Summer Spectacular: Family Guide to Top of the Park

Get details on all of the great activities happening. as part of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival’s Top of the Park in our Family Guide. Ann Arbor Top of the Park 2026 includes movies, music, kids zone tents, food, Annex activities, retreat fitness classes, and more.

Top of the Park 2026 starts on June 12, 2026. The 2026 calendar was announced starting on March 25 with movies. One spectacle, KidsZones, and Annex events have been announced since. Musical acts were announced on May 1. As we added the musical acts, we also discovered a couple of free ticketed shows at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre which have been added to the calendar.

What is Top of the Park?

Top of the Park is the free outdoor component of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. Top of the Park includes numerous live concerts each evening and movies on Sundays-Thursdays (closed Monday). Each night there is a KidZone tent with activities for kids. There are also food tents for dinner or snacks.

This Top of the Park Kids Guide lists all of the great family friendly activities happening at Top of the Park. Top of the Park is scheduled to start on Friday, June 12, 2026. It is held every night except for Mondays through June 28, 2026.

While admission is free, they do ask for a $5/person or $10/family donation each night to help support the event. You can also support the event by shopping the food and merchandise stands.

Daycroft School Tours

Primary Tours: May 12
Elementary Tours: May 14

Apple Playschools
Mud Day Celebration & Fundraiser

Saturday, June 27 10a-12:30p

Where is Top of the Park?

Top of the Park is held on Ingalls Mall on the University of Michigan campus. The large stage and movies are shown in front of the Rackham Graduate School Building on Washington Street. Washington Street is closed between Fletcher and Thayer for the duration of the festival.

There are folding chairs available in front of the Rackham stage/screen on Washington St. There is also a smaller Grove Stage nestled in the trees on the west side of the Ingalls Mall.

Chairs and tables are also available in the Beer garden. Sections of the beer garden are a great location for seeing either the Rackham stage and the O&W Grove stage.

A few years ago they added yard games – Cornhole and Connect 4. I hope they continue to offer the games.

Many guests bring blankets or their own chairs and sit in the grass on Ingalls Mall.

Top of the Park Ann Arbor – 2026 Movie Schedule

Top of the Park Movies by Moonlight take place on Tuesday-Thursday nights during Top of the Park. There is also a movie on the closing Sunday (June 28).

After starting at 9:30 last year, most Movies by Moonlight move to a 9:45p start this year splitting the difference with the traditional 10p start. The two exceptions are the first and last movies – Hamilton at 9:30p on Sunday, June 14 and It’s a Wonderful Life on Sunday, June 28 at 10p.. Movies by Moonlight are a lot of fun and there are some great movie options this year. Check out the 2026 Movie Lineup and get all your questions about Top of the Park Movies answered.

2026 Top of the Park Movies By Moonlight Lineup

The 2026 Ann Arbor Top of the Park Movie Lineup is out! It has a nice mix of classic movies and newer movies – plenty of which are family-favorites. My family loves attending Top of the Park, particularly when we can meet up with friends. My daughter and I particularly enjoy seeing the movies. On the other […]

Ann Arbor Summer Festival 2026 – Main Stage Performances

Ann Arbor Summer Festival Main Stage Performances are ticketed performances. As of March 25, there are two ticketed (priced) performances:

• June 19 – 8p – The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton present: AVTT/PTTN at Hill Auditorium
• June 20 – 7:30p – Ira Glass: Stories for a Saturday Night at Power Center

Top of the Park KidZone Tent

Each night of Top of the Park, a local organization hosts activities in the KidZone Tent. The KidZone tent is typically open from 5-8p. It will open at 4p on Sundays this year. The KidZone tent is located on Ingalls Mall. It’s location typically shifts a bit each year.

In 2025, the KidZone Tent faced away from the main stage. This made it a bit quieter area for kids who need a break from the stimulation of the music.

One of my daughter’s favorite KidZone hosts has been the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. Whether it was trying out the strings at age 3. or the brass instruments at 12. They are back for 2026!

2026 KidZone Tent Schedule

The 2026 KidZone schedule was announced on April 23.

Top of the Park Spectacles

For 2026, they announced the first spectacle on April 1. Since then we’ve found the free ticketed shows at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre and the addition of David Zinn & Sidewalk Chalk Day. There are also a series of mini-spectacle events on Sunday, June 21 and the reading of the Declaration of Independence on June 28.

Ann Arbor Summer Festival Top of the Park Spectacles & Attractions

Top of the Park Spectacles are one of the most fun parts of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival! They provide amazing free shows downtown. The first 2026 Special Attraction was announced on April 1 – no joking. They emphasized this was the first Special Attraction being announced, so we are looking forward to learning about […]

David Zinn & Sidewalk Chalk at Top of the Park

David Zinn, Ann Arbor’s premier chalk artist, will be decorating the sidewalks at Top of the Park several nights.

