Downtown Grand Rapids

Search the Calendar of Events for Downtown Events

Downtown Grand Rapids hosts many of the city’s biggest events, including spring’s Irish Off Ionia, Michigan’s largest St. Patrick’s Day street party; summer’s cultural festivals; fall’s ArtPrize, the world’s most attended art event; and World of Winter, the largest winter festival in the U.S.

Downtown Grand Rapids is also the go-to site for cultural festivals, concerts, comedy acts, plays, musicals, museum exhibitions, sporting events, family shows and more. Swipe through some of the biggest current events below and scroll down to the bottom of the page to search for events that match your visiting dates.

Grand Rapids has been named Michigan’s Best Food City and a Top 20 U.S. Foodie City. More than 140 downtown restaurants justify those honors by offering an astonishing range of cuisines, ambiences, experiences and price points. Highlights include MDRD, a 27th-floor Spanish eatery named America’s 2nd best new restaurant of 2022 by USA Today, Stella’s Lounge, which GQ  Magazine says serves America’s Best Burger, and the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, which gathers 20+ restaurants and gourmet food vendors under one roof. Get the Flights of Flavor digital pass to find downtown’s best food & drink flights – and earn prizes for ordering them.

Grand Rapids is also America’s Best Beer City and the Craft Beverage Capital of the U.S., and you’ll find handcrafted beers, ciders, coffees, ciders, meads, sodas and spirits in establishments all over downtown. Download the Beer City Brewsader® passport app and check in to 8 breweries; 7 located downtown - B.O.B’s Brewery, Broad Leaf Underground Bar, City Built Brewing Co., Founders Brewing Company, Fountain Hill Brewery, Küsterer Brauhaus and New Holland - The Knickerbocker - to earn a FREE Brewsader t-shirt. Check in to 22+ additional local breweries with the app and you’ll get a FREE crewneck sweatshirt.

You can even stroll the sidewalks of downtown with an alcoholic beverage in hand, thanks to our outdoor Refreshment Area. Just purchase your drink from any of 60+ participating businesses and enjoy the sights while you sip!

Downtown is home to five museums dedicated to African American culture, art, children, presidential history, and history and science.  (Purchase Attraction Pass GR for discount admission to all of them plus other perks.) There’s also a planetarium, 10-screen movie theater, local foods emporium, skate park, fish ladder, escape rooms, spas, historic sites and a riverwalk along a very Grand River. 

Downtown’s Van Andel Arena hosts professional basketball, hockey and women’s volleyball games in addition to the nation’s biggest touring concerts and family shows. The new-in-2026 Acrisure Amphitheater is a 12,000+ outdoor performance venue on the banks of the Grand River. DeVos Place is the site of huge consumer shows focused on autos, boating, golf, camping, gaming, pop culture, wine, beer & food, and much more. Rosa Parks Circle and Calder Plaza attract crowds for cultural festivals and celebrations throughout the year.

Explore downtown in-depth with a guided or self-guided walking tour highlighting different facets of the city, from notable residents and significant architecture to historic homes and haunted history. Traveling with kids? GR Dragonflies Downtown is a family-friendly scavenger hunt highlighting parks, landmarks and businesses. There’s something for every age and interest!

Downtown Grand Rapids is home to 13 hotels offering a range of budget and amenity preferences. Choose from such iconic brands as Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott or opt for a one-of-a-kind boutique hotel.

For the ultimate in luxury, check out the 29-story Amway Grand Plaza, which combines elements of a 1913-era Art Deco hotel with a soaring modern glass tower. The Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown offers the rarest of big-city hotel perks – free self-parking – while Homewood Suites by Hilton Grand Rapids Downtown offers beautiful views of the city from a rooftop bar exclusive to guests. You can browse all downtown hotels below.

USA Today named Grand Rapids 1 of the country’s 10 Best Cities Where You Can See Amazing Art. A massive Alexander Calder sculpture  in the heart of downtown has come to symbolize the city’s creative spirit. It’s one of dozens of murals, sculptures and other artistic works that make downtown a treat for the eyes. The Grand Rapids Art Museum, the world’s first LEED Gold-certified art museum, offers a tremendous range of exhibits, events and education.

