The 2026 schedule from the Downtown Detroit Partnership shows the season building over a little more than two weeks. The Campus Martius tree arrives on Nov. 4. The Downtown Detroit Markets and the Cadillac Lodge open on Nov. 11. The lighting comes on Friday, Nov. 20, and the Rink opening weekend is scheduled to follow right after. By lighting night, the market will already have been open for seven days.
Here is the full order, taken from the winter calendar Metro Parent published in July and from DDP's own event pages:
- Wednesday, Nov. 4: Tree Arrival at Campus Martius
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: Cadillac Square Markets and Cadillac Lodge open
- Friday, Nov. 20: 23rd annual Detroit Tree Lighting, 4 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Chalet 313 opens
- Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 21 to 22: Rink opening weekend
- Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027: Markets and Lodge close
Each step changes what you can actually do around Campus Martius and Cadillac Square, and the first step already happened in October.
October: the mornings filled in first
Downtown has a quiet stretch between seasons right now. The Shop at Campus Martius, the Carhartt-supported store that sells Detroit merchandise, kept Thursday to Sunday hours from noon to 8 p.m. through Oct. 4. Then it closed to restock, with a reopening planned for sometime in November. DDP hasn't posted a date yet.
What did open this fall runs on morning hours, not holiday-market hours. Joe Louis Southern Kitchen, an all-day breakfast and brunch spot at 1528 Woodward Ave., soft-opened in early August and held its grand opening on Thursday, Aug. 27, the Detroit Free Press reported. The restaurant's own site lists hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
Einstein Bros. Bagels is coming to the lobby of One Campus Martius in a space of about 1,200 square feet, with hours of 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Franchisee Randy Dickow told the Free Press in late September that the store was "on target for an Oct. 19, opening." As of today that is still a target date, not an opening.
A block up Woodward, the Nick Gilbert Way plaza at Hudson's has Un Deux Trois, a French-inspired coffee truck from the team behind Midtown's Café Sous Terre. It serves pastries, espresso and coffee seven days a week. The Hudson's Detroit site describes the plaza as a gathering place with seasonal programming such as live music, art installations and retail pop-ups.
These hours matter for the rest of the calendar. Every seasonal attraction below opens at 11 a.m. or later. The new businesses cover the hours before that, so a morning walk to see the tree go up, or to watch the market stalls being set up, now has somewhere to start.
The evenings also have one new option that will still be running after the holiday setup comes down. Pine Hall, the rooftop cocktail bar on the 12th floor at 3000 Nick Gilbert Way, opened in June, according to the Free Press. It's open from 4 to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 10 p.m. on Sunday. The rest of the Hudson's project is still being built. Bedrock's October 2025 release said the 12-story office building at 1240 Woodward was complete and that the 45-story tower at 1208 Woodward would open in 2027. The Detroit EDITION hotel and its residences are still listed as upcoming.
Nov. 4: the tree shows up before anything else
DDP lists the Tree Arrival as a free, one-hour event at Campus Martius from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, covering the tree's arrival and placement. DDP hasn't said where this year's tree is coming from or how tall it is.
Last year shows how long the setup takes. WDIV reported that the 2025 tree was a 62-foot spruce from Mesick, Michigan. DDP picked it from three candidates, and decorating it took more than a week. If 2026 follows the same pattern, the 16 days between arrival and lighting are when the tree is being decorated in plain view, a few steps from the new breakfast counters.
Nov. 11: shopping and a heated tent, nine days ahead of the lights
One week after the tree arrives, Cadillac Square opens for the season. The Downtown Detroit Markets run at 60 Cadillac Square from Nov. 11, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027. They're funded by the Gilbert Family Foundation and managed by the Downtown Detroit Partnership. Regular hours:
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday and Tuesday | Closed, except Dec. 14–15 and Dec. 21–22, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. |
| Wednesday and Thursday | 11 a.m.–8 p.m. |
| Friday and Saturday | 11 a.m.–10 p.m. |
| Sunday | 11 a.m.–7 p.m. |
Because the market is closed Monday and Tuesday, it has exactly seven open days between Nov. 11 and the tree lighting. Those seven days fall across two Wednesday-to-Sunday stretches, and they come before the biggest crowd of the season reaches the square.
The 2026 lineup has 18 named vendors:
- Food and drink: Fat George's, Indigo Culinary Co., Mimidae Beverage Co., Waffle Cabin, Woodward Farms, Your Olive Tree
- Books, art and paper goods: Next Chapter Books, The Coloring Museum, INK DETROIT, Jodi Lynn's Emporium of Doodles
- Apparel, accessories and home: Back In The D, Bespoke By Feldman, Bleu Bowtique, Boho Luxe Detroit, ESEDA, Liv a Little at Home, Sunshine Handcrafted, Yarn Nerds
Last year's market also had 18 vendors. Seven names from DDP's 2025 listing are back for 2026: Bespoke By Feldman, Bleu Bowtique, Fat George's, Mimidae Beverage Co., The Coloring Museum, Waffle Cabin and Yarn Nerds. Others from last year, including Asher & Arnold, Big Mitten Linocuts, BrownieDr, Detroit Can Company, Inkcourage and Opal Grove Games, aren't on this year's list. If you shopped the square last December, expect a mix of familiar stalls and new ones.
The Cadillac Lodge opens the same day, and it has a new operator this year. DDP's Lodge page describes a large heated tent with weekly programming, run by Forte Belanger and funded by the Gilbert Family Foundation, with support from Bedrock and DDP. DDP's 2025 listing named Continental as operator and mentioned sliders, nachos and a children's menu. Expect the 2026 menu to be different. The Lodge's hours are still listed as coming soon. One rule is already posted: no cash at the Lodge or any affiliated kiosk, with a cash-to-card machine inside.
Nov. 20: the market closes early on lighting night
The 23rd annual Detroit Tree Lighting is free and runs from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20, at Campus Martius. DDP says more details are coming and hasn't named any performers yet. For scale, the 2025 lighting had BRELAND and Natalie Jane on stage, the Urban Arts Orchestra, and skaters Polina Edmunds, Emmanuel Savary and Khloe Felton on the ice.
On Nov. 20 the Cadillac Square stalls are open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. only, closing just as the lighting begins. On a regular Friday, the market stays open until 10 p.m. If you were planning to shop and then watch the lights, those are two separate trips that night, and the shopping has to come first.
The calendar has a few other exceptions. On Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, the market opens early, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve, stays closed on Christmas Day, and runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
Nov. 21 and after: the ice comes last
The Rink at Campus Martius and Chalet 313 are the last pieces. Metro Parent's July calendar lists Rink opening weekend as Nov. 21–22 and Chalet 313's opening as Nov. 21. As of mid-October, DDP's own Rink page still shows last season's information, and DDP hasn't posted the 2026–27 hours or prices. Treat those dates as the published plan, and check the Rink page before you go.
Last season, DDP described Chalet 313 as a two-story, glass-enclosed, heated lounge with a bar and 360-degree views of the rink, the tree and the skyline. It served seasonal drinks and hosted winter trivia. DDP hasn't released details for the 2026 Chalet.
Put together, the order means the ice opens the day after the lighting, and the Lodge and markets have already been open for 10 days by then. The Lodge and markets close on Jan. 3. Last season the Rink stayed open until March 1, 2026, nearly two months after the markets closed. DDP hasn't posted a closing date for 2026–27.
If you live within walking distance of Cadillac Square and the holiday build-out has you curious about your own place, Kristi Mishaw can give you a clear starting number, with a contractor's eye on condition and a designer's eye on presentation. Get your instant home valuation and see where your downtown home stands before the Rink opens.
