MICHIGANBEAUTIFUL COURTESY PHOTO
BY CHANA ELIAS | Staff Writer
Nat Edmunds originally wanted to be a historical tour guide for Ypsilanti, but the request for the grant money to fund this dream was denied by the Michigan Department of Commerce due to insufficient funds.
But Edmunds found a loophole: There was money for emerging festivals.
In 1978, Edmunds took the Michigan Conventions and Visitors Bureau employees who came to Ypsilanti to see what was so historic about it on her infamous tour. By 1979, the funds were in place for the first Ypsilanti Yesteryear Heritage Festival. In 1982, the yesteryear was removed from the name, but the annual summer festival still stood strong in Ypsilanti’s Riverside Park.
Thirty-five years later, the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival remains as a free-admission event alongside the Huron River in Ypsilanti. This year, the festival will be held from Aug. 16-18 in Riverside Park.
The Heritage Festival has something that most people can enjoy. Astronomy lovers can attend the Eastern Michigan University planetarium event or the skyviewing in Sherzer Hall, all free and a part of the Heritage Festival. There are also museum, garden and historical home tours available.
But if outer space is something you’d prefer to leave outside your space, the Riverside Beer Tent and Casino will be open for specific hours during the event. A pinball machine will also be placed inside the casino, and all of the proceeds will benefit the Heritage Festival.
Heritage can be well described by food, which the festival will be anything but short on. There will be community vendors on site, as well as a few scheduled community meals.
DIYpsi will be at the festival and selling crafts alongside other local arts and crafts vendors. The marketplace allows community members to show off their crafts and other businesses, in addition to being able to find out more information about different local organizations.
Parades and children’s entertainment is ample at this event that pulls families from across Michigan to attend this annual low-cost event. A Native American pow-wow will also be featured at the festival, as well as live musical entertainment.
While admission is free to the Heritage Festival, many events do have a fee. Visit www.ypsilantiheritagefestival.com for more information and schedule of events.
