"Hamtramck, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, is known for several things: Polish heritage, to-die-for golabkis, and the annual Labor Day Festival. The 2011 festival goes from September 3-5. The city of Hamtramck is Michigan's "Little Krakow" (or Warsaw). The festival runs up historic Joseph Campau, the main drag in Hamtramck.

The history of Poland also parallels in some ways, the labor struggle, so it's perfect that Hamtramck's Polish festival should coincide with Labor Day: Lech Walesa was a human rights activist and labor organizer in the 1970s. Walesa worked at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk and founded Solidarnosc (Solidarity), the first Soviet-bloc independent trade union. He also helped create the Gdansk Treaty between striking workers and the Polish government. Walesa won the 1983 Nobel Prize and served as the first president of Poland. Walesa, like all great leaders, has come under some criticism, but he is one of the greatest labor leaders in history.

The Catholic Church also plays a vital role in Polish history. The Church has traditionally aligned itself in solidarity with workers on labor issues. Historically, in many cultures, priests and religious sisters have often stood shoulder-to-shoulder with union workers and toe-to-toe against the company in stand-offs. The Church's presence is keenly felt than in labor struggles around the globe: Ireland, El Salvador, the Philipines, Mexico, and Poland.

In Hamtramck, St. Florian's church leads the processions with a polka mass in Polish and English at 11 a.m. on September 4. Featured is polka legend Big Daddy Lackowski and his La Dee Da Orchestra. The Polish Day parade kicks off on Labor Day at 1:45 p.m. and includes Polish-themed floats and even a polka-dancing mayor of Hamtramck.

Polka is another hallmark of Polish culture. Polka means "folk," and there is plenty of polka at the Hamtramck Labor Day festival. That and good Polish food: pierogies, spinach pie, noodles, kielbasa, schnitzel, cwikla, crepes, paczki, cabbage rolls, saurkraut, and city chicken. Wash your Polish treats down with Okokim, Warka, or Lezajsk piwo (beer).

The year's festival also features the Golab-K, a 5K run on September 3; a carnival; art fair; and lots of Motown/ Polish music and dancing from noon to 10 p.m. on Monday. The annual pub crawl features such Hamtramck haunts as Whiskey in the Jar, Polish Sea Lounge, Seven Brothers, Kelly's, Hippo's, The Painted Lady, and The Mars Bar of Detroit.

Don't miss the Polish Hamtramck Labor Day Festival: the most fun you can have outside of a Warsaw gospoda. Na zdrowie!"