John E. Lobbia, chairman and chief executive officer of Detroit Edison, and Peter D. Cummings, principal of Peter D. Cummings & Associates, will co-chair the 1998 Detroit Festival of the Arts, which opens on the day of the Inaugural Ceremony for Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid.

The inaugural celebration was planned to coincide with the festival. The Inaugural Ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 18, in the Detroit Institute of Arts; the festival opens at 11 a.m. and runs through 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20.

A full week of inaugural activities leads into the festival, beginning at 9:30 Monday with a "Symposium of Religion in Modern/Campus Life".

Lobbia, who has chaired the fall event the last two years, said the addition of Cummings will provide additional expertise to help further the success of the festival.

Cummings also is a board member and vice chairman of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and is a board member of the Greater Downtown Partnership, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and Commerce Bank.

The festival will feature more than 500 visual and performing artists, including stage and street performers. Also included will be a children's festival, festival of banners, literary arts festival, sand sculpture, live entertainment and an international food zone.

The festival attracted 250,000 people last year and a goal to double that figure by 2000 has been set by the University Cultural Center Association, which sponsors the festival.