April Showers Bring May Vinyl: Detroit Vinylfest 2026 serenades music fans with records, tapes, CDs, and more at Eastern Market.

Detroit Vinylfest 2026

The second annual Detroit Vinylfest filled Shed 5 in Eastern Market to the point of bursting with over 70 vendors offering vinyl records, CDs, tapes, posters, and more. I couldn’t make it to the inaugural event as it was during the U.P. Fall Beer Festival. I was happy to learn that this year the show was in May. We arrived around noon, and there were tons of music enthusiasts hunting for deals and those elusive and highly coveted white whales. I had a few holes in my metal selections from the ‘90s when I’d switched over from vinyl to CDs. I set off in search of treasure.

Guest Stars and DJs

This year’s event featured a number of special guest stars offering to sign albums, take photos, talk with fans, and sell merchandise. Chris Fehn of Slipknot was in the house. On the local legend front, Tino Gross, of Howling Diablos fame and now Tino G’s Dumpster Machine, was on hand with albums and was happy to share a photo.

Every hour of Detroit Vinylfest featured DJs spinning wax. We caught the dynamite grooves of Paul Karatsinides and Cornelius Harris. Each of them pumped up the vibes with plenty of funk and tight beats.

Seeing Old Friends

One of the best parts of Detroit Vinylfest, beyond digging for treasures, is seeing our friends. We ran into Geoff and Jon of Geoff and Jon’s Record Show. They had a sweet spot near the DJs where they had several tables jammed with potential vinyl gold. If you find yourself up in Marquette, don’t miss Jon’s store, The Emporium.

Casey had his Rock and Rummage tables rocking. He has it all, including a nice selection of punk, indie, and metal. Plus, if you are into collectibles with a horror vibe, he’s got you covered.

We caught Jon Ponder of Quarantine Records hard at work making vinyl dreams come true. Jon has a fabulous selection of jazz as well as pop/rock discs. Heads up, as Quarantine Records will be in Chelsea this summer and will be part of our GIG – The Art of Michigan Music market on Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25.

When Nate isn’t busy booking off-the-hook shows at the Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, you can find him selling cassette tapes. He had a wide range of cassettes that took me back to the good old days. Now I just need to buy a cassette deck.

New Friends: Motor City Vinyl Club and Ginkgo Records

Brenda found me in the midst of digging through Stax of wax to hand me a card. It said, “Motor City Vinyl Club” at the top. I asked Brenda where she got this and then wandered over to say hello and, of course, get a photo.

I love the concept of the Motor City Vinyl Club. They are a group of record enthusiasts who get together for mix-and-mingle club events, record-store crawls, and listening sessions. To join, you simply visit and follow their Instagram page, then come out to an event. Now, if we can pair this up with some Michigan craft breweries, I’ll be in heaven.

With so many awesome vendors at the Detroit Vinylfest, it was hard to meet everyone. However, I did chat briefly with Shelley, the owner of Ginkgo Records. After working at other stores, such as Hello Records, Shelley has a physical store of her own. It is located inside the 27th Letter Books, at 3546 Michigan Ave. (just west of Michigan Central Station). In addition to a great record selection, Ginkgo is putting on live shows! Plus, they are a small independent record label! I’m looking forward to a visit to the store.

Metal Score

My last stop of the day was at the tables of Apex Records. I noticed the plethora of metal, hard rock, and grunge, so of course, I stopped. I was blown away by the selection! They had re-releases of some classic metal albums that I was on the hunt for. I grabbed a copy of Mastodon’s Remission, Megadeth’s Rust In Peace, Pantera’s Cowboys From Hell, and Coroner’s No More Color. All of them are re-releases, which is just fine with me.

As I mentioned earlier, I have all these on CD. When CDs were the thing, I stopped buying vinyl and only bought CDs. I thankfully kept all my vinyl records from back then. Now that vinyl is once again available, I need to swap out the CDs I can’t even play (no CD player) for vinyl. I’ll have to clean out the CDs from the basement and have a sale.

Pictures

There are a few more photos from the Detroit Vinylfest in our gallery.

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