No Rib Fest in Royal Oak This 4th of July Weekend

ROYAL OAK, MI– The popular Rib Fest, which has attracted an estimated 10,000 people in the past, won’t be returning to the Royal Oak Farmers Market this year.

The Royal Oak City Commission on Monday turned down the Fourth of July weekend event after Police Chief Corrigan O’Donohue said negotiations with organizer Matt Flynn of Ultimate Productions “reached a breaking point,” The Daily Tribune reports.

Problems cited by the police chief included last-minute changes and inadequate post-event cleanup.

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After learning of the chief’s objections, John Badanjek, publisher of the sponsoring Detroit Metro Times alternative weekly newspaper, asked the City Commission to delay its vote so businesses and others supporting it could weigh in.

Two commissioners, Sharlan Douglas and Jeremy Mahrle, supported the delay, but a majority voted to go ahead and cancel it.

“I think this is just a too intense use of a very small space,” City Commissioner Patricia Paruch said. “I think the footprint there is much too small for the volume of people they’ll have.”

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• Do you agree with the City Commission on the decision to turn down the 2016 Rib Fest?

This is the second Ultimate Productions event the city has turned down in recent months. In December, the City Commission cited hassles with the Santa Hat Hustle and headed off that event as well.