Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion has never been just a shopping district. It has always been a mirror. A reflection of Black ambition, creativity, and survival stitched into every sidewalk square. When Light Up Livernois returns on Saturday, July 5, it won’t be arriving as a summer festival. It will be walking back onto sacred ground — honoring the hands that built it, the businesses that held it down, and the culture that still radiates from one storefront to the next.
From noon to 8 p.m., Livernois Avenue between 6 Mile and 8 Mile will transform into a cultural corridor designed to showcase Detroit’s most essential elements — Black music, Black fashion, Black food, and Black entrepreneurship. This event, produced by the Independent Business Association (IBA), has earned its place as a Detroit tradition, driven by a purpose deeper than entertainment. It’s an economic engine, a creative explosion, and a community-led response to what it looks like when Detroit centers itself — out loud and on its own terms.
“Light Up Livernois is where culture meets commerce,” said Rufus Bartell, one of the longtime stewards of the corridor and a voice behind the IBA. “It’s a space to showcase our fashion roots, our musical heartbeat, and the entrepreneurs driving growth in one of Detroit’s most iconic neighborhoods.”…