For some, the 13th year of the Arts, Beats & Eats festival will go down in the record books as the year of overcrowding.

The streets of Royal Oak didn’t seem big enough to contain the massive following of Arts, Beats & Eats that has been accrued over the years.

For 12 years, the festival has made its home in Pontiac, but when negations for a contract renewal came up dry, the festival officials decided to explore different locations.

This year, the festival took a historic move from downtown Pontiac to the rather petite area of downtown Royal Oak 10 miles southeast. The entire festival was contained between West Lincoln and just past Fourth Street down Washington.

“It has been a great crowd,” volunteer Gerard Niedbala said. “Seems like it is very well organized.”

It was reported over 360,000 people attended the festival over the Labor Day weekend.

There was financial relief from the $15 parking fee for those who arrived on two wheels.

KLM Bike and Fitness sponsored the HealthPlus Bike corral — an area created for riders to check their bikes and skip the parking fee.

Depending on the day, anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 bikes were checked in to the corral.

The incentive was offered to the bikers who made reservations with the stand ahead of time.

Besides the big shift from Pontiac to Royal Oak, the other big topic of this year’s festival was the ability for residents to carry firearms.

The Michigan Open Carry Law now allows residents to carry their guns as long as the weapon is visible and as long as they possess a permit.

Debate arose regarding whether it was in the best interest of the festival goers and local residents to allow open carry during the festival.

The new freedom didn’t excite the Second Amendment advocates since few cases of visible guns were reported during the fesitval.

Patrons at the festival said any guns they witnessed were only carried by Royal Oak police officers in uniform.

Another thing that was noticeably missing was the art. While the festival had a surplus of food vendors, artists, photographers and craftsmen were in short supply.

Food was a big draw this year for Arts, Beats & Eats with vendors from local favorites like Tom’s Oyster Bar, Zumba Mexican Grille, La Marsa and California Pizza Kitchen.

Randy’s Catering was a large draw  for crowds with their giant smoked turkey legs. At any given time, the line for turkey legs was at least 100 people long.

The change to Royal Oak gave local store owners as well as artists and food vendors an opportunity to market their products to the festival crowd in addition to locals.

A fifth-year Arts, Beats & Eats veteran who runs the Made In Detroit booth, said the change in location has brought in a better crowd. Made In Detroit is country/rock singer and performer Kid Rock’s local clothing brand.

The third component of the festival, the “Beats,” is the most evolving portion. Every year, a different line-up of bands, musicians, and singers perform on the festival’s 10 stages.

The genres of musical groups peforming during this year’s  festival varied from the Royal Oak Symphony Orchestra on Friday evening to country star Clint Black ending the festival on Monday night.

The festival is one of the most common end-of-the-summer activities in Metro Detroit.

The streets of Royal Oak will be the home of Arts, Beats & Eats for the next five years.