This summer, Heart of Biddeford will debut a new downtown walking tour dubbed, the “Homecoming Tour.” Focused on what “home” means to Biddeford residents, the tour will explore the stories of Biddeford, including layers that aren’t always told in brochures.

“This tour is about bringing people together,” Heart of Biddeford Director Delilah Poupore said.

Last week, Biddeford-Saco Now was invited to experience a preview of the tour, which takes participants to different businesses across downtown Biddeford.

The first stop was at Edelweiss Pastry, a Swiss- and German-inspired bakery focusing on French, German, and Swiss baking.

Owners Valentina Correa Weissenfluh and Alex Weissenfluh opened Edelweiss on Alfred Street last year. Hailing from Nicaragua and Delaware, respectively, Correa and Alex Weissenfluh met at culinary school in Switzerland, where Weissenfluh’s family is from.

After moving to the United States, they decided to put down roots in Biddeford.

“We always wanted to open a bakery with a European feel,” Weissenfluh said.

Up the street is Maria Grocery Store, an African Market selling hard-to-find ingredients like cassava and fufu, essential in recreating “flavors of home.”

Originally from Angola, owners Maria and Andre Zombo first settled in Portland after moving to Maine.

But they didn’t feel “at home” until they came to Biddeford.

“We wanted to open a small store here instead of Portland,” Andre Zombo said.

Alhadidi Market, a Middle Eastern goods market, will also be a part of the tour this summer.

The next stop of the tour takes participants past the Palace Diner and through Shevenell Park, which has been updated in recent years with new trees, benches made by Biddeford Regional Institute of Technology students, and artwork commissioned by Biddeford High School students.

“There are small pieces of art like this around town where people wanted to make the city better,” Poupore said.

Stepping inside Wooven, visitors are immediately greeted with beautiful fabrics and handmade pieces. Owners Ron Briggs and Thanh “Albert” Nhan focus on selling artisan pieces made by artists in Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Laos, as well as pieces made by Nhan himself.

“The gist of it is handmade anything and the impact it has on local villages,” Briggs said.

Colorful pouches sold at Wooven are embroidered by a group of young people from the Hmong ethnic group in Laos.

“I met them on a sidewalk,” Briggs said.

Briggs and Nhan started working together in Vietnam in 1998, using handwoven silks from Vietnam and Cambodia to create their pieces.

Nhan, who was born and raised in Vietnam, has been sewing his whole life.

“My mom wanted me to sew my own clothes. I did it to make her happy,” Nhan said. “I love it. Sewing is like meditation.”

For Nhan, who travels back and forth from Maine to Vietnam often, “home” exists in both places.

Down the street, a mural painted by vocational students watches over the spot where the earliest known mosque in the country stood, built by Albanian people who were recruited to work in textiles in Biddeford.

“It’s part of the immigration and labor history here,” Poupore said. “Today, Biddeford’s Muslim community continues to grow.”

Layalina, a Middle Eastern restaurant on Main Street, brings some of those flavors to downtown Biddeford.

Originally from Baghdad, Iraq, owner Talal Alzefiri moved to the United States in 2014, ultimately settling in Biddeford.

Everything he knows about cooking, he learned from his mother, Alzefiri said. While his family is still in Iraq, the flavors at Layalina remind him of home.

“Food is culture,” Alzefiri said. “People here are happy to try Mediterranean food.”

Next door is Rhona Beauty, owned by Rhona Deah, who is originally from Liberia. After fleeing Liberia and moving to Maine, Deah said she couldn’t find anyone to do her hair the way she wanted, inspiring her to open her own salon.

When she couldn’t find a space in Portland, Deah looked to Biddeford.

“It immediately felt like home,” Deah said. “I’ve never had this togetherness from other communities. People are willing to open up.”

The tour concludes with a stop at Biddo Banh, a small shop serving up boba tea and Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches.

From Europe, to Africa, to Asia, to the Middle East, Biddeford is a community of people from many different walks of life, all coming together to find “home” in Maine. The tour, Poupore said, represents that.

“This tour explores how people from around the world have brought their stories, skills and triumphs to Biddeford,” Poupore said.