Top Story Angles for 2026

· New places to stay: Three new or newly opened hotels give visitors and meeting planners fresh options.

· A growing food and drink scene: Chef-driven restaurants, a new distillery, and a Jeff Daniels–backed music bistro.

· Reimagined spaces: Riverfront parks, trail connections, and a mall turning into a mixed-use hub.

· Big-ticket events: Stadium concerts, national sports championships, and festivals that define the Ann Arbor area’s personality.

· Anniversaries and milestones: From a county bicentennial to local festivals hitting major years.

New Hotels and Places to Stay

· The Vanguard – Autograph Collection (opened 2025): Ann Arbor’s newest 4-star hotel with 188 rooms, a French brasserie, rooftop bar, and more than 11,000 square feet of modern meeting and event space close to the U-M Medical Campus and downtown.

· AC Hotel Ann Arbor (opening 2026): A 139-room contemporary hotel bringing new meeting space, a lobby bar, and an outdoor terrace to downtown Ann Arbor.

· Residence Inn by Marriott Ann Arbor Airport (opening early 2026): All-suite, extended-stay hotel near the airport corridor with new small-event and meeting space that works well for teams and longer-stay visitors.

Dining and Drinks

Opened in 2025 and still new to visitors in 2026

· Echelon (Downtown Ann Arbor): Wood-fired, chef-driven, vegetable-forward cuisine in a stylish downtown setting.

· La Serre (inside The Vanguard Hotel): A French-inspired brasserie serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Ann Arbor’s new Autograph Collection hotel.

· Little Kim (Kerrytown, Ann Arbor): Casual vegetarian Korean street food from the team behind Miss Kim, with bold flavors and fast-casual service.

· Water Tower Distilling Company (Ypsilanti): Ypsilanti’s first distillery, opened in late 2025, with a tasting room and small-batch spirits.

· Tabe (Ann Arbor): Modern Asian restaurant with an elevated omakase experience and a sleek two-level space.

· Bori Korean Kitchen & Bar (Ann Arbor): Contemporary Korean comfort food with a full bar and late-night energy.

· Slows Bar BQ (Ann Arbor): New Ann Arbor location of the Detroit original, known for smoked meats, mac and cheese, and a serious craft beer list.

· White Lotus Farms Café and Bakery (Ann Arbor): A farm-based café and bakery offering breads, pastries, and seasonal items tied to their nearby farm.

· Hazel Coffee (Ann Arbor): Specialty coffee in a modern café environment, ideal for remote workers and caffeine-seeking visitors.

· B-Cubed Bakery (Ann Arbor): A new neighborhood bakery known for inventive pastries and sweet treats.

· JD’s Stage Bistro (Chelsea – opening spring 2026): A 100-seat music venue and restaurant on South Main Street, developed in partnership with actor Jeff Daniels. The space will feature a wood-fired pizza oven, cocktail bar, patio, private event spaces, and a focus on singer-songwriter performances with high-quality sound.

Infrastructure and Redevelopment

· Briarwood Mall redevelopment: The 50-year-old Briarwood Mall on Ann Arbor’s south side is being transformed. Plans call for replacing the former Sears and a portion of the parking lot with new two-story commercial space, including a grocery store and sporting goods store, plus 354 apartments in a four-story building. The project is reshaping this corridor into more of a live-work-shop destination.

Outdoor Recreation and Riverfront News

· Border-to-Border Trail – Barton to Bandemer connection: A new pedestrian tunnel now links Bandemer Park to Barton Nature Area as part of the Border-to-Border Trail. This closes a long-standing gap along the Huron River and creates a continuous, scenic route for walkers, runners, and cyclists.

· Broadway Park West (opened September 2025): A new 7-acre riverfront park along the Huron River in Ann Arbor with a direct path to downtown. The site features open green space, river access, and connections to the trail network, with an event pavilion planned in a future phase.

Major Events and Headliners in 2026

· Morgan Wallen at Michigan Stadium (July 2026): Two nights of country superstar Morgan Wallen at “The Big House,” adding large-scale concerts to the stadium’s sports legacy.

· USRowing RowFest (Ford Lake, Ypsilanti – July 2026): After a successful debut in 2025, RowFest returns with national rowing championships on Ford Lake plus a community festival that includes food, music, and learn-to-row experiences.

Key Festivals

(Annual events – 2026 dates to be announced. Visit annarbor.org for updates.)

