Hamtramck’s end-of-summer party attracts thousands of music fans

Detroit rocker Jack White was the star attraction at this year’s Hamtramck Labor Day Fest. Photo by Sal Rodriguez

By Charles Sercombe
Every year, it seems the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival is the best one yet.
This year was no exception. The verdict was unanimous: the festival was a smash hit, offered the best and most varied music line-up of the weekend (and all for free), and had good vibes that proved infectious.
There was only one complaint heard, and that was: why did the festival have to end?
The city’s own promotion campaign, “Discover Hamtramck,” called it “the most magical weekend in Hamtramck.”
On top of all that, the visit by Detroit rocker Jack White on Monday, where he shared the stage with local faves The Hentchmen for a few tunes, attracted an estimated crowd of 20,000 or more fans.
That’s full Pine Knob-level, folks.
It was simply incredible, and a sight for sore eyes. We remember seeing a crowd that size here for hometown hero Mitch Ryder many years ago.
The Canadian rock group Sloan was no slacker either, when it came to pulling in its fan base on Sunday night.
Our favorite music moment, however, was catching Mike Skill of The Romantics, who was backed up by local rockers Ricky Rat, Brian McCarty and Joe Leone.
It was beyond awesome hearing those Romantics tunes live. Sent chills down our arms.
Weather-wise, it was a perfect sunny weekend, without a hint of rain – which, for this summer, was a rarity.

Another of the highlights was Monday’s Hamtramck Labor Day Parade, which showed so much community pride. The only problem was that it was too short.
Monday was kicked into high gear by the ever-popular canoe race held before the parade.
Each year more and more people come to town, armed with wagon loads of water balloons to throw at each other and those taking part in the race.
The weirdness never disappoints in seeing otherwise everyday people who lead normal lives turn into near homicidal water balloon throwing freaks.

But hey, Hamtramck has always been weird.
The only negative hanging over the holiday weekend was a cryptic threat made in June by Councilmember Mohammed Hassan who said he would shut down the festival if he saw “anything going the wrong way,” adding: “We can stop it anytime.”
It was never made clear what he meant by something “going the wrong way.”
Posted Sept. 6, 2024