Festival of the Honey Bee is a three day festival dedicated to celebrating honey bees. It takes place in Ypsilanti, MI during the first weekend in September. Friday kicks off the weekend with a city-wide art show and live music, presented in partnership with First Fridays Ypsilanti. Saturday, we hold educational events for children and adults at the Ypsilanti District Library, and on Sunday: Bike2Bees, an urban hive bike tour, and the Bee Bazaar vendor fair round out the festival. The festival started in 2013, as an effort to raise awareness about honey bees and create a space for appreciation and creative expression about bees.

People love the festival, and it has been very successful, all while run on a shoestring budget, personal funds, and with huge thanks to community partnerships and through tens of hours donated by volunteers. Getting investment from the community would allow us to take the festival to the next level, stop funding it with personal funds, start to build a festival bank account, and share the celebration and appreciation of bees with more people in our community.