DEARBORN — The Arab International Festival will be going through some changes this year, the city announced last week.  The 18th annual event, that will take place from June 14-16, includes a change of location and stronger enforcement by the city. 

Ford Woods Park, located off of Greenfield Rd., will be the new location spot for the festival, which attracts thousands of visitors every year for performances, food, games and rides. In previous years, the festival was located on Warren Ave., in between Schaefer and Wyoming.

Organized by the American Arab Chamber of Commerce (AACC), the city has been looking for alternative locations for a few years now. Mayor Jack O’Reilly expressed interest in moving the festival to Ford Woods Park last year, however the AACC didn’t agree with the change then, fearing that the park wasn’t large enough to host the festival.

But employees of the Recreation and Park Department seemed to have figured out a new layout for the festival, which they believe will transition well at Ford Woods. Instead of the festival having a long linear layout, it will now spread out on a block of land.

The change of location may come as a relief for business owners on Warren Ave., who have told The Arab American News previously that they feel the festival has become a burden on their businesses, sensing that its turned into a battlefield for religious groups  and freedom of speech activists who have contributed to growing tensions in recent years.

The city feared that the annual event had become too much of a liability issue. Numerous lawsuits have been spawned from the festival that have targeted the city, the organizers of the event, as well as the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, who took over security operations last year after the city preferred to have their police department opt out of being responsible for overlooking the three-day event.

Four Christian Missionaries who were arrested in 2010 went on to sue the city for depriving them of their freedom of speech rights. In 2012, a YouTube video went viral that depicted a group called “The Bible Believers” marching through the festival holding signs that read “Prophet Muhammad is a pedophile,” while holding a pig’s head on a stick. Those actions enticed festival attendees to throw rocks, bottles, and debris at the protestors. The bible group called the incident a public stoning, creating more negative press for the festival.

But this year, Dearborn Police will once again resume security operations during the event. The city hopes they can control the crowds accordingly, as the festival will be fenced in. Talks of an admission fee at the entrance are also on the table. 

One detail regarding the new location has still not been finalized however. The city is still looking at parking options during the three day festival. The park stretches across a five-block neighborhood, and some have expressed concerns that festival attendees will park their vehicles in front of residential homes, which the city is looking to avoid.

The city is still looking to finalize official parking space during the three-day festival, and is planning to have shuttle services transport attendees back and forth from the parking site to the festival grounds. 

During last week’s city council meeting, Councilman Robert Abraham suggested prohibiting parking in the neighborhood after a certain time, which would force loiterers to leave and allow the area to be cleaned. Councilman David Bazzy suggested that residents who live near the park should be able to get free passes, similar to the neighborhoods around Ford Field, who get a free pass to the annual Dearborn Homecoming event. 

Fay Beydoun, the executive director of the AACC said the following in regards to the announced changes. 

“The chamber is in the process of assessing the move.  We thank the City of Dearborn for its support and we look forward to finalizing the details as soon as we receive the information requested from the city.”