Another year, another great festival and a big thank you

A big congratulation goes out to the organizers and volunteers of the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival.
This year’s festival offered more vendors and another great year for enjoying local music. From what we could tell, it also seemed attendance was up.
Even the weather was perfect, except for Monday evening when a heavy storm passed through and prematurely closed down the festival. But that’s a small glitch compared to how well run the festival was all weekend.
Picking up the thread from last week’s editorial, we will once again stress that the city officials should make this an official city function – which is the arrangement in most towns.
Without a doubt the festival is our best ambassador to the metro area. It draws thousands of visitors each year, and many of our businesses benefit from this.
The festival has a small-town charm to it, and thankfully is more welcoming and fun than that pesky Arts, Beats and Eats held during the same weekend in Royal Oak.
Hamtramck is down-to-earth and not pretentious – the polar opposite of Royal Oak.
But it could use a helping hand from city hall. We shouldn’t burden organizers with having to worry over being able to pay their bills. Let’s keep that small-town feel, but give the folks running it a safety net.
There is no reason why the city can’t partner-up with volunteers. We have another year to think this over, hopefully someone in city hall will see the wisdom in embracing the festival as a city event.