Hello Downtown Business Neighbors,
Thank you to everyone who joined us on May 1 for our virtual session, Maximizing Your Business During Large Events. We were pleased to be joined by representatives from Movement Festival and the Detroit Grand Prix, who shared valuable insights on traffic flow, visitor trends, event timelines, and strategies for capturing event-related foot traffic.
Missed the session? You can watch the full recording here: 5.1.25 Maximizing Your Business During Large Events Recording.mp4 and review key takeaways from the session below!
Key Highlights – Movement Festival
- Dates: Saturday, May 24 – Monday, May 26 at Hart Plaza
- Daily Attendance: 25,000–30,000 people, largely aged 25–35
- Schedule: 2:00 PM to midnight (Sat/Sun), until 11:00 PM (Mon)
- Setup Begins: May 14, drawing additional 250 crew members downtown
- Street Closures: Washington Blvd & Jefferson Ave closed; Jefferson reduced to one lane for pedestrian access
- Re-entry is allowed, increasing potential for surrounding businesses to engage attendees
- Happening the same weekend are two sold-out concerts by The Weeknd at Ford Field + Tigers home games = very high foot traffic
- Interested in partnering? Contact Sam Fotias ([email protected]) or Morin Yousif ([email protected])
Key Highlights – Detroit Grand Prix
- Dates: Friday, May 30 – Sunday, June 1
- Location: Along Jefferson Ave between Hart Plaza and Rivard Street, with activations throughout downtown
- Attendance: ~150,000 over three days; many attendees from outside the region
- Demographics: Families, large groups, ages 20–40
- Starting May 27, over 1,100 crew members arrive downtown—working late and in need of grab-and-go food options
- Friday: Car show from 6:30 – 8:30 PM
- Saturday: Races 9 AM – 5:30 PM; concert by Gryffin at 6 PM in Campus Martius
- Sunday: Races from 12:30 – 3:30 PM – ideal for brunch promotions
- To receive a promotional Embrace the Race kit, contact Letty Azar at (248) 943-8445 or [email protected]
We hope this information helps you prepare for these and future events. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or ideas for collaboration.
In business,
DDP’s Small Business Team
