Ann Arbor has a packed summer calendar, and tourism officials say visitors are already taking notice.
Chad Wiebesick, Director of Media Relations for Destination Ann Arbor, is helping spread the word about three signature events that span late spring through July - each of them, he says, a record-setter in its own right.
Peonies in peak bloom
The season kicks off at the University of Michigan’s Nichols Arboretum, home to what Wiebesick calls the largest heirloom peony collection in the entire United States, with some plants more than 100 years old.
The garden draws photographers, families and flower enthusiasts, but timing is everything. “It’s such a short peak bloom window from late May to early June,” Wiebesick said. Admission and a shuttle from remote parking are both free.
The appeal, he added, is multisensory. “I don’t know what I love more, the beautiful sight of these flowers or the beautiful smell of these flowers.”
Beer, wrestling and a Maker’s Fair
On June 13, the spotlight shifts to Ypsilanti for the Michigan Summer Beer Festival - “the largest Michigan-only beer festival in the entire state,” according to Wiebesick, with hundreds of brewers pouring a wide range of styles.
Among the pours: a Scottish-inspired ale from Ipsy Ale House, brewed by Ted Badgerow, who opened one of the first microbreweries in the Midwest some 40 years ago. The dark, malt-forward beer clocks in at 8 to 9.5% alcohol by volume. When asked whether festival-goers should pace themselves, Wiebesick was philosophical: “It’s all in perspective.”
Half a million people, 30 city blocks
July brings the marquee event: the Ann Arbor Art Fair, which Wiebesick called “the largest juried art fair in the US” - and one that most people don’t fully understand in scope. It is actually three independently juried fairs running simultaneously.
“Something like almost 500,000 people are expected to come in Ann Arbor,” he said. “The size and scale is pretty immense - it spans a footprint of 30 city blocks in downtown Ann Arbor.”
Beyond the art itself, the weekend features sidewalk sales, kids’ programming, live music and food trucks across a highly walkable downtown grid.
More information on all three events is available at annarbor.org.