By: Mark Vest | Farmington Press | Published July 29, 2024
FARMINGTON — This year’s version of the Farmington Founders Festival, which was the 60th edition of the event, has received a mixed bag of feedback.
Prior to the festival, which took place July 18-20 downtown, a couple of Farmington City Council members had some questions for a representative of 360 Event Productions, which produced the festival.
Jenna Smith, an event manager with 360, appeared before council to discuss some of the particulars of the festival at a City Council meeting June 17.
Council member Maria Taylor, who is the council liaison for the city’s bicentennial committee, stated that she had reached out to 360 about the Founders Festival last July, and at an initial meeting a “whole list” of ideas was put forth to incorporate Farmington’s history into the festival.
According to her, only one of those ideas, which was a “Farmington Through the Decades” theme for the Farmington Founders Festival Parade, made it onto the final list.
Farmington has been in celebration mode this year in recognition of its 200th anniversary, and while Taylor expressed appreciation that the decades theme was included, she added that, “We had a whole bunch of other ideas for activities and events and ways that we could bring Farmington history into the Founders Festival, and none of those have been carried forward. … I understand that not every idea is something that can become a reality, but the decades parade was the only thing that made it into the final listing.”
Following Taylor’s comments, Smith had an opportunity to respond.
“There’s some stuff that we are able to put in place and then other things that we have to consider, whether that’s cost variations or what we’re doing with the traditional setup of Farmington Founders Festival and staying true to that as well,” Smith said.
Taylor later asked Smith about what the essence of the Farmington Founders Festival is.
Smith responded that the essence of the festival is the community.
“This town stands behind its festival and it stands behind its community,” Smith said. “You guys come out, you rally together. … This is a pretty unique town, and the uniqueness is shown in the community that comes out and supports each other fully. So that’s kinda, I think, the heart behind it and what it represents.”
Although Taylor agreed with Smith’s assessment about community support for the festival, she added that it “doesn’t always feel very Farmington.”
“I was very much hoping that … we could look back and see visibly, tangibly, in addition to the parade, but perhaps in a more static way, communicated (through) posters (and) activities to the event … Farmington’s history over the past 200 years, everything that makes it special, and I just don’t see that reflected in the event as it stands,” Taylor said. “I think we’d like to see ourselves reflected a bit more in the kinds of events we see. … I’ve always felt in the past couple years that Founders Festival could be picked up and put down in a different city, and it would be the festival for that city.”
Farmington Council member Steven Schneemann also addressed Smith at the meeting.
“When you presented, you talked about the 60th anniversary of the festival, (and) it just seemed like there was a disconnect, because we’re all excited about the 200th anniversary,” he said. “I didn’t know it was the 60th anniversary of the festival. It’s kinda cool, but it isn’t 200 years, and it isn’t the entire city, it’s just our festival.”
Smith acknowledged Schneemann’s comments.
“I know it’s not 200 years, but 60 years of an anniversary of a festival is something to celebrate, so that is why it’s incorporated in what we’re doing,” she said. “Our focus is the festival side; yours is the 200 year bicentennial community side. So that’s why, I suppose, that there is a difference between what we’re presenting and the 200 years, to be fair. That’s our role.”
Following the festival, Taylor talked about her impressions.
“I got a lot of feedback, both during and after the festival on social media. People were frustrated that there weren’t more bicentennial elements incorporated, and it was a little disheartening,” Taylor said in a phone interview with the Press. “We worked really hard to try to make this a community party for the 200th anniversary, but it did not pay off the way that we had hoped and planned.”
Taylor shared what the hopes were for the festival from those who were part of the bicentennial task force.
“We wanted to bring back some of the Founders Festival traditions that people loved,” she said. “We had talked about bringing back the ox roast, … having bicentennial floats in the parade, plus we also had some bicentennial-themed ideas like … frost 200 cupcakes and try to set the Guinness Book of World Records.”
From Taylor’s perspective, although there were some positive elements to it, this year’s Founders Festival was a missed opportunity to capitalize on the city’s bicentennial anniversary.
“When all was said and done, it was just another Founders Festival,” she said. “It was not the bigger, badder bicentennial Founders Festival we had hoped for. … Overall, I think the message loud and clear was … residents of Farmington, those who have attended the Founders Festival year-after-year, did not see this Founders Festival as a celebration of all things Farmington.”
Farmington Mayor Joe LaRussa was on vacation when the City Council meeting took place in June.
However, following the festival, he shared his feedback about how things went.
“I think once again it was a great example of how Farmington is able to showcase its best for all of the residents and visitors that we see coming,” LaRussa said. “I received a lot of positive feedback from attendees and from residents, so I think, overall, it once again was a great event for the city and a great showcase for downtown.”
Farmington’s contract with 360 Event Productions is set to run through 2025.
“The structure of the contract with the provider is basically, they take all the risk and they keep all the gain, so there’s currently no revenue sharing or any cost sharing with the city,” LaRussa said. “The risk is totally on the event organizer, but then, obviously, they get all the reward.”
Julie Law, who is the president of 360 Event Productions, shared some insight.
“It’s our job to get sponsors and cover our costs, which are over six figures, and it’s our job to execute it, market it, etcetera,” Law said. “It’s our risk, our reward, so when it rains … that’s our risk. We are a private entity, and we take on all the responsibility, all the funding.”
According to Law, 360 produces over 20 festivals per year in the metro Detroit area, and the Farmington Founders Festival is one of the top ones.
Although she did not have the exact attendance figures, Law said that it was estimated that around 43,000 people were expected to attend this year’s festival.
“We had feedback from the Police Department that it was the best Farmington Founders Festival to date,” Law said. “Everybody seemed to be extremely happy. … We had to turn vendors away this year because of the high demand for vendors wanting to be at the festival. So, overall, I think everything went great.”
Aside from seeing exhibits, West Bloomfield resident Ken King discussed other advantages of checking out the festival when he was on-scene July 20.
“People watching, and (it’s) a nice day,” King said.
LaRussa understands the community connection to the Farmington Founders Festival.
“Anytime we have that event it really does draw from our community base of residents that know and love the event,” he said. “Obviously, it’s changed over the years and evolved, but residents continue to come out and support it. We draw a lot of visitors to downtown, showing off everything that we’ve been able to do and the investments that we’ve made.”