ANN ARBOR – The Ann Arbor Art Fair is just around the corner and with nearly half a million visitors attending each year and more than 1,000 artists, it is the largest juried art fair in the country.
Attendees can find a vast array of art during the fair, including paintings, jewelry, sculpture, clothing, glass, mixed media and more.
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This year, the Art Fair will celebrate its 60th year running.
The fair is four independent fairs rolled into one and spans 30 city blocks. The nonprofit fairs include:
- Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original (60 years)
- Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair (52 years)
- Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair (50 years)
- Ann Arbor’s South University Art Fair (20 years)
Each fair has its own jurying process and character. Last year, we observed both the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original and the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair's jury sessions.
In addition to art, attendees can enjoy live music stages, family-friendly art activities, artist demonstrations, a diverse offering of food and drink and local boutique retailers.
2019 dates and times:
- Thurs., July 18, 2019: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday, July 19, 2019: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, July 20, 2019: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sunday, July 21, 2019: Noon to 6 p.m.
Getting around
The Ann Arbor Art Fair introduced a new booth numbering system last year to help visitors navigate the fair more easily. The user-friendly system uses two letters to identify the street the booth is on along with numbers that correspond to the city block it is on.
Here are the street name abbreviations for this year's fair:
- CH = Church Street
- EU = E. University Avenue
- IN = Ingalls Mall
- LI = Liberty Street
- MA = Maynard Street
- MN = Main Street
- NU = N. University Avenue
- ST = State Street
- SU = S. University Avenue
- TH = Thompson Street
- WA = Washington Street
- WI = William Street
Below is a map of the 2019 Ann Arbor Art Fair.
Parking shuttles
From designated parking areas to shuttles and free mini buses that loop around the event's perimeter, the Ann Arbor Art Fair has lots of transit options.
For those who'd like to park far and shuttle in, Briarwood Mall and Huron High School are this year's shuttle pick-up and drop-off locations. Shuttles will run every 10 to 15 minutes starting one hour before the fair opens and ending one hour after it closes.
Shuttle services hours are:
Thursday - Saturday: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The shuttles are air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. No pets allowed; service animals welcome.
- Parking at Briarwood Mall and Huron High School is free.
- Shuttles are $3 round-trip and $1.50 one way.
- Children five and younger ride free.
- Briarwood shuttle stops: Main Street and William and on State Street near South University
- Huron High School shuttle stops: Fletcher and Washington and South University at Forest
- Riders can return to both parking locations from either shuttle stop
Attendees can also enjoy taking a ride on the Art-Go-Round free mini buses which will be traveling around the perimeter of the event and near the downtown parking structures.
Parking downtown
- City parking structures in downtown Ann Arbor are $18 per day and $9 after 5 p.m.
- University of Michigan parking structures are $10 after 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and $10 all day on the weekend.
- U-M structures are located on Church, Fletcher, Hill, Thayer and Thompson.
For more information, visit www.theannarborartfair.com. For updates, you can find the Ann Arbor Art Fair on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Use the hashtag #4Fairs1Event when posting to social media.
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