The benefits of living downtown in Kalamazoo (for now) are pretty sweet. I'm within walking distance of a ton of great places to eat and drink a beer. BUT, it also puts me right on top of everything happening in the city's central hub, INCLUDING being one of the first to notice a change to some of downtown's streets.

If you catch some of the crosswalks down there, you'll see a familiar sight from four years ago... the piano key crosswalks. This Sunday, the Gilmore International Piano festival returns to Kalamazoo for the first time in 4 years, kicking off three weeks of performances, workshops, films, master classes with some of the greatest players, LITERALLY from across the entire globe.

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I may be new to the area, but this is a festival I've heard about before (my parents are both band directors and musicians). So, the opportunity to see some of it up close and personal is gonna be cool. However, I probably got MORE excited about seeing the piano key crosswalks than anything.

"Big" was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I would have been three when it came out, but THAT scene, where Tom Hanks dances on the keyboard with Robert Loggia, and they play "Heart and Soul," UGH, man, I always wanted to do that.

Now, there actually ARE giant keys on the ground in Kalamazoo, and while they don't play any notes when you step on them... it's still kinda fun to think about that. So if you see a random bearded man dancing around on the crosswalks sometime in the next three weeks, just... mind ya business. I'm living out a bit of a childhood fantasy.

Also, at least find ONE thing to do at the Piano Festival over the next few weeks.

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