The ann arbor summer festival's mission is to present a world-class celebration of arts and entertainment that enriches the cultural, economic, and social vitality of the region.

Arts & Culture , Performing Arts

The mainstage series is a major part of the ann arbor summer festival's ongoing effort to promote cultural arts throughout the city and region. In the 2016-2017 season, the mainstage series featured 8 ticketed marquee performances with 12,000 people participating, including half-priced children's tickets and complimentary tickets to select social service organizations through the good neighbor ticket program. This program features both established and emerging artists, many of whom made their festival debuts and brought world-renowned music, spoken-word and comedy performances that would otherwise not be presented. the top of the park series helped to bring an estimated 70,000 people to the area from across the region during 21 nights of admission-free events held city wide. This outdoor programming featured 90 unique musical performers and roaming artists, 9 street arts/spectacle, 19 movies by moonlight, 21 wellness/fitness classes, culinary tasting events, hands-on educational workshops and artist talks. Of the over 80,000 estimated patrons participating in the total festival, 28,000 participated in family focused events and educational programming that included 21 nights of hands-on activities which was produced with dozens of community partners.