At 40 years old, Labor Day Festival hits a milestone

Once again, Hamtramck shined this past weekend.
The city celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival.
Thousands of visitors came to the festival over the weekend, and enjoyed some of the best live music Detroit and Hamtramck have to offer, as well as the canoe race and Polish Day Parade.
The festival also once again raises the issue of who is going to run this event moving forward.
There are currently two festival organizers, Shannon Lowell and Konrad Maziarz, who are assisted by several others.
They are all volunteers. Sure, the city’s Downtown Development Authority kicks in $10,000 to help with upfront costs, but that’s not enough.
Both Lowell and Maziarz have strongly hinted that, after 10 years of organizing the festival, they are tired and are looking to bow out.
A festival of this size should not have to rely on volunteers. Instead, the city should take over this responsibility and hire someone to organize it.
Or, perhaps the festival at age 40 is something that has run its course.
We think there is still community support for the festival.
City officials need to step up and seriously consider the festival’s future.
In the meantime, a big thanks goes out to all of those who helped put this festival together and make it a continued success.
Sept. 6, 2019

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