Festivals / Midtown (Cultural Center, centered at the DIA)
Concert of Colors
A free global-music festival held each July across about 13 Midtown venues centered at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
01 / The story of this place
Make time for these
Founded in 1993 by Ismael Ahmed (then head of ACCESS) with New Detroit, it began as a one-day event at Chene Park and drew more than 100,000 people by 2001. Today it spreads across about 13 Midtown venues, including Orchestra Hall and MOCAD, with the DIA as its hub. The 35th edition in 2026 featured Sheila E., Steel Pulse and the Kronos Quartet.
- Free admission
- World, soul, reggae and jazz
- About 13 Midtown venues
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 2
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Diego Rivera 1886–1957 · painter, muralist
Worked here
The former Garden Court where he painted the 27 Detroit Industry fresco panels; the murals remain on view in what is now Rivera Court.
- Edsel Ford 1893–1943 · president of Ford Motor Company, art patron
Related place
Edsel paid for Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry fresco cycle, painted here in 1932–33 and now a National Historic Landmark.
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Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
Events at this place
Published events automatically linked from our event guide. Times are local to the venue.
We have no published upcoming events linked to this place yet. That does not mean the venue has no events; check its official calendar too.
Official website & visitor information ↗