YPSILANTI, MI - The Ypsilanti Heritage Festival is alive for another year, due to the efforts of two community volunteers who refuse to let the tradition die.

This year's festival is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 25 through Sunday, Aug. 27, and required a lot of effort on behalf of Les Heddle and Scott Virgo. The two men were at a February meeting of the festival's Board of Directors when it took action to end the event.

"The decision was made at the end of the meeting to let the festival die from lack of support," Heddle said.

According to the event website, the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival almost perished after 2014 but was brought back over the next two years by a small group of volunteers who were able to pay off thousands of dollars in debt.

The festival lost roughly $6,000 in 2013 and $8,800 in 2012, despite bringing in $110,000 and $98,000 in revenue in those respective years, and also experienced the resignation of the event's director. 2015 Ypsilanti Heritage Festival in jeopardy unless $9,000 bill paid

"People got really spent the last two years," Heddle said. "The people who were a part of it just got worked to death. They weren't up for that kind of slog for a third year in a row. Without that kind of support, they weren't as enthusiastic about it anymore."

The two were called to action because of the service organizations, churches and youth groups that rely on the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival as a venue for fundraisers to enable their own events and projects throughout the year. Heddle is part of the Kiwanis Club, which organize the Rubber Ducky Race.

Other events at stake include the Italian Dinner and Pancake Breakfast, along with parking services provided by the local Boy Scout troop.

"All of that goes away if the Heritage Festival goes away, all of it," Heddle said. "It was unthinkable, for me and for Scott."

They asked permission from the board, which has dwindled to three people, to take on arrangements for this year's festival and estimate the viability of the event. Over the past few weeks, Heddle and Virgo discovered the festival was still needed but was not reaching the right people.

The two have been working to secure sponsors, arrange fun and family-friendly activities, and work with the City of Ypsilanti to get the necessary permits to hold the 39th annual Ypsilanti Heritage Festival.

"We're tapping into the enthusiasm that's there to have it done well," Heddle said.

According to Amanda Holsinger, the special events coordinator for the City of Ypsilanti, the Heritage Festival already is tentatively scheduled and she is planning to meet with organizers to lock down permit pricing and event details.

"As of right now, from our perspective, the city's perspective, everything is status quo," Holsinger said.

But not everything is what it used to be when it comes to the Heritage Festival. The decline of the automotive industry in southeastern Michigan, as well as the departure of large corporations like Pfizer, has had a big impact.

"With that backdrop evaporating over time, it left a festival scaled way too expensive," Heddle said.

Part of the challenge is right-sizing the festival for the number of people who attend and the amount of interest in sponsorship and volunteers, Heddle added. Cueter Chrysler Jeep Dodge has committed as this year's event sponsor, and there is a total of $14,000 already secured through additional sponsorships, he said.

"It was much easier than what I thought it would be, to get sponsors signed up again," Heddle said.

Big-name musical acts were no longer possible, so Heddle decided to look for events that were fun but also self-supporting through ticket sales or sponsorship.

He is looking forward to the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival's largest event this year: hot air balloon rides, open to the public and offered throughout the weekend.

Tickets would cost around $10 per person (children's prices are still being decided) and would take participants 100 feet up in the air for a unique, bird's-eye-view of Ypsilanti.

"I thought, 'What would be something that is big, and would be self-supporting?" Heddle said. "It's going to be a blast."

His mission for the festival is to perhaps not return it to its former glory but to make it better than the previous year. Heddle understands the public's frustration with how the event has changed over time.

"You can't be a fan of the festival historically speaking and not just get angry, literally, with how it has diminished over time," Heddle said. "The problem is the anger is very ill-focused."

Heddle and Virgo are focusing on bringing the festival back to its roots, and making sure those who stop in have a great time.

Around 5,000 to 10,000 people attended last year's three-day festival, and Heddle believes that figure could be doubled or tripled with the changes being implemented and the fact that organizers have started earlier than normal on the preparations involved.

Heddle and Virgo are meeting with the new board of directors to get final approval for some aspects of the festival and catch them up on the level of interest both are seeing from around the community. Both are up for approval as co-directors of the festival.

There is still work to do, including finding around 50 volunteers to work during the festival and securing arts and crafts and food vendors, but Heddle said the festival is happening, no matter what.

His message to the community is simple: come and have fun. Whether the hot air balloons catch their eye or the class reunion that brings them to the festival grounds at Riverside Park, he is convinced this year's event is going to be a success.

"If it's not, I'll be the most disappointed person in Washtenaw County, for sure," Heddle said. "I think we have as much a chance at having a successful year as any other group."