For the second year in a row, the Bangladeshi Festival on Conant Ave. was a smashing success.

About 5,000 people attended the three-day event, which was organized by the Bangladesh Association of Michigan. The festival featured lively entertainment that included games for the community, the musical stylings of several local groups and even a performance by a Bangladeshi pop star.

Also on hand were a number of vendors selling a variety of toys, trinkets and other merchandise. A handful offered traditional Bangladeshi dishes. Some meals were prepared on the spot, but judging by the satisfied looks on the faces of all of the people eating, they all definitely hit the spot.

Fortunately for the organizers and festivalgoers alike, the weather cooperated throughout the weekend, as did those in attendance. Unlike other area festivals that sometimes become breeding grounds for fights, there were no reports of trouble despite the presence of uniformed police officers only on Sunday night. The only real problem was trying to get the festival to shut down, as organizers and attendees alike both wanted to keep it going late into the night.

The success and safety of the festival is a testament to the strength of the Bangladeshi community, a fact that was not lost on City Councilmember Mohammed Hassan. Addressing the crowd, he told them they played an important role in shaping the city’s future, one that he hopes will only grow larger – along with the city of Hamtramck.

“There are many Bangladeshis that live outside of the city,” he said. “I want to annex the area south of Carpenter to Davidson to bring us together.”

Bangladesh Festival, Hamtramck, Mich. from Terry Parris Jr. on Vimeo.

If only education was celebrated every day like it was last Friday (June 11) night.

After 12 years of school – that’s 2,160 school days – the Hamtramck High class of 2010 held its graduation ceremony at Keyworth Stadium before a packed crowd which filled the stands.

The warm and sunny weather couldn’t have been a more complementary match for the 163 beaming seniors. And even if there were clouds in the sky, nothing could rain on the graduates’ parade.

Before the presentation of diplomas, several speakers offered their own views on the magnitude of the day at hand.

Co-valedictorians Jihan Aiyash and Tamal Sikder and salutatorian Zolok Datta gave their requisite addresses to the class, as did Superintendent Tom Niczay and HHS principal Dr. Kirk Goodlow.

The keynote address was given by Dr. Karen Young, a clinical psychologist and Hamtramck High graduate. As the salutatorian of the class of 1981, Young spoke about how it felt moving on to the big universities of higher education, reassuring the students that they would have no problems making the transition.

“This small school and small city did a good job in preparing me for higher education,” she said. “You have a solid foundation on which to stand, and it has prepared you to move on to the next chapter of your lives.”

In 2006 photographer Bruce Weber did a shoot for Womens Wear Daily with supermodel Kate Moss in this and other locations around Detroit, Michigan.