Rumble of the Bumble, a pollinator-themed street festival featuring wrestling, music, and art, will return to Ypsilanti's Depot Town Sept. 7 from 2-10 p.m.

The festival started as a small part of First Fridays Ypsilanti's Festival of the Pollinators (originally Festival of the Honey Bee) in 2022. After a successful debut year, this year the Rumble of the Bumble will take the place of the Festival of the Pollinators.

Claire Broderick and Kim Koby co-founded the Rumble. Broderick owns two Ypsi businesses: Sprig's Hideaway, a hair salon; and This That and the ODDer Things, a gift shop. The latter serves as sponsor for the Rumble in the Bumble.

Broderick wasn't able to host a grand opening when she opened This That and the ODDer Things in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn't feel comfortable hosting a one-year anniversary party either. She says Rumble of the Bumble grew from her desire to throw a party for her store's second anniversary, which fell on the same day as First Fridays that year.

She says someone else gave her the idea for a wrestling-themed event, and she says she thought to herself, "I could make that happen." She invited a professional wrestling troupe to create a performance in which wrestler Bruce Buzzbee fights the Pesky Pesticides, and the festival was born. 

"Now we're really expanding on that idea, and I'm excited to bring it to town," Broderick says. 

That expansion is due in part to funding from Washtenaw County, the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority, Ypsi Real, and the Ann Arbor Awesome Foundation.

The festival will include music, vendors, street performances by break dancers and the Professional Youth Theatre of Michigan, a quiet wellness area in the Ypsilanti Freighthouse, and, of course, a wrestling ring. 

"There are lots of fun things happening, but I do also want to focus on the environment," Broderick says. "The future is local, and we need to be mindful and work together to save our planet."

For a full lineup of events, visit the Rumble of the Bumble website.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township and the project manager of On the Ground Ypsilanti. She joined Concentrate as a news writer in early 2017 and is an occasional contributor to other Issue Media Group publications. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of Claire Broderick.