Encyclopedia Of Detroit

Detroit Electronic Music Festival (Movement)

Movement is an annual electronic music festival held Memorial Day weekend at Hart Plaza in Downtown Detroit. The event began in 2000 as the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, when Carol Marvin and her organization Pop Culture Media, with techno artist Carl Craig, organized the first three-day DEMF in celebration of Detroit’s role in the evolution of electronic music and the birthplace of Techno. The Ford Motor Company sponsored the festival from 2001-2002, making it the “Focus Detroit Electronic Music Festival.” In 2003, the festival was produced by techno artist Derrick May, and was renamed “Movement.” May resigned as the festival producer in 2005, and fellow techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson took his place. The festival was renamed “Fuse-In,” and was the first year that the festival changed an admission fee, a necessity to keep the event going. Saunderson stepped down from producing the festival the following year and Paxahau, a Detroit-based promotion company, took over the production of the event, again under the name “Movement.” 

Since its inception, the event in all its forms has reportedly drawn millions of attendees. Hundreds of talented musicians, DJs, and producers, both local and from around the world, have brought their sound to Detroit each year. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 2020 iteration of the event was postponed from May to September, with online components, before being cancelled outright due to the continued state of the virus. 

 


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Detroit Electronic Music Festival booklet, 2004

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