Kick off summer in Mount Clemens with June events

MOUNT CLEMENS — For those looking for weekend fun this summer, Mount Clemens has you covered in June.

From start to end, there’s more than enough going on in the city to entertain all month long.

On Saturday, June 10, the New Street Urban Fair brings a unique art show and vendor experience to the New Street corridor. Businesses along the street juried the art submissions and vetted the vendor list, all of which is shaping up for what Weiss calls a “fun and funky” event marking a post-COVID flourishing of New Street’s businesses.

“With New Street being full now … they just said, ‘We’d like to do something down by us,’” Michelle Weiss, Mount Clemens Downtown Development Authority marketing and events coordinator, said. “Most of my art shows and vendor shows are on Macomb Place.”

The New Street Urban Fair runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Businesses supporting the event include the Bohemian Goat, Yaya’s Plant Shop, TinyTree Gallery, Weirdsville Records and Paperback Writer Books.

Juneteenth falls on a Monday this year, but the celebration of slavery’s end begins on Friday, June 16, and runs through the holiday on June 19. The city of Mount Clemens is hosting its first-ever official Juneteenth festival running downtown on June 16 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on June 17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We’re trying to make this educational,” Weiss said. “We’re trying to inform the public as to what exactly Juneteenth is and why they celebrate it.

She added, “When I started this journey, I was surprised talking to people, how many people did not know what it was and thought it had something to do with Martin Luther King Jr. I thought this was quite interesting and maybe this is a good thing for people to understand what it is.”

The city’s event will take place along Macomb Place, similar to May’s Made in Michigan show, and entertainers will perform on the Fountain Stage.

Juneteenth celebrations have been hosted in Mount Clemens centered around the Cairns Community Center, and event planners for the Mount Clemens Juneteenth Celebration have ensured this year’s event will run all weekend long.

“We wanted to focus on embracing unity and togetherness ... something fit for family,” Malea Howard, 2023 Mount Clemens Juneteenth Committee chair, said in a statement. “We have games, great food, music, guest speakers, mental health care resources, arts and crafts for the children, and so much more.”

Dubbed “A Community Family Reunion,” an evening dinner on June 16 kicks the weekend off. Saturday, June 17, is a “Family Game Day” with activities inside and outside the Cairns Center from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., while Sunday, June 18, is “Desserts with Dad,” allowing for a fun Father’s Day evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Juneteenth Monday’s theme is “Free at Last” and runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Cairns Center will be packed with activities inside and out ranging from bounce houses, to food trucks, to business and resource vendors.

Finally, June ends with a series of bright and loud bangs as the Riversight & Sound Concert & Fireworks lights up the sky on Friday, June 23. Running since the 1980s, the fireworks have always taken place on the fourth Friday in June. Fireworks will be launched from the One Crocker Place parking lot and audiences can watch the show from the opposite bank. Northbound Gratiot Avenue will be closed and the open lot next to the Macomb County courthouse will be open for seating. R&B and funk group The Circle of Sound will play the concert prior to the fireworks.

For those looking to dance their nights away, Friday night concerts will happen at the Fountain Stage on Macomb Place on the nights of June 9 and June 16 as well as throughout July and August.

For more information about the Mount Clemens DDA and events in the city, visit mountclemens.gov/dda. For more information about the Mount Clemens Juneteenth Celebration, email mcjuneteenth@gmail.com.