn
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NIC GAREISS
Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch,” Nic Gareiss (he/they) has been hailed by the New York Times for his “dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance” and called “the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene” by the Boston Herald. A Lansing resident, Gareiss grew up learning percussive dance from Ireland, Canada, and Appalachia surrounded by fiddlers, banjo-players, and balladeers at folk festivals in the Midwest. This mix of instrumental music, song, and movement from rural places has become the heart of Nic's creative work as a performer. Nic has earned numerous accolades including a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for traditional singer of the year and the Michigan Heritage Award, the state's highest distinction bestowed on traditional artists. He has performed in seventeen countries with many of the luminaries of traditional music and dance at London's Barbican Centre, the Irish National Concert Hall, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Kennedy Center. Always jubilant, often puckishly queer, Nic Gareiss has emerged as one of the most beloved and singular performers of contemporary traditional dance and music.
Website: www.nicgareiss.com
Video: vimeo.com/783621436... See MoreSee Less
REO Town's Christkindl Holiday Market
REO Town
Mark your calendars for REO Town's first ever Christkindl Market! In 2022, Krampus began making appearances in REO Town, taking up residency inside the Marketplace for holiday cheer (and fear.) This year, we want him to feel right at home in the neighborhood with a German-style holiday market! Come do your holiday shopping at our unique, eclectic shops. Enjoy a quick drink or a full meal at your favorite REO Town restaurants, pubs, cafes, and diners. Come for the weird, stay for the wonderful! (More details to come.)... See MoreSee Less