Winter

· Ann Arbor Restaurant Week – A week of special menus and prix fixe dining across local restaurants, typically in January.

Spring

· Ann Arbor Film Festival – Late March. The oldest experimental film festival in North America.

· FoolMoon and FestiFools – Early April. Community-built, lighted sculptures and giant paper-mâché puppets take over downtown.

· Cinetopia Film Festival – May. Regional festival focused on the best of the world’s film festivals.

Summer

· African American Downtown Festival (Ann Arbor) – Early June. Community festival celebrating Black culture and history.

· Ann Arbor Summer Festival – June and early July. Outdoor concerts, films, and performances at Top of the Park and around town.

· Ypsilanti Juneteenth Celebration – June. Community-driven celebration of freedom and Black culture.

· Thunder Over Michigan Air Show (Ypsilanti) – June. One of the region’s most notable air shows at Willow Run Airport.

· Chelsea Sounds & Sights Festival – July. Live music, art, and entertainment in downtown Chelsea.

· Manchester Chicken Broil – July. One of the Midwest’s oldest and largest single-day chicken broils.

· Ypsilanti Jazz Festival – Summer Saturdays. Free outdoor jazz performances.

· Ann Arbor Art Fair – July. One of the largest juried art fairs in the United States.

· Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival (Ypsilanti) – Late July. Michigan’s largest Michigan-only beer festival along the Huron River.

· Paint Dexter Plein Air Festival – August. Artists paint outdoors throughout Dexter and exhibit their work in the village.

· John E. Lawrence Summer Jazz Series (Ypsilanti) – Summer. Outdoor jazz series featuring national and regional artists.

Fall

· a2Tech360 (Ann Arbor) – Late September through early October. A week-plus celebration of Ann Arbor’s tech and innovation scene.

· Michigan Arts Festival (Washtenaw County) – Fall season of arts programming through the Michigan Arts Initiative.

· Saline Main Street Oktoberfest – September. Downtown Saline’s German-inspired fall celebration.

Holiday Season

· Midnight Madness (Downtown Ann Arbor) – December. Late-night holiday shopping, lights, and in-store specials in downtown Ann Arbor.

Milestones and Anniversaries in 2026: These anniversaries offer built-in story hooks with historic perspectives, then-and-now comparisons, and special programming.

· Michigan Celtic Festival – 30th anniversary (Saline)

· Ypsi Alehouse – 10th anniversary

· Out Night at Ann Arbor Film Festival – 25th anniversary

· Bicentennial of Washtenaw County (1826–2026)

· Thistle & Bess – 10th anniversary

New and Notable Meeting Venues

· MI HQ (Ypsilanti – opened fall 2025): Creative coworking campus with a 160-seat auditorium and small meeting rooms, ideal for off-sites, trainings, and hybrid meetings.

· The Vanguard (Ann Arbor): New 2025 hotel meeting space with a ballroom, breakout rooms, and modern AV technology, walking distance to the U-M Medical Campus and central campus.

· AC Hotel Ann Arbor (opening 2026): New downtown hotel with flexible meeting rooms suited for small groups, retreats, and executive gatherings.

· Residence Inn by Marriott Ann Arbor Airport (opening early 2026): All-suite hotel with small-event and meeting space close to I-94 and the airport corridor.

Year-Round Story Hooks

· Dining: Ann Arbor is known for chef-driven, independent restaurants and global cuisine, from Korean, Palestinian, and Indian to farm-to-table and vegan. Story options range from new openings to deep dives into specific neighborhoods or cuisines.

· Arts and Culture: The area is home to museums, galleries, performance venues, public art, and university arts programming, including the University Musical Society and multiple film festivals.

· Recreation and Outdoors: Natural beauty surrounds the region, including access to the Huron River, extensive trails like the Border-to-Border Trail, and proximity to the largest state park in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Four-season outdoor stories are easy to build here.

Area Awards and Accolades

· #1 Best College Town in Michigan – World Atlas, 2025

· One of the Best Places to Live in Michigan – U.S. News & World Report

· One of the Best Places to Live in the U.S. – Livability, 2025

· Best College Town Getaways in the Midwest – Midwest Living, 2025

Destination Ann Arbor Recognition

· Bronze Stella Award – Best Midwestern DMO – Northstar Meetings Group, 2025

· Best Smart CVB/DMO – Smart Meetings, 2025

· Best Mid-America DMO – Meetings Today “Best of” Awards, four consecutive years (2022–2025)