Hamtramck Festival

This was really nice!
Not crowded, nice food variety, ample police presence, and the art was great and affordable.
Cute old carnival at the end, no admission fee, and lots of businesses stayed open, a definite plus.
It’s great to see that Hamtramck is still an awesome town!
And Kick As# music!

This is a bittersweet review for me. Bittersweet in the sense that the small group of volunteers who work for an entire year to put this on and stay within an almost nonexistent budget should receive 10 stars. They are true community servants. However, as a venue, the Hamtramck Festival pulls up considerably short and at best receives two stars.
This festival does not embrace or embody what Hamtramck is today. The spirit behind it does. The rides are second rate and dated. Not to the fault of the planners but because the City of Hamtramck does not get behind this financially. A bigger budget would mean better attractions and amusements. Further, the lack of participation from the largest ethnic groups in the city ie. Bengali, Yemeni, Bosnian, Albanian, etc. demonstrates how divided our little community is. The Hamtramck Festival should be a global showcase but alas it is not. The Islamic cultures say they cannot participate because beer is sold at the event but beverage sales make up a large portion of the operating budget. So what would it take to make it happen with profitability in mind? It’s a goose egg in the competitive realm of summer festivals plagued by a history of cheap politics, cultural isolationism and financial mismanagement. This makes it tough for current organizers to make it a go.
Quality vendors don’t participate because local business on Jos Campau poach. For example, there was no line at the food vendor selling hot dogs, nachos and pizza slices but the line at Little Caesars was 50 people deep at all times. Little Caesars pays little to nothing to be part of the festival but greatly profits from the weekend. Would have been nice of LC to at least empty the garbage cans instead of letting the trash over flow in front of their store. Very third world. HF beer is $ 4 a glass with profits going back to HF. However, Carbon was selling drinks for $ 2.50. Game. Set. Match.
Entertainment needs an upgrade. The Polish Muslims are nice but every year? At least Jotown and Danny D didn’t perform. What depth the festival would have with art, crafts, and dancing from with Bengali/​Desi, Polish, Ukrainian, Bosnian and Yemeni cultures. And the food! We’re a small town with many community groups from cultural, worship, philanthropic, municipal, business authorities and schools. Each group should coordinate an activity, food stand or game as a source for fundraising. I’ve seen this work in several equal size communities with much success.
I disagree that AB&E draws all of the money that weekend. It draws, no doubt but the HF isn’t fighting for that audience. Craft beer and art costing $ 100K wouldn’t make this festival. You don’t need Ford to sponsor it but the community and city have to take ownership of this.

All the fun of Arts Beats & Eats without the packed-​in-​assholes-​to-​elbows crowds, the 5 mile away parking, predictable vendors, annoying food ticket system, and unreasonable entry fee.
Park easily, walk right in for free, enjoy unique music offerings from local rock to old man Polka bands. The vendors here are AWESOME, i think I stopped and looked in every booth with genuine interest. It’s not all over priced Detroit t-​shirts and body oils, but true one of a kind local products.
The food is from Hamtramck establishments — delicious, authentic, and usually ethnic. A parade runs through featuring the high school marching band, and a variety of other groups that are the pride of Hamtramck.
Further down the midway are carnival rides and stuff for the kids, but I didn’t have much interest in that.
This is a great, although smaller scale, festival that gets unfortunately overlooked in the shadow of the big Labor Day happenings. But I’ll tell you what, it’s the only one that I will make a POINT to go to each year.
Keep Hamtramck weird. :)

The old poish festival is going strong. I’ve been going there since I was a kid and its improved over the years. Someone said they wish more ethnicities particiated in the event. I have to agree I’d like to see more there myself so I can sample even more than polish food.

I love a good trashy festival and this one is all that and more. Next to the DIY fest, this is my second most favorite to attend every year. I marked it down one star this year because it has gotten smaller than previous years and there weren’t as many food vendors this time around. I always get my first cup o’ beer from the Hamtramck firefighters (I save the cup to use at home, only for serving to the special guests tho). I get my mandatory pierogi and potato pancake and I people watch the $hi* out of this place. Next I hit the bars up and down the street (the beer is cheaper here) Tight Fittin’ Jeans, Carbon, and Whiskey in a Jar. The locals are totally welcoming and we always have a super good time with them. Lets not forget the Polka music. I have fumbled my way through a few of these dances and left laughing every time. Don’t take the festival too seriously. it is what it is.

