Port Huron's Art Hop gets a fall edition for the first time this year. It is a smaller event than the May festival. On October 9 and 10, the new Fall Art Hop: Vendor Edition brings back just one piece of the spring event, its vendor market, and stretches that across two days in Downtown Port Huron. Saturday the 10th is already a busy day downtown. The Art Hop booths will share it with the farmers market, a seasonal market on River Street, historic trolley tours and three evening stages. On paper, a market-only Art Hop looks like the lighter edition. With everything else on Saturday, it works best as one stop in a long downtown day.
What the Fall Edition Kept From May
The organizers describe the fall event as "a two-day, vendor-first weekend built around makers, artists, and small businesses," the fall companion to the May festival. According to the event page, the weekend includes:
- Makers market: two full days of vendor booths with handmade, vintage and small-batch goods
- Working artists: live demonstrations and artist tables where you can watch the work being made and then buy it
- Food and drink: local food vendors, with downtown restaurants open all weekend
- Live moments: street performances and pop-ups throughout the weekend
Friday is listed as opening day with the full vendor market downtown. Saturday continues the market and ends with a closing celebration.
Spring had a vendor market too, but it took up only a small part of a much longer event. The spring vendor page called May 15 and 16 the "Vendor Days." Those two days opened a festival that ran from May 15 to May 29. The fall edition is essentially those two vendor days on their own.
What It Left Behind
The Spring Art Hop 2026 was the ninth annual edition. Organizers described it as "two weeks of art in storefronts, live moments, and community across Downtown Port Huron." Here is how the two editions compare, based on what the organizers have published:
| Spring Art Hop, May 15–29 | Fall Art Hop, Oct. 9–10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Two weeks | Two days |
| Core format | Art displayed in storefronts across downtown | Vendor booths, artist demos, pop-ups |
| Host businesses | 22 listed venues | Venue sign-ups still open |
| Artists | 32 featured artists listed | No named lineup published |
| Competition | Judges' Choice and People's Choice awards, with community voting | None announced |
| Finale | Awards Night, 5 p.m. May 29, Colony Bowl | Closing celebration Saturday, location and time not yet posted |
In spring, the art stayed in shop windows for two weeks, so you could see it on your own schedule. You could walk past a storefront on a Tuesday and see the work, then come back the next week to vote. The fall edition doesn't work that way. Booths, demonstrations and performances are there only on the two market days. Once Saturday's closing celebration ends, the fall Art Hop is over.
Both editions connect to the same downtown building. The fall page sends would-be sponsors to the Wrigley Center's festivals site, and spring's Awards Night was held at Colony Bowl inside The Wrigley Center. The Wrigley Center, at 318 Grand River Ave., describes its building as a mix of food, entertainment, five bars, lofts and retail. Its festivals arm calls the company a Port Huron-based producer of festivals, live music and community events. The building's Colony Bar connects to a fowling lounge and runs rotating open mic and DJ nights.
Saturday Has Three Markets on One Clock
The Art Hop market runs on Saturday along with two other markets already on the downtown calendar. The Port Huron Farmers Market is open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 100 Merchants St., and its season ends October 31. That makes October 10 one of the last four farmers market Saturdays of 2026. Storehouse, at 1005 River St., is holding its annual Hocus Pocus Market that day. Storehouse calls it the shop's biggest event of the year, with pumpkins, vintage finds, handmade goods, seasonal décor and pop-up vendors.
All three markets overlap with the Art Hop's handmade and vintage booths. The farmers market closes earliest, so plan around it if it's on your list. Here are the posted Saturday times:
| Time on Saturday, Oct. 10 | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 8 a.m.–2 p.m. | Port Huron Farmers Market | 100 Merchants St. |
| 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Hocus Pocus Market at Storehouse | 1005 River St. |
| Hours not yet posted | Fall Art Hop market, day two, plus closing celebration | Downtown Port Huron |
| 1–3 p.m. | Murder & Mayhem Historic Trolley Tour | Carnegie Museum, 1115 6th St. |
| 3–5 p.m. | More Murder, More Mayhem Historic Trolley Tour | Carnegie Museum, 1115 6th St. |
| 7 p.m. | The Woman in Black | Citadel Theatre, 609 Huron Ave. |
| 7 p.m. | What the Constitution Means to Me | SC4 Fine Arts Theatre, 601 Erie St. |
| 7:30 p.m., doors 6:30 | A Tribute Night to the Eagles by Moxie Events | McMorran Theater, 701 McMorran Blvd. |
The Port Huron Museums trolley tours run back to back from the Carnegie Museum, the 1 p.m. tour first and a second, "More Murder, More Mayhem" tour at 3 p.m. With both, you could fill most of the afternoon between the morning markets and an evening show.
What Isn't Posted Yet
The fall page is still light on details. As of this week, it doesn't list daily hours, the streets or blocks where booths will set up, named vendors or artists, or where and when the closing celebration will happen. Vendor applications and downtown venue sign-ups were still open on the page, so the lineup may keep changing until opening day.
The spring venue list doesn't settle this. Organizers labeled those 22 businesses as spring venues, so being on that list doesn't mean a shop is hosting in October. If a particular maker or shop is the reason you're going, check the fall event page on Friday morning to see the final details.
Friday Through Sunday on the Stages
The Art Hop opens Friday, and several stages start their weekends at the same time. SVSU Theatre is presenting What the Constitution Means to Me at the SC4 Fine Arts Theatre, with a free 10 a.m. performance on October 9 and a 7 p.m. performance on October 10. On Friday evening, The Soulback at 627 Huron Ave. is listed for a murder mystery dinner. The listing doesn't give a start time, so call ahead to confirm.
Enter Stage Right's The Woman in Black is the only one of these that runs after this weekend. Its run at the Citadel Theatre on Huron Avenue lasts from October 9 to 25, with shows Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. If Saturday is already full, the Sunday matinee on October 11 is the one event on this weekend's list that comes after the Art Hop closes.
The Fountain Outside the Saturday Night Show
If the Eagles tribute is on your Saturday plan, McMorran Plaza has something new to see on the way in. McMorran Place marked the completion of improvements to the Night & Day Fountain with a public unveiling on September 17. The ceremony took place on McMorran Plaza at 701 McMorran Blvd., the same address as McMorran Theater. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 show. Arriving at doors-open leaves time to see the renovated fountain first.
On a single Saturday you can go from the farmers market at 8 a.m. to Storehouse on River Street, then the Art Hop booths and the Carnegie Museum trolley tours, and end with the fountain and a 7:30 show. More of Port Huron's neighborhood guides are on the Port Huron page.
Weekends like this one are part of what makes downtown Port Huron special to me as a Port Huron native. If you live nearby and are thinking about what a move closer to downtown, or out toward the lake, could look like, Lisa Glombowski would be glad to talk it through over coffee after the market. Let's Connect.
