By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


A popular fall festival is returning, but scaled down for this year.

The South Lyon Area Pumpkinfest is coming back after being cancelled due to COVID last year. Event Organizer Kathy Swan was before South Lyon City Council, Monday, giving an update and asking for road closures downtown for the event which will happen on September 24th and 25th. Visitors can expect many of usual components to be in place, like Air Dogs, music, and booths; but the committee also had to make some cuts.

This year, there won’t be a parade, Pumpkinfest Run, hay pyramid or beer tent.

Swan told City Council there has been a lot of miscommunication in the community as to why these aren’t taking place and that she wants to clear it up. She said planning and insurance decisions had to made in May, and were based on what was happening with COVID at that time. Due to many committee heads and key board members not being available, and what she called “a complete lack of volunteers stepping forward,” hard decisions were made about what had to be cut from this year’s event.

Swan still had a couple concerns, namely restrictions the fire department has put on generators that they depend on and losing the farmers’ market parking lot, with the market scheduled to operate both days. Still, she expressed excitement at being able to bring the event back, even in this smaller fashion.

Police Chief Chris Sovik gave her, the Pumpkinfest Committee, and what volunteers they had “kudos," adding that hopefully it will be fully back in 2022. City Council was in agreement, with Lisa Dilg recognizing how frustrating this must be for the team, and Mayor Dan Pelchat applauding their effort.