New Sesame Street Road Trip Heading To Detroit

Big Bird, Elmo and other Muppets are about to make some little kids in Detroit very happy. The Muppets are coming to town on June 22 as part of a nationwide road trip to celebrate the program’s 50th anniversary, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind the popular children’s program, announced Tuesday.

The Sesame Street Muppets are heading to 10 cities and will participate in the free festivals.

Here’s the description for Detroit's event at Lafayette Plaisance Park:

“Join your Sesame Street friends for a fun, interactive family festival and stage show, a giant maze, a treasure dig, photo opportunities, sweepstakes, a cookies-and-milk snack station, and more!” the event's website says.

Kids will be able to meet with characters and learn about their streets. The road trip begins June 1 in New York, then heads to Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver and Seattle before finishing in Los Angeles on Aug. 3.

Each stop includes a stage show, activities and community celebrations. Organizers plan for each stop to unfold over three days, culminating in free festivals with live performances and kid-friendly activities.

The show’s production crew will accompany Elmo and the gang to film a new segment on what local kids love most about their communities. That segment will be incorporated into Sesame Street’s 50th season, which will premier in November on HBO.

Steve Youngwood, the nonprofit’s president of media and education and chief operating officer, said in a release that road trip will help illustrate how media can engage and teach, something the organization has focused on “from the very beginning.”

“As we celebrate our decades of impact and look ahead to the next 50 years, Sesame Street’s timeless lessons remain the same: Everyone, no matter who they are or where they are from, is equally deserving of respect, opportunity, and joy,” said Youngwood.

Here are all the dates:

New York, NY, June 1
Washington, DC, June 8
Pittsburgh, PA, June 15
Detroit, MI, June 22
Chicago, IL, June 29
Dallas, TX, July 6
Kansas City, MO, July 13
Denver, CO, July 20
Seattle, WA, July 27
Los Angeles, CA, Aug. 3

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.