WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Bangladeshi community in Warren is confused about the fate of their annual cultural festival.
A group organizing the event says the city suddenly canceled the Bangladeshi American Festival even after they put down a deposit and signed an agreement back in February.
"Stage, you got to pay the city for their place. There is an artist for the festival who comes from Bangladesh. It's a lot of cost," said Mohammed Islam, Executive Vice President of the Bangladesh Association of Michigan (BAM).
The budget for this year's festival is $50,000, and nearly $25,000 has already been invested. That's why Mohammed Islam from the Bangladesh Association of Michigan, also known as BAM, says his organization was shocked when he says the Warren Parks & Recreation department told them it was canceling their event.
On February 22, 2023, Warren Parks & Recreation emailed a rental agreement to BAM and letting them know that the requested dates have been booked for their event.
The next day, an agreement was signed between BAM and Parks & Recreation. The dates of the event are listed as July 22nd & 23rd.
However, on April 3, BAM says the Park and Recreation Department called and told them the event would no longer go ahead.
"It soured us because we didn't do anything not to have it. It was time for answers," said Islam.
7 Action News reporter Faraz Javed tried to reach Parks & Recreation Dino Tricato several times by phone and left voicemails.
Javed also went down to meet the person whose signature was on the document. Javed's next stop was Warren Mayor Jim Fouts.
"Where is the hold-up right now?" asked Javed.
"There is no hold-up. We are going to have it as planned on July 22. However, there is one item I want to point out. There are really three factions, two factions, maybe a 3rd one," said Fouts.
Mayor Fouts also showed me documents from another organization, also named the Bangladesh Association of Michigan, wanting to host the same event.
State documents list a Hamtramck address for that second group, but Javed could not reach anyone from that organization.
"That should not be a problem for him to make the decision because we are the ones who approached Parks & Recreation first. Nobody else has held the festival before in front of the city hall. We are the ones who organize everything," said Islam. "I'm not interested in a fight. I'm just interested in celebrating the contribution and achievements of Bangladeshi people in Warren."
While Islam waits to find out how Parks & Recreation double-book the event in a span of a month and a half, Mayor Fouts plans on meeting all the parties involved before next Friday to iron out the confusion.
