Culture & heritage / East Dearborn (Warren Avenue)

Arab International Festival

Closed – archive entry · 2012

From 1995 to 2012, hundreds of thousands packed Dearborn's Warren Avenue every June for the nation's largest Arab festival. It hasn't run since 2013.

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01 / The story of this place

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For years, Dearborn's Warren Avenue hosted the biggest Arab cultural festival in the country every June. The American Arab Chamber of Commerce started it in 1995: 14 blocks filled with Middle Eastern food, live music, carnival rides, henna artists and craft vendors, and, by the chamber's count, more than 300,000 visitors a year. The last edition ran on Father's Day weekend in June 2012, a year marked by provocations from street preachers; after lawsuits and rising costs, the city wanted to move it to Ford Woods Park. Organizers postponed the 2013 festival, and it never came back. Warren Avenue's Arab restaurants, bakeries and shops are still open year-round, though.

A 14-block street festival on Warren Avenue
Middle Eastern food, live music and performances
Carnival rides, henna and crafts
Free admission and a family vibe
A legend now: not held since 2012

Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-10-01

An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.

02 / Plan your visit

Plan your visit

When: every June from 1995 to 2012, usually Father's Day weekend; the 2013 edition was called off and none has followed. Where: W. Warren Ave. between Schaefer Rd. and Wyoming St., Dearborn. Tickets: it was free. Today: Warren Avenue's Arab restaurants, bakeries and shops are open year-round, and the Arab American National Museum on Michigan Avenue tells the community's story.