Public Square - Readers' Choice

Every year we ask: What more could there be to say? What could be new in the 25th anniversary edition of Best of Detroit, that hasn't been said before. But then we print up the readers' ballot and put a version online, and watch as the returns begin. Then we start free associating, opening our eyes to what's around us, letting our ears perk up when someone tells us about a new shop, a new club, a new insight. By the end, this year, we were checking with the production department to see where we might pry loose a little more space. By the end the ideas were flowing. We have to get in the Detroit Party Marching Band, right? And Autotune Karaoke. Got to get that. Tom's Tavern hasn't fallen down yet? Gotta get that. Meanwhile, we're harvesting what 1,000-plus readers have said in our ballots, reminding us of great places, interesting people, important ideas. When we asked for a new slogan for the city, one response was: "A great place to visit, even when you live here." If that makes sense to you, hold on to this as your visitor's guide until we bring you a newer one a year from now.

Contributors: Todd Abrams, Jeff Broder, Curt Guyette. Evan Hansen. W. Kim Heron, Patrick Higgins, Michael Jackman, Jim McFarlin, Megan O'Neil, Marvin Shaouni, Dennis Shea, Jane Slaughter, Brian Smith, Sandra Svoboda, Travis R. Wright

Plus: Detroit Derby Girls & 1,000-plus Metro Times readers

Photos of the Detroit Derby Girls by Marvin Shaouni

with thanks to Eastern Market, Showtime Clothing, Iridescence, Roast, and the Detroit Princess

PUBLIC SQUARE - READERS' CHOICE

Best Local Music Festival

The Hamtramck Blowout
metrotimes.com/blowout

This coveted award has seesawed in recent years from Movement to Blowout. Both create a weekend festival community at once hip and inviting. After this year's Blowout, your head was spinning from the Hard Lessons' passionate farewell (for now) show, the sonic sprawl of JSB Squad, the Yardbirds-at-Chess vibe of Jeecy and the Jungle, Prussia's odd pop propulsions, the frenetic antics of Carjack, the digable debut of electro-pop duo Phantasmagoria, hip-hop conglomerate Cold Men Young and more.

Best Place to See a Mainstream Film

Uptown Palladium 12
250 N. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham; 248-723-6240; palladium12.com

When there's a blockbuster release, metro Detroiters flock here for the contour-hugging seats and other amenities (Starbucks, Little Caesars, etc.) that make worshipping at the big screen a big event. Here you behold a cinema that delivers the shock and awe that the latest generation of high-tech movies require. This is a temple to the cinema of today as much as, say, the Fox Theatre, 17 miles south on Woodward Avenue, was in its cinematic heyday.

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