NEWSPAPERS n o i t i d E l a i c e p S
The new Arts, Beats & Eats logo was revealed at a press conference June 12 in Royal Oak. The design pays homage to the original logo from 1998.
JUNE 26, 2024 candgnews.com
Oakland County papers
Troy resident Ian Osuna, 14, gets behind the wheel at Skip Barber Racing School’s Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Photo provided by Judy Davids
Photo provided by Alfonso Osuna
Troy resident has eyes set on ‘Road to IndyCar’ after completion of Formula 4 race training
Event organizers promising excitement for 2024 festival BY TAYLOR CHRISTENSEN tchristensen@candgnews.com
ROYAL OAK — The nationally recognized festival Arts, Beats & Eats is preparing for the 2024 end-of-summer celebration, and organizers of the event have announced new initiatives and entertainment that they expect will make this year one to remember. Arts, Beats, & Eats is hosted by Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort and presented by Flagstar Bank. The four-day event will be returning to downtown Royal Oak on Labor Day weekend from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. In 2023, Arts, Beats, & Eats event brought in an estimated 345,000 people to the streets of Royal Oak and generated more than $386,000 that was donated to local charities. Since the event began in 1998, the festival has raised more than $7 million.
At a press conference June 12, Executive Director of Marketing at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort Raul Venegas unveiled the new logo for the event. Designer Kelsey Mendez created the logo. The logo pays homage to the original 1998 poster with a guitar, fork and paintbrush image to represent all three aspects of the festival. “The new Arts, Beats & Eats logo is a perfect illustration of what is the core of the Arts, Beats & Eats experience,” Venegas said. Along with the new logo, a commemorative poster was revealed, created by professional artist Julie Roth, who was a “best in show” recipient at the 2023 Arts, Beats & Eats juried fine arts show. This year, the Detroit Institute of Arts said it will be adding inclusive and cultural music acts to the kids’ stage that will “captivate and educate young minds,” according to a press release. “We are going to deliver more engaging entertainment in programming that families across See FESTIVAL on page 4A
BY JONATHAN SZCZEPANIAK jszczepaniak@candgnews.com
TROY — You see it all the time with professional athletes and their habits as young children. During a television broadcast of a big game, they’ll show baby pictures of the athletes playing their favorite sport at such a young age. There’s some things that children just cling to and never let go of, and for soon-to-be Troy Athens High School freshman Ian Osuna, cars were always at the forefront. “I remember when he was 2 years old he was always awake and advanced for his age,” Ada Cepeda, Osuna’s mother, said. “I remember he started walking at 8 months old, and at 2 years, he couldn’t communicate very much verbally, but he would know all the brands of the cars in the parking lot just by looking at them in the parking lot. That was the way he was playing. Even at school, we would use cars to get him focused on certain lessons. He’s always had that weird connection with cars.” Osuna’s childhood habits were just a foreshadowing for something much larger — dreams of one day becoming a professional racer. For the past year, Osuna has been a part of the Skip Barber Racing School’s Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The Skip Barber Racing School, founded in 1975, is a developmental program that aims to help young racers learn the competitive ropes of the sport. It has graduated numerous racers that went on to compete in Formula 1, NASCAR, and IndyCar racing series. Skip Barber alumni include NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger, Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo See OSUNA on page 9A