Sunday, June 14 is Sidewalk Chalk Day. Come join in chalking the sidewalks of Top of the Park.

Or, visit on select nights to see David Zinn’s creations take shape. He’ll be out working on Friday, June 12, Sundays, June 14, 21, & 28 plus Tuesday, June 23.

Top of the Park Annex

Top of the Park Annex holds events each night of Top of the Park. Some of the 2026 annex events were family friendly with most being at least teen friendly.

Top of the Park Retreat

Top of the Park kicks off each night with a wellness/fitness activity like yoga, martial arts, and more. While Retreat is not a kid-centric program, they are welcome to join in. Retreat activities happen on the Power Center Lawn at 5:30p.

The 2026 slate was announced on April 23:

• June 12 – All Levels Yoga & Breathwork with Zion Well
• June 13 – Bombay Jam® with Miraya Fit
• June 14 – Kickboxing with Omega Martial Arts Saline
• June 16 – Pilates with Anne
• June 17 – World Dance Workout
• June 18 – Reset Your Body, Feel Good with Huron Valley Aikikai
• June 19 – Yoga for Every-BODY
• June 20 – Sol Society Pilates
• June 21 – Afro Brazilian Martial Arts with Capoeira
• June 23 – Swing Dance Lessons with Swing Ann Arbor
• June 24 – Full Body Sculpt with Ann Arbor YMCA
• June 25 – Barre with Barre3
• June 26 – Taiji with Ann-Hua Chinese School
• June 27 – Now & Zen Yoga Flow with Marty Betts
• June 28 – REP/REVIVE with SPENGA Ann Arbor

Top of the Park Ann Arbor Schedule of Performances

The big draw of Top of the Park is the nightly musical performances. There are two stages setup at Top of the Park. The larger stage is in front of Rackham and is the main stage for Top of the Park. The Acoustic Stage is setup in the Grove near the Bell Tower.

Music typically starts at 5p on the Grove Stage and at 7p on the Rackham Stage.

Culinary Row – Top of the Park Food Vendors

Culinary Row is part of many of our visits to Top the Park. It has food booths and food trucks offering everything from drinks to dinner to dessert mostly from local vendors. The Culinary Row vendors help to support Top of the Park. Attendees are encouraged to support the vendors instead of bringing their own food.

The 2025 Food vendors were:

• Bo’s Bagels
• Chela’s
• Curt Got Crabs
• Desi Ruchulu Indian Cuisine
• Joe’s Pizza
• Michigan Creamery
• Simply Spanish
• Sugar Shack
• Travelin’ Toms Coffee of Ypislanti
• Vegano Italiano
• Beverages

In 2025, there was a trend to food trucks with Curt Got Crabs, Simply Spanish, Travelin’ Toms Coffee and Vegano Italiano. I’m excited to try some of the food trucks and Bo’s Bagels, the other newcomer. At the same time we’ll miss both Oasis Mediterranean Grill and Sweetwaters.

If you want full options for dinner, we highly recommend arriving early. Lines can get long at the prime dinner hours. Popular dishes tend to sell out so eating later in the evening when lines decrease isn’t always a great option.

Alcoholic beverages are served in the beer garden to the left when looking at the stage under the trees. Kids are allowed in the beer garden.

There are picnic tables across from the culinary row vendors and tables and chairs in the beer garden.

What to Bring to Top of the Park

You don’t need to bring anything to Top of the Park. But, you can bring chairs or a blanket. If you have younger kids, a wagon is helpful. It can carry your blanket, water bottles, and kids who don’t want to walk.

If you visit in early evening, you may want sun screen. If you plan to stay later in the evening, you may want a sweatshirt and/or long pants to stay warm.

2022 was the only year we had an issue with mosquitos at Top of the Park. But had no issues in 2023-2025. We suggest bringing bug spray just in case this year.

Many of the Top of the Park culinary row vendors have mobile credit card machines so you won’t need cash. However, Cash is helpful for a few things. You can make a donation to Ann Arbor Summer Festival volunteers. Or, you can send the kids with cash to buy their own food/drinks.

Getting to Top of the Park

Biking, walking and the bus are great options for getting to Top of the Park if you live close enough. We usually drive to Top of the Park since we don’t live near downtown or on a bus line..

My husband works at UM and has a blue parking pass. We will often use that to park in the Fletcher Parking Structure. Without the pass, there is typically a parking fee. The Thayer lot also typically has a parking fee for non-pass holders.

Many other UM Blue lots offer free parking after 5 or 6p. We have also parked at the Ann Structure which offers metered visitor parking and is a blue lot. It is a little further, but can be worth saving the parking fee. UM Parking maps can be found on their parking and transportation website.

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