The 5 Best Things to Do Over Labor Day in Detroit

People ride a carnival ride at the Michigan State Fair
Michigan State Fair Photo credit Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press / Imagn

Hard working Detroiters deserve to spend their long Labor Day Weekend however they see fit, whether that’s watching the Lions square off against the Browns on Thursday, going out for a nice meal Friday, or catching up on some sleep Saturday through Monday. If you are thinking about just taking it easy over the holiday weekend, though, we highly suggest you head out on the town for some of Metro Detroit’s best late-summer fairs, festivals and fun times. Here are the best things to do during the Labor Day weekend in and around Detroit.

Do the Whole Fair Thing at the Michigan State Fair

From Thursday through Monday, the Michigan State Fair provides wholesome, family fun over in Novi, with all the classic fair activities and then some. There are rides to ride, baby animals to feed, dueling pirates to watch, corn-on-the-cob eating contests to win, literally endless cups of chocolate milk to drink, pig races to cheer on, and a butter cow to … admire.

Michigan State Fair

46100 Grand River Ave, Novi, MI 48374

Eat Lots of Stone Fruit at a Peach Festival

Peach season may be about over by the time Labor Day comes, but that shouldn’t stop you from checking out the Romeo Peach Festival, a celebration dedicated to the namesake crop and one of the area’s primary industries. Of course there’s a produce market and a bakery where you can pick up fresh peaches and peachy baked goods, but there are other things to eat and drink like barbecue and beer, a parade, art workshops for the young ones, carnival rides, relay races, and a Romeo Peach Queen who rules over the whole event.

Romeo Peach Festival

Tap Along at the Detroit Jazz Festival

The genre known as “free jazz” can conjure a lot of feelings, most of them unsettled. The concept known as “free jazz,” aka the kind of music you can hear if you attend Detroit’s awe-inspiring jazz festival, instills only good feels. The festival takes over downtown from Hart Plaza to Campus Martius Park, with multiple stages hosting hundreds of musicians over the course of three days. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the festival, so come celebrate four decades of swing, bebop and yes, even free jazz.

Detroit Jazz Festival

Browse, Dance and Eat at Arts Beats & Eats

The Soaring Eagle Arts Beats & Eats festival is a favorite among, well, everyone in Oakland County because there’s something for everyone at this eclectic celebration of the season in downtown Royal Oak. The arts include a Juried Fine Art Show, the beats span three stages with artists skewing toward rock/pop/country, and the eats come from 40 restaurants in the Metro Detroit area. While the festival is pretty cheap no matter what time during the weekend you swing by ($7 max), it pays to come early because it’s free to enter before 5 p.m. on Friday.

Soaring Eagle Arts Beats & Eats

301 W 4th St Suite LL-150, Royal Oak, MI 48067

Help Hydrate a Yacht Race on Dry Land

The annual Hamtramck Yacht Race, the centerpiece of the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival, takes place not on any of the readily available bodies of water nearby, but rather Joseph Campau Ave. Teams run with push-carts designed like small boats as onlookers splash them with buckets of water, fire at them with squirt guns and pelt them with water balloons. If that’s not enough fun to draw you to the Labor Day festivities, come for the Polish Day Parade, which celebrates the neighborhood’s long Polish heritage, the fantastic wrestling tournament, or all the festive eats.

Hamtramck Labor Day Festival