Downtown is the center of ArtPrize, the world’s most attended public art event, which attracts nearly one million visitors each year to view 1,500 or so artworks from global creators. Downtown’s annual World of Winter, America’s largest free winter festival, always includes large-scale, experiential works of art from local and international artists.

The performing arts are also well represented downtown, with professional ballet, opera and symphony companies staging productions in DeVos Performance Hall, which is also the site of lavish touring shows hosted by Broadway Grand Rapids. Local theatre companies present a wide range of crowd-pleasing fare on downtown stages. Downtown Grand Rapids is the place to be inspired, entertained, moved and challenged!

Downtown Grand Rapids is compact and walkable – 1 of the 14 Most Walkable Cities in the U.S., according to Trips to Discover. But you can also take a free DASH (Downtown Area Shuttle) bus just about anywhere you want to go in the city center. DASH buses run seven days a week and arrive at each stop every 8 minutes. The Central Station of the city’s award-winning Rapid bus system is located downtown, making it easy to travel back and forth between downtown and other city neighborhoods and suburbs. Driving yourself? Grand Rapids is conveniently located at the intersection of two major highways:  I-96 (east-west) and US-131 (north-south).

Grand Rapids strives to provide a welcoming and comfortable experience to all visitors. Grand Rapids has attained “Destination Verified” status on Wheel the World, an online booking platform dedicated to accessible travel. This seal of approval means visitors can find comprehensive accessibility information on local hospitality and tourism-related businesses – including 40 downtown properties – at our Grand Rapids Wheel the World page. You can also consult our recommendations for accessible hotels, restaurants, performing arts venues and parks and trails, as well as tips for visitors who use wheelchairs, are hard of hearing, have vision loss or seek a sensory-friendly experience. Opening in fall 2026: a new accessible canoe/kayak launch and new accessible playground in downtown’s Canal Park. Ask Will, our AI-powered accessibility agent, to help you plan your Grand Rapids trip with confidence.

LinkedIn named Grand Rapids the #1 U.S. City on the Rise in 2025 – and downtown visitors will see more than $1.2 billion of development rising on and around the Grand River in the next few years. The new Acrisure Amphitheater and a renovated Grand Rapids Public Museum riverfront debuted in summer 2026,  Amway Stadium (a pro soccer venue) opens spring 2027, and construction is underway to restore the city’s namesake rapids in the Grand River and complete the Grand River Greenway, an 85-mile land and water trail network connecting downtown with points east and west. Visit our Dream Grand and Grow page for details on these and other projects.

There are 30+ places to enjoy live music downtown, from bars and breweries to outdoor community spaces to big concert venues. Van Andel Arena , Acrisure Amphitheater,  DeVos Performance Hall , GLC Live at 20 Monroe , The Intersection , Midtown, and The Pyramid Scheme  host well-known names while smaller venues spotlight local, regional and up-and-coming artists.

Annual downtown music festivals include, Breakaway Music Festival (August), Return to the River (August), Confluence Festival (September), Upheaval Festival (July)  and the summer-long Relax at Rosa. World of Winter (Jan-March) also features musical performances, as do many cultural celebrations and festivals.

Dance clubs, sports bars, karaoke venues, cigar and hookah lounges, a comedy club, game bar and piano bar provide additional after-dark diversions in downtown Grand Rapids.

Looking for something uniquely Grand Rapids? Start with the 100 or so stores of downtown Grand Rapids – the majority of them within a half-mile or less of the city’s convention center. Local entrepreneurs offer a wide range of distinctive items, from clothing and comic books to sports gear and jewelry.

 Be sure to check out attraction gift shops for souvenirs and mementos. Don’t miss the Downtown Market Grand Rapids , which hosts 20+ restaurants and gourmet food vendors under one greenhouse-covered roof. And check the DeVos Place schedule for shows where you can purchase bridal wear, boats, comic books, games, golf gear, sporting goods and much, much more.