In the fall of 1978, Nathalie “Nat” Edmunds and other members of the Ypsilanti Convention and Visitors Bureau, applied for a grant from the Michigan Department of Commerce to fund a tour guide for Ypsilanti’s historic districts.
Their request was denied because funding had been depleted. However, the department had money set aside as seed money for emerging festivals.

Edmunds spearheaded the endeavor to convene an August meeting of the many local summer activity organizations, as well as the city’s historic districts. The meeting was held at Riverside Park in Depot Town and showcased the city heritage.
It took Nat Edmund’s vision and persuasion to bring it all together and to get the Convention and Visitors Bureau to apply for the needed money.

In December, the Michigan Convention and Visitors Bureau came to Ypsilanti for a tour to see what was historic about the city. Nat Edmunds took them on a tour that only she could provide. That tour launched the 1979 “Ypsilanti Yesteryear Heritage Festival” which, in 1982, was renamed the “Ypsilanti Heritage Festival.”

The Ypsilanti Heritage Festival celebrates the rich historical significance of Ypsilanti while offering contemporary events and activities for today’s families and creating lasting memories.

Many of the same volunteers and supporters from that first year, continue to work with the more than 50 Ypsilanti community organizations and hundreds of other volunteers to bring our three-day, family-friendly, festival to Riverside Park on the banks of the Huron River, Depot Town and Downtown.

The Ann Arbor Independent photographer Nicole Hester captured some of the fun and the art.