DEARBORN (WWJ) -- After a two-year hiatus due to restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, two popular events at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation will not return in 2022 -- or possibly ever again.
The Maker Faire Detroit program, which featured an array of creative crafts and innovative projects, has seemingly been canceled for good.
Museum officials say the event is labor and time intensive, and they simply don’t have the staff to maintain it moving forward.
First launching in 2010, the Maker Faire typically attracted over 20,000 visitors during the last weekend in July, with many parents bringing children to expose them to live examples of S.T.E.M (science, technology, engineering and mathematics.)
"This event requires an enormous effort from partners, staff and volunteers and is currently not sustainable," The Henry Ford said in a statement. "...The maker philosophy and mindset continue to be threaded throughout our many programs, such as Invention Convention and our innovation and invention curriculums, which reach tens of thousands of students nationally."
Meanwhile, the Dearborn-based museum has also indefinitely halted their annual Civil War Remembrance program.
Typically taking place over Memorial Day weekend, the event featured live reenactments with actors portraying soldiers, civilians and musicians of the era, along with demonstrations, exhibits and more.
“We have decided to put our annual Civil War Remembrance program on pause and will not be hosting this event in 2022,” museum officials said. “As many of you know, we have been producing this program for more than 30 years. We are taking this invaluable time to evaluate this experience and consider other programmatic opportunities to present its key themes of conflict, American freedom, and democracy.”
See the full statement from The Henry Ford here.
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