Toast of the Town … ‘Desi Nights’ highlights the Bangladesh community

By Charles Sercombe
The Hamtramck Bangladesh community was in the spotlight this weekend with a festival dubbed “Desi Festive Nights” on Jos. Campau.
It was a prelude to Hamtramck’s other festival on Campau: the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival, coming up in a few short weeks on Aug. 30-Sept. 1.
(Sniff, goodbye summer, we hardly knew you.)
Toast spent Sunday evening there to soak up the vibes, but, the Bengali community is a late bunch and the action really didn’t start until 8 or 9 p.m. or so.
Early on, therefore, it was sparse, but then, boom, thousands appeared. And we mean thousands.
And, considering it was a 90-something degree day, can you blame anyone for waiting until evening?
The attraction, besides being a celebration of the Bangladesh community, was a line-up of performers also from Bangladesh – including a metal band, if you can imagine.

The vendors offered tons of colorful native clothing, and an eye-popping variety of Bangladesh food faves.
Talk about sensory overload.
Yow.
Toast is getting long in the tooth for late nights, but from what we saw in the early evening and on social media, this was an amazing celebration.
But, critics had plenty to say. Hey, this is Hamtramck, and it’s our god-given right to complain. The main observation: why was so there so much space empty between Caniff and Pulaski?
We wondered about that as well.
Still, we give the organizers a partial thumbs-up for trying a first-time event here on Campau, and hope that things tighten up for next year.
Call it growing pains.
Some on social media suggested this festival would have been better if it were held in Veterans Park, but we liked the urban backdrop.
A lot of credit needs to be given to the Bengali community for rejuvenating this town back in the sleepy 1990s, when many enterprising souls brought the Conant business district back to life.
By the 1980s, Conant was one empty storefront after another – a mockery, and an ugly reminder of a Hamtramck that had once been a thriving community.
We’re looking forward to next year’s festival – complete with improvements.
In fact, if it were up to us, the city would have more festivals. Summer is so short here, let’s enjoy the season!
When it comes to good food and great times, Hamtramck has plenty to offer. In this column, we’ll talk about what’s happening at our bars, restaurants and at other events throughout the city.
Posted Aug. 15, 2025