The 2023 DREAM Street Fair was a free, family-friendly festival celebrating our neighborhood’s spirit of community, entrepreneurship, arts and culture, and healthy living. Hosted by Jermaine “Big Fresh” Carey and rising comedian Nadirah Pierre, and headlined by multi-platinum recording artist Freeway, the event featured performances by Khalil Ismail, Ain’t Afraid, Journalist 103, Tariq Toure, and Hardcore Detroit. It was an afternoon of empowering poetry, soulful vocals, classic hip-hop, world-class break dancing, and fun interactions with the crowd. Nearly 40 vendors, including some of the area’s best food trucks, set up shop to interact with 3,000 attendees over the course of the day. And children were treated to bounce houses, button-making, book readings, and outdoor video gaming.

Primarily hosted by Dream of Detroit, a local organization combining community organizing and development to revitalize a Westside neighborhood, the Street Fair was a true community partnership. The Detroit Repertory Theatre, the city’s longest-running neighborhood theatre, opened up their lot to sell treasured props from 60 years worth of performances. The HUDA Clinic, our local free health care center, offered dental screenings, health assessments and referral services. And, at the HUDA Urban Garden, attendees picked fruits and vegetables, and learned creative ways to make tasty and healthy meals and snacks. Putting on a free neighborhood festival of this scale would have been impossible without the support of Egalitarian Metropolis and sponsors like Mercy-USA. Plainly put: these types of events don’t usually happen in neighborhoods like ours. That’s why, for nearly a decade, Dream of Detroit has been working toward a truly inclusive Detroit recovery where the idea that “every neighborhood has a future” is more than just a political slogan.

Our goal with this event was to host an excellent celebration for our community members, and to shine a spotlight on the community-led placemaking and development happening in our neighborhood. The DREAM Street Fair stands alongside other initiatives like the DREAM Community Land Trust, our partnership with ProsperUs Detroit Entrepreneurship Workshop, and our membership in the Coalition for Property Tax Justice, as just some of the programs we are involved in to do our small part in creating an Egalitarian Metropolis.