How to get free tickets to reopening concert, tours at Michigan Central Station today

Corktown neighbors got first dibs on registration

The Michigan Central Station is seen, Monday, March 18, 2024, in Detroit. Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford Motor Co., and his wife Lisa Ford are raising $10 million to help ten Detroit nonprofit organizations that serve young people start endowments. Lisa Ford said the campaign comes alongside Ford's investment in the refurbishment of the long abandoned train station. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) (Carlos Osorio, Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Tickets to tours and a concert related to the reopening of Michigan Central Station in Detroit were taken off the market Tuesday after the website crashed. But tickets were not yet sold out, officials said.

Officials announced Tuesday night that registration will reopen Wednesday, May 22, at 9 a.m.

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Tickets to Michigan Central’s “OPEN” celebration were placed on a temporary pause on Tuesday, May 21, one hour after registration was set to open to the public. Tickets are being made available for a reopening concert scheduled for June 6, as well as free tours of the station in June.

Registration for tickets was scheduled to open to the public at noon on Tuesday, but the website appeared to crash just before then. The website was somewhat up and running about an hour later, but still appeared to be moving sluggishly.

Just after 1 p.m., Michigan Central posted on its Instagram page that ticket sales and registration had been temporarily paused due to an “overwhelming demand.”

“Tickets are not sold out. We apologize for the inconvenience and will share a new date and time for ticket availability,” the post read.

More information was expected to be shared at a later time, though it wasn’t immediately clear when.

Michigan Central Station closed in 1988 and was bought by Ford Motor Company in 2018. Ford has been restoring the old Detroit train depot for the last six years.

Now, with plans to open the building on June 6, 2024, residents will get the chance to mark the reopening with free events. The 11-day celebration includes an outdoor concert, open house hours, and more.

Michigan Central OPEN Celebration

On June 6, Michigan Central will kick off the festivities with Michigan Central OPEN Live, a 90-minute outdoor concert in front of The Station headlined by well-known Detroit musical artists. We aren’t sure who the artists will be.

The show will feature short films, appearances by local leaders, and creators telling stories of innovation and culture from around the city and the region.

From June 7-16, Michigan Central will host its OPEN House, offering a first look inside the Station’s historic ground floor through a range of exhibits, entertainment, art, and more.

Michigan Central’s art program will also bring art installations, including a new iteration of Reddymade’s me + you, a critically acclaimed interactive sculpture specifically for Michigan Central.

After its reopening event in June, The Station will begin a phased reactivation of the building over the next several months and years as restaurant, retail, and other commercial and community-focused partners take up residency. The first floor will be open to the public for tours on Fridays and Saturdays through August. Expanded hours will be announced for fall, when the first phase of commercial activations opens to the public.

Tickets: Registration for OPEN Live and OPEN House started online at michigancentral.com on May 17 for neighbors surrounding the station. Tickets were meant to be available to the rest of the public on May 21.

Officials said registration will reopen Wednesday, May 22, at 9 a.m. When the temporary pause is lifted, tickets are expected to be available online here.


About the Author

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.

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