By Lindsey Brownfield

Performers, vendors and community members flocked to the lawn of Good Beans Cafe on September 6, 2025 for Goodstock, the Carriage Town cafe’s annual free community festival.

Goodstock is part of the Greater Flint Art Council’s Parade of Festivals, and this year’s iteration featured performances from Deonata Gaddy Jr., Flint Rocks Youth Empowerment Music Camp (FRYE), students from Flint School of Performing Arts, and blues band Larry B and The Boomers.

Additionally, Yvette’s Tacos and The Local Grocer served up tasty treats and dry ice-cooled root beer, alongside Good Beans’ regular offerings of espresso drinks and hot tea.

Festival-goers also bought artistic creations from artists Mindy Beecher and Craig Hinshaw, got henna tattoos at Henna Farasha, smelled candles from Flint Candle Company, and shopped through an indoor rummage sale in Good Beans’ Anteroom.

Good Beans proprietor Ken Van Wagoner shows off a winning smile and epic mustache as he greets guests and attends to the needs of performers and vendors. (Photo by Lindsay Brownfield)
Inside the cafe, volunteers serve hot drinks to thirsty customers at the well-loved Good Beans bar, which was once a fixture in the basement of The Capitol Theatre. (Photo by Lindsay Brownfield)

Clockwise from left: 1) Henna artist Nadia Alamah carefully applies henna to the hand of one of her customers. “I’ve done a lot of different kinds of work, but this combines all of the things that I love to do, because I love to draw, I love to draw on people, I love to connect with my community, and I love to hear different stories,” Alamah told East Village Magazine. 2) A family checks out trinkets and polished stones sold by Wishing Waters, a new local business run by Tia Maria Mahadeva. 3) Flint School of Performing Arts student Elizabeth Beland performs Bach Sonata No. 1 Adagio and Fugue on the violin. (All photos by Lindsay Brownfield)

Walter Billings plays bass with his band Retail For Another Time from the Flint Rocks Youth Empowerment Music Camp (FRYE). Walter is one of 27 kids who attended FRYE music camp this summer where they formed bands, wrote original songs, and performed for a packed house at Flint 432. FRYE has been giving kids musical opportunities since 2018, formerly under the name Girls Rock Flint.
(Photo by Lindsay Brownfield)

Left to right: 1) There were smiles all around as the people of Flint enjoyed music, food, and community at this year’s Goodstock. “This is not goodbye summer, but more like ‘Oh, hi there fall, I see you creeping in so let’s have one more gathering before it’s over,’” said Ken Van Wagoner, owner of Good Beans Cafe. 2) Mother Rebecca LeMay and daughter Camrynn LeMay enjoy music during the 2025 Goodstock Festival at Good Beans Cafe in Flint, Mich. (Photos by Lindsay Brownfield)

Family, friends, and community members enjoy performances by FRYE and Flint School of Performing Arts at the 2025 Goodstock event on the lawn of Good Beans Cafe in Flint, Mich. (Photo by Lindsay Brownfield)