A Community Tradition

The Allen Park Street Fair will return to Downtown Allen Park this summer, transforming Allen Road into a festival full of live entertainment, more than 200 artist and craft vendors, food, family activities and fun for all.

In its 44th year, the highly anticipated community tradition is expected to draw over 75,000 residents and local visitors over the course of the two-day event.

The well-known festival took second place for “Best Local Event” last year in the News Herald’s Best of the Best.

“The street fair is very important to our community and is the city’s biggest signature event,” said festival chairperson Kyle Waligora.

The fair will run from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on August 7-8, with live entertainment running until 11 p.m.

Local live bands are a hallmark of the festival. This year, headliners include The Family Tradition Band on Friday and Sunset Boulevard on Saturday, who will both take the Lee Family Dental stage from 8-11 p.m.

Vendors from across the United States travel to Allen Park to participate in one of Michigan’s largest street fairs and are selected through a jury process to maintain the fair’s longstanding reputation for high-quality goods.

The jury process includes a panel comprised of three people, including working artists and community members, with diverse backgrounds and skillsets. Vendors and crafters are selected based on quality and original handmade items including candles, ceramics, clothing, digital art, drawing, fiber, floral, glass, jewelry, metal, painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, specialty food, wood and more.

More than 20 food trucks will be onsite, offering a wide variety of food, drinks and treats for patrons to enjoy during the fair.

This year, the Allen Park Street Fair is celebrating 60 years of the iconic Uniroyal tire, a historical landmark that has welcomed drivers along I-94 and has represented the city since 1966.

The tire was originally a Ferris wheel created for the 1964 New York World Fair and was later transported to Allen Park and displayed outside of U.S. Rubber’s Midwest corporate headquarters, becoming a landmark to those who call Metro Detroit home.

Tradition and community are major themes of the Allen Park Street Fair, with the festival going strong for more than four decades and continuing to grow each year.

“It truly is a homecoming for our community,” Waligora said. “A lot of people who have moved out of the city always come back for it because they want to see their old friends and the city they grew up in.”

Last year, the Allen Park Street Fair introduced a completely free Kid Zone, which will return for 2026. Located in the middle of the fair near the old dollar show movie theater, the children’s area will feature inflatables, arts and crafts and activities for kids completely free of charge.

Waligora explained that more than just putting on a great event, giving back to the community is a major goal of the street fair.

Each year, the Allen Park Festivities Commission raises money to support the city’s charities and departments.

“We raise a lot of money to support our departments when they need just a little bit of extra funding on wish-list items,” Waligora said.

The Commission has funded exterior vests for the police department, noise-canceling headphones for the fire department’s runs, new dugout benches and picnic shelters for the parks and recreation department, new barricades for the department of public services and more.

“We take pride in keeping the street fair grassroots and family friendly but also making sure that we raise as much money as possible for our charities and events,” Waligora said.

The Allen Park Street Fair would not be possible without the volunteer planning team who puts the event together each year.

For more information or to become an event sponsor, visit www.allenparkstreetfair.org.