Under gray clouds accompanied with music, community members made their way through First Friday Food Court visiting six local food vendors and participated in queer joy writing and activities.
To kick off the summer, First Friday Food Court returned to Ypsilanti Friday, June 5, 2026, in partnership with Growing Hope, First Fridays Ypsi and PoetTreeTown.
First Friday Food Court supports local food businesses and creates a welcoming environment for community members of different backgrounds to gather over food, music and art, all while enhancing food businesses local to them.
“First Fridays are super inclusive. We are here for everybody,” said Melanie Eddy, president of First Fridays Ypsi. “There's something for everybody here.”
Vending First Friday Food Court for the second time, Eat It By The Spoonful, which sells prepackaged nourishing convenient food, founder Alumani Lander plans to attend every First Friday Food Court this year.
Community-based events like First Friday Food Court allows businesses to share the vision and mission with customers, Lander said. When the community responds positively to products, it makes business owners come back, Lander said.
While the food court took place outside, inside MarketPlace Hall, led by PoetTreeTown, tables curated towards different activities, guiding guests to create collages, affirmation postcards, queer love poems and more, leading with the theme “Sharing Our Glimmers.”
Petra Kuppers, a PoetTreeTown volunteer, comes to First Friday events as often as she can, but on June 5, Kuppers was present as a volunteer stationed at the Queer Love Poems table.
“Today is sort of pre-pride. It’s the rainbow First Friday, and it’s a celebration of queer love and identity. We found it was very important to have a place where we celebrate loving one another in a world where people do not love one another right now,” Kuppers said. “Out there in the world, there's a lot of hate: a lot of problems. This is a place where we celebrate the glimmers, where we celebrate the gorgeousness in the world, the gorgeous human beings that we are, and that we can love one another.”
First Friday Food Court will take place on the first Friday of every month through October at 16 S. Washington St. in downtown Ypsilanti, featuring local food vendors, interactive activities and entertainment.
For more information, visit Growing Hope on Instagram (@growingthehope) or follow Growing Hope on Facebook.
Editor's note: Laleh Walker is a reporter for and independently sells cold-pressed juices during First Friday Food Court.
