HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Detroit Food and Music Festival in Highland Park is changing locations with a little more than two weeks before show time.
Watch Whitney Burney's video report:
The festival was set to take over Avalon Village in Highland Park, but will now be moving to the Detroit Riverfront.
Organizers say administrative complications with the city forced them to make the changes.
Starex Smith, also known on social media as The Hungry Black Man, made the announcement Monday night via Facebook. The popular food blogger has been hosting the festival in Highland Park for the last two years.
"I’m so sorry to the people of Highland Park. I don’t know where we go from here," said Smith in a Facebook Live Tuesday as he explained the changes. "There were people coming up at that festival and saying how much they appreciated this being in Highland Park and bringing visibility to Highland Park."
In its first two years, the event brought out thousands of people to support local retailers and food trucks.
"We didn’t know it was going to be of that magnitude, but it was a beautiful thing, and so the whole block had plenty of food trucks, folks coming," said Mama Shu with Avalon Village as she described the event in previous years. "No incidents, peaceful. Every single one we had security, double security, posted everywhere, and it was a free community event."
Mama Shu estimated attendance of about 10,000 people in the first year and 13,000 people in the second year. She says it was a great way to support local business owners who need it.
Mama Shu says this year they had planned to beef things up by reigniting the city's once popular music festival and coupling the two events together.
While the music festival will still be held at Avalon Village on August 8th and 9th from 3-10 p.m., the food festival is now moving to the Detroit Riverfront.
"Due to some administrative complications, basically it was moved and the decision was made by the organizers of it, and, actually, they were very, very sad about it because the intention was to bring more focus on what we’re doing here in Highland Park," she explained.
The city of Highland Park says they were unaware that the festival was being moved until a post on social media Monday. Mayor Glenda McDonald says to her knowledge, they were only awaiting some final paperwork before moving forward with the event.
"It is a very bittersweet thing, but nothing worth having comes easy upfront, but growing pains at the end of the day are still a good thing," said Godwin Ihentuge with Yum Village.
Ihentuge's restaurant is located just down the road from the city of Highland Park in Detroit's New Center neighborhood. Yum Village also has a food truck that he says they often use for festivals and events.
The restaurant has participated in the food festival in Highland Park in years past, and they're still deciding if they will take part this year. Ihentuge says it was a great opportunity for Highland Park/Detroit business owners.
"I think the last one did 13,000, previous one did 10,000. Imagine how many of those 13,000 people in a city that’s different from Detroit, in a city that’s different from my own, get to learn about our business, and now they’ll come and hopefully patronize us," he said.
Community leaders say, despite the changes, they're looking forward to hosting other events for residents.
"Sometimes things happen, and it’s okay, but one thing about it, we’ll never skip a beat here," said Mama Shu.
For more information on the music festival still happening in Avalon village, click here.
For information on the Detroit Food Festival, click here.
