The Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development is teaming up with Growing Hope to help highlight the quality, diversity, and vitality of Ypsi’s restaurants on August 15 with the sophomore return of the Ypsilanti Food Festival.
Free meal ticket program
While entering the festival will be free, the stalls themselves aren’t, however, they do offer a free meal ticket program. There will be about twenty stalls featuring examples from restaurants, food products and more.
“One of the key components of the Ypsi Food Fest is we do a free meal ticket program,” Deante Bland, the Community Food Hub Manager of Growing Hope, said. “Currently, we accept SNAP benefits, for buying Veggie Bucks and Doubled Up Food Bucks…. They are worth $20 per ticket and are good for each person in the family. They can be redeemed at our hot meal vendors…. It’s a way to enable people who normally can’t afford to come to event to come to the event; and a way for us to also support the vendors who are there as well.”
According to Bland, the program works through funding donated by sponsors in the community, along as funding from WOCED, producing $20 meal tickets issued by Growing Hope. They can then be redeemed at certain locations with signs that identify them as locations that accept those tickets; allowing you to use them like cash. The only caveat, Bland said, is that it isn’t possible to get change from the transaction – if you qualify for the program, and use it, you will need to spend all of the $20 that the ticket is worth, or risk losing any change under a $20 purchase in the process.
This year’s festival
At the moment, they only have 107 tickets available. How many tickets they can produce depends on how many sponsors they get.
This year’s Ypsi Food Fest will take place in the parking lot of the University Bank Commerce Center across Michigan Avenue from the former Eastern Michigan University business school. Things will kick off at 12:30 p.m. and wrap up by 7:30 p.m.
There will also be a kid zone at this family friendly event. Last year, they had a bouncy castle, face paintings, a petting zoo, a mobile book station called the Bookmobile from the Ypsilanti District Library, and a fire truck demonstration from the Ypsilanti Fire Department.
“Firefighters will showcase the equipment carried on the fire truck and explain how each piece is used during emergency responses. They will also demonstrate how Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) are used to help firefighters safely enter and fight fires. As a special hands-on experience, children will have the opportunity to climb inside the fire truck and explore it up close,” Ypsilanti Fire Marshal Clifton Pope told Current. When asked about what YFD staff are likely to go for, he said “The firefighters have a wide variety of foods they would like to explore. Some have a sweet tooth, while others enjoy trying different types of sandwiches. I am certain that the firefighters will have many delicious options to choose from during the food festival.”
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“We have graphic novels (for youth), picture books, non-fiction (for both youth and adults), young adult fiction, series, easy readers, and free books for those kiddos that do not have access to a library card,” the YDL’s Monica Porter emailed. “It will be me and one of my Outreach Parapros, which I think I can speak on his behalf that we are looking forward to the vegan and vegetarian options. I am a vegan that allows seafood in my diet, and I am also looking forward to seafood.”
“The food,” is what Cheranissa Williams, the OCED’s Economic Opportunity Division Administrator, said when asked what her favorite part of the festival is. “I love the variety of food – vegan, vegetarian, and all the other selections. I love the diversity of food there.”
There will be 28 food booths this year. The full list is:
- Vedged Out
- Oh My Chai
- Saucy Chicks
- This N That Cafe
- Shawarma Chef
- The Coffee Bug
- Coco Loco
- Tacos El Panda
- Motor Mouth
- Dixboro Dairy
- Lemonade Stand
- Kona Ice
- No Label Juice
- Miso & Butter
- Sparkly Raccoon
- Sweet 2 Spicy
- Daddy’s Dream Kitchen
- RiteSpice Kitchen
- Lemanations
- Bahama Mama
- The Peach Cobbler Factory
- Rootz and Rolls
- Tanduri Korner
- Cook’s Condiments
- Living Color Juice Bar
- Samosa House
- Dreamy Decadence
- Aunt Erma’s Cookies
Bland said, “I wanted to do an event where hot food makers could build their name and connections hear in Ypsi. The meal ticket program is a subset of that idea that our homeless and financially-at-risk neighbors are able to eat and feel welcome – not just at the free activities, but also here’s food while you’re here as well.”
About 1,200 people attended the inaugural festival according to Bland. Music will be provided by a DJ. Growing Hope also plans on having information available for anyone and everyone who is struggling with the cost of food amid soaring inflation with resources like the Double Up Food Bucks program, non-profit assistance, or navigating through governmental assistance.
Funding for this program comes from Growing Hope itself. However, they are always open to sponsors. Anyone interested in sponsoring the festival this year, or in the future, can get that process going by contacting Bland directly at [email protected].
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!