I really WANT to like this festival, and more than that, I want to believe that it’s different from your run-​of-​the-​mill creeperfest carnival + food booths + games. But… honestly, it really isn’t.
It’s a little bigger than the average city festival, sure, especially when you take into account just how small of a city Hamtramck is, and yeah, there’s a little more variety of food (I had a bitchin’ falafal sandwich this year, and my boyfriend had some greasy-​yet-​delicious pierogi) but at the end of the day it’s just shifty looking carnies, obnoxious kids, and rigged games.
Oh! I almost forgot! One other difference… Danny D, metro Detroit’s own Rod Stewart impersonator has headlined the festival for the past couple of years. If you’re a middle aged lady, all loosened up on Zwiec and ready to get down, he’s definitely your man. If you’re anybody else, you will watch from afar because try as you might, you are unable to avert your eyes from the white-​haired, orange-​skinned little man on the stage as he does a bad impersonation of an already bad singer. Na Zdrowie!

i love the trashy-​ness of this festival.
i love that a 6foot5 trannie invited me to a party, then gave a suburbanite couple an invite and nobody really batted an eye. i go every year with my friends and we always have a good time. it is some of the best people watching in detroit. supporting the hamtrack fire dept by buying beer isn’t so bad either since the city always has budget issues.
and i get really good, freshly made kielbasa and kishka there every year. i guess i just go to the right stand.
you can’t expect this festival to be anything more than it really is. a reason to drink beer, wander up and down joseph campau and laugh a little.
love, juston

It is a shame that so many of the city’s other ethnicities chose not to participate in the Hamtramck festival. The city needs to do a better job of making its booths more affordable to more people.
I thought the bands I heard Saturday were good, and I had some very good BBQ, as well as some outstanding potato pancakes. I heard the firehouse chili was very good. Missed the trannies in pleather skirts, though! The people watching is one of the best things about this event! Only in Hamtramck. :)
I appreciate the line of security that keeps people with alcoholic beverages out of the carnie/​kiddie area.
The porta-​potty situation was ridiculous. As a veteran of several art shows, I know they can do better! The city’s new events coordinator will need to take a read over here.

I read the reviews of this festival and somehow I feel that I didn’t attend the same one that the other reviewers did or maybe everything seems rosier with a good beer or seven. I liked that everyone-​race, creed, religion, or «other“seemed very content. Not overly happy or out of control-​just content. The city seemed unusually clean around the fair and there was enough around to do for a little while. I couldn’t have spend the entire day there, but an hour or so wasn’t so bad.
I honestly didn’t mind the festival. Food and beers were reasonably priced, the weather couldn’t have been nicer, and the Polish Muslims once again brought their easy going and fun fans to the table. I was happy to see blood sausage served at some of the booths and my Polish combo plate was 9 dollars. Was it the best food? No! Was it better than average carni-​fare? Absolutely. Crepes, Perogies, Sausage, and Kraut for the price of roughly two cardboard subway subs. I’ll take it.

The festival has gotten progressively worse over the years. Now it is just a beer-​drinking party. Maybe OK for some, but not great if you live in the town and want to showcase it. It has lost its ethnicity, it has zero to do for families, and it is smaller than it has been in decades.
There are much better community offerings over the long Labor Day weekend.

This festival definitely keeps the heart of Hamtramck in mind.
Like many of the area’s festivals, it combines arts, local foods, music, and a carnivalesque flavor to it, except this one is uniquely Polish. Not surprising!
They have a great deal of carnival-​ish rides for the kids, as well as art vendors. The musicians are relative unknowns, but always entertaining (and sometimes downright awesome. Ever seen a real Polka band live? Those guys are a trip!)
I suggest trying the pierogi eating contest. Could you eat 20 in 3 minutes? Still… it’s a fun idea.
Given the size of Hamtramck, it’s not surprising that this is a small festival. However, there’s a certain charm in that local churches, the Polish community at large, as well as local eateries all contribute to put out a little slice of heaven during Labor Day weekend.
I’d suggest it to anyone, given that some of the other festivals this summer can really eat your money quickly, but this one will not.