Health Concerns Cancel Homecoming, Summer Concert Series Planned

DEARBORN, MI — A year after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancelation of Dearborn’s annual Homecoming summer festival, health concerns will again prevent the annual weekend celebration from taking place.

Mayor Jack O’Reilly held a briefing session with the Dearborn City Council this week regarding the festival, which has been held for more than 40 years each August. Citing ongoing health concerns, the decision to not hold the festival was again made, a city spokeswoman confirmed to Patch on Thursday.

Instead, the internal Homecoming committee will pursue an “upbeat alternative” for the festival and a series of smaller concerts throughout the summer will be held that “should capture the essence of our traditional community celebration,” spokeswoman Mary Laundroche wrote in an email to Patch.

Laundroche said that non-profit organizations that have regularly been part of the festival are in favor of the concert series plan. Details of the concert series will be announced shortly, Laundroche said, adding that the schedule will be based on safety protocols at the time and will be subject to change.

Last year, city officials canceled Homecoming in May in light of public health concerns surrounding the pandemic. At the time, O’Reilly said that the city looked forward to hosting a community celebration that would include food and fireworks. The city announced that the festival requires about $100,000 in sponsorships to be raised each year to cover the costs of the festival and as of mid-May last year, no sponsorships had been confirmed.

City officials are also exploring options for Memorial Day as well. Laundroche said it is unlikely that a traditional parade will be possible due to safety concerns. However, discussions with key stakeholders are still taking place and a final determination of how the holiday will be observed has not yet been made.