Dearborn’s annual Homecoming festival could draw all-time record crowds this August, thanks to the city’s decision to hire pop star recording artist/actor Rick Springfield as the headline act.

Rick Springfield will take the stage at Dearborn Homecoming on Aug. 8 at 8:30 p.m.

While none of the Grammy-award winner’s songs are in my iPod, Springfield’s appearance on Aug. 8 at 8:30 p.m. at Ford Field Park will greatly benefit the many nonprofit groups that operate fundraising booths at the festival. These organizations rely on strong attendance, which generates booth traffic and sales. Many of those proceeds then go back to fund their respective community causes. Over the three-day weekend, some groups will gross as much as $14,000 and gain valuable name recognition for their organizations.

There are some residents balking at the city’s approval to pay Springfield $40,000 for his performance at this year’s Homecoming, but when you step back and examine the bigger picture the check written to the Australian-born singer has a more positive impact than it may appear.

Drawing people to the Dearborn Homecoming is only accomplished by providing the right attractions. The standard festival with a few beer tents and five minutes worth of fireworks won’t get anywhere close to the average 150,000 people who attend the Dearborn Homecoming over its three day period.

Take a look at Novi. That city this year cancelled its equivalent of the Dearborn Homecoming due to poor attendance.

Dearborn is fortunate in that it has many generous sponsors that have contributed some $90,000 this year to help offset the city’s operational costs of producing the festival – an event that is considered by many neighboring communities to be the benchmark festival in Metro Detroit. The sponsorship program allows Dearborn to keep the costs to families down, offering some of the lowest prices of any Metro Detroit festival.

Keep in mind, Dearborn is able to leverage these sponsorships due to its historical attendance figures and the market to which it appeals. The basis of any corporate sponsorship is to get your name in front of as many of the right eyeballs as possible. Homecoming is the perfect setting for this and continues to be a valuable investment for businesses. In addition to sponsorship contributions, Dearborn also receives approximately $35,000 via carnival revenues. (An added bonus this year is that families can now purchase online discounted ride tickets in advance of the festival.)

Sponsorships and other revenues, however, don’t cover all the associated costs of Homecoming.  We taxpayers have to do some of that lifting, too. Even so, what Dearborn can’t afford to do is scale back Homecoming to the point where it becomes just another festival or, worse yet, is cancelled. Scaling back during these tough economic times when some people can’t afford to go and pay for a concert or even take their children to an amusement park is the wrong time for cost-cutting. From where we sit, Dearborn Homecoming is the best event our city puts on each year. People can and will complain about the city spending money but the reality is that it costs money (yes, our tax dollars) to produce a quality event.  And people today, probably more than ever, need a nice event to go to these days. Plain and simple.

Homecoming fireworks cost money, too. To the tune of $22,000 per night, $12,500 of which is covered by sponsors each night. A Dearborn Homecoming without fireworks? Unthinkable. The same should be said of a headline music act. Dearborn has had K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Eddie Money and the Commodores perform in recent years. All of which came with a pretty big price tag (the Commodores were more than Springfield, for instance) and drew major crowds.

Springfield may not be my kind of music but he is followed by thousands of other people who will travel from across the state for the free blanket-space and concert in Dearborn. And while these fans are waiting, they will be spending their money at one of the 28 nonprofit, Dearborn-based organizations who operate booths at the festival.

So here’s to a successful Dearborn Homecoming. If you’d like a copy of all Dearborn Homecoming events, you can pick one up at various locations throughout Dearborn or by clicking HERE.