Our plans for the Mity Nice Street Fair July 8 are heating up, and we want to tell you about some of them.

We have some great street performers and musicians coming – some from as far away as Toledo and Detroit – for this Second Sunday celebration, which we hold in partnership with The Sunday Artisan Market. (More about those fine entertainers in a future post.)

And we have some ways you, our customers and audience, can join in and play.

We are going to have a hula hoop making area. Cost of this will be $7 per hoop (because our cost of recycled materials) and we hope to have some hoopers around to teach you tricks and some fun.

We will offer free juggling lessons – bring your own juggling balls or borrow some of ours.

And at our Mity Nice Arts & Crafts table, we will be making sock puppets and other puppets.  (These are free, or make a donation to our July charity of the month.)

We’re making our first sock puppet this week, so watch for her to show up here in a photo in a day or three. On July 8, we’ll put on an improv puppet show at 3:15 p.m. at the Arts & Crafts table.

Plus we know that savoring a lemon or Michigan Cherry or pineapple Italian ice often incites joy and playfulness, so we expect some spontaneous fun to show up too.

Besides our special events known as the Second Sunday celebrations at the Artisan Market, Mity Nice gets invited to some fabulous community parties and events too.

Some are private events – birthday parties and an Italian ice party at a senior citizens complex were recent examples. But many are open to anyone, or anyone with a ticket or a place along the sidewalk.

Here’s a look at some of our upcoming events and activities:

• The Zany Umbrella Circus at the Leslie Science & Nature Center.  On June 30, we will serve lemonade, Italian ice and other treats to the audience (and donate a percent of sales back to Leslie Science Center). This folk art troupe is fabulous, fun and so funny, so buy your tickets now.
• The Jaycees 4th of July Parade.  We’ve been in the parade for a few years, pushing the cart (decorated in bunting and flags and more) and pulling some wagons full of kids and candy alongside our Tea Haus friends. This year, though we’re a sponsor of the parade!
• Huron River Day. This beautiful day – July 15 – out at Gallup Park gives us a chance to drink in the beauty and drink up on lemonade. Plus there’s great kids activities and kayaking for $5.
• The Townie Party.  We love this town, and we adore the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, too. So we’re jumping into this tradition on Monday evening, July 16. Our friends from the Tea Haus will bring some delicious flavors of iced tea and we’ll have fresh-squeezed lemonade and many flavors of Italian ice. We’ll be the ones with the red, white and green umbrella and the very cool treats.
• Mystery event.  We are not allowed to tell you about this one just yet, but it’s going to be amazing. If you haven’t friended us on Facebook, be sure to do that. That’s where this event will show up first.

Ann Arbor’s sidewalks and streets are busy in July, starting with the Ann Arbor Summer Festival and the 4th of July Parade by the Jaycees and going through the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, which take over many streets July 18-21.

So our Mity Nice Street Fair will fit right in – and stand out.  We’re celebrating street performers, the buskers who entertain us while we wait for the bus or subway, as we sip coffee or savor an Italian ice on Main Street and when we visit the Farmers Market or the Diag. Some are musicians, some improv artists, some juggle or sing.

And we celebrate street food – that easy to walk with, easy to pick up from a cart or stand fare that makes summer and busy lives so much better.  We mean pizza and hot dogs, and maybe we’ll bring in a taco truck too.

In future posts, we will introduce you to a few of the street performers who will be part of our festival. Right now we want to give you the basics, so you can save the day on your busy summer schedule.

Date: Sunday, July 8

Time:  11:30 – 4  p.m.

Location: The Ann Arbor Artisans Market, Kerrytown  (between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, near Catherine) also at the Mity Nice cart on the sidewalk at 303 Detroit Street

Cost: Event is free, but please bring cash to tip toe performers (and to buy a few lemonades and sweets from Mity Nice or other food from our street food carts)

Get involved:  If you want to perform, please contact us by June 30. We are looking for volunteers to help out in three hour shifts during the Fair, people who like theater and events.

And we’d welcome anyone who wants to adopt-a-busker for $150, to help provide cash prizes and defray the cost of this event. Use our contact us form or yourfriends@mitynice.com

Every weekend’s a good weekend at Mity Nice, where customers enjoy our friendly service, dairy free desserts and commitment to charity and community.

But this weekend weekend will be especially sweet, and also eclectic too. We’re getting around – so it’s a good thing we’re on wheels! Here’s a look at where we’ll be:

• Saturday morning  10-1 – Our usual haunt on Detroit Street just outside the Farmers Market
• Saturday afternoon / evening 1:30 – 8:30 – The African American Festival on Fourth Avenue  (We’re sharing a booth with Papa John’s, so we may be under their tent, but we’ll try to put up our umbrella too.)
• Saturday afternoon – We’re a sponsor of the Dexter-Ann Arbor Kids Run events, so we’ll be out at Pioneer High School.  The Italian ice is free for all runners and volunteers for the event; parents and others can buy some if they like.
• Sunday – 11 – 3:30 back on Detroit Street with our Artisan Friends.  Even though we’re vegan, we’re sharing the space with the Zingerman’s Camp Bacon event, which benefits 4-H of Washtenaw County. So after you’re full of all the salty greasy stuff, stop by for a refreshing lemon or lime Italian ice.

It will be Mity Nice if you stop by and say hello!