CruiseFest parade brings the classics to downtown Berkley

BERKLEY — It was hard to find even an inch of free space on the sidewalks of 12 Mile Road as residents and visitors alike took to the downtown to take in the Berkley CruiseFest Classic Car Parade.

Held on Friday, Aug. 15, the parade featured hundreds of classic cars driving down 12 Mile as the area celebrated the Woodward Dream Cruise weekend.

Richard McGee comes to CruiseFest each year to watch the parade. McGee is a longtime admirer of classic cars, and though he doesn’t own a car like the ones featured in the event, he would gravitate toward getting a Ford Thunderbird.

“The amount of time people spend on these is amazing,” he said.

McGee is a big fan of CruiseFest and said the atmosphere of the parade is something that can’t be captured in pictures.

“It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?” he said. “You can’t take a picture of it that does justice. Like I try to take a picture and show it to people I know in Dallas or California. They have no idea. You can’t take this all on, especially on Woodward. There’s no way you can explain it to people.”

While McGee has been to CruiseFest many times, Amanda Durecka was attending her first parade.

Not a car person herself, her son, Noah, 3, is a massive car lover and Durecka said her father was as well growing up. 

Along with her son, Durecka came to the parade with a group of friends from neighboring Royal Oak and was enjoying the event.

“We moved here from South Carolina,” Durecka said. “They didn't have anything like that where we grew up. So, this is really fun.”

From vintage cars to classic pickup trucks, the CruiseFest Classic Car Parade had something for everyone.

Berkley resident Matteo Passalacqua took his 1971 Chevrolet Nova in the parade. It’s a car Passalacqua has owned for 27 years; he bought it when he was 15 years old.

A frequent participant, Passalacqua rides with his wife and kids in his Nova, which he described as an “under the radar muscle car.”

Passalacqua said he and his family have always enjoyed the parade, getting to be a part of it and seeing their neighbors.

“Car parades are not unique, but there is something about the size, how big it’s gotten, the parade and just the scene of the cars rolling through downtown Berkley at the beginning of dusk,” he said. “The way the natural lighting and the crowd and the car sounds all kind of hits everything, it’s like the perfect mix of nostalgia.”