Plan Your Visit: Detroit's Friendliest Food Fest

In 1975, Henri J.M. Nouwen wrote a perceptive and insightful book about living a spiritual life. He described hospitality as, "...primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not about changing people, but about offering them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.”

Detroit's own Hospitality Included is a Black-led hospitality company that is redefining what hospitality looks like and who exceptional experiences are for.

The recently announced the return of its 5th Annual Hospitality Included Food + Beverage Festival on Saturday, August 16, 2026, from 12:00 PM–9:00 PM at a new location, the Detroit Food Commons in Detroit’s historic North End. The Hospitality Included Festival is produced in partnership with Vanguard CDC and Historic North End / Milwaukee Junction Main Street.

The festival features a Community Ticketing model — a pay-it-forward system that helps some create space for others. Rather than purchase a ticket for themselves, businesses and individuals can purchase $5 tickets that directly cover admission for someone else. Every $5 ticket purchased in advance opens the door for one person to attend the festival for free.

Once inside, guests purchase food and drinks directly from participating vendors, helping keep costs low for businesses and vendors and ensuring support goes directly back into Detroit’s hospitality ecosystem.

This year also marks the festival’s move to Detroit Food Commons — and the decision is about much more than space. Developed by the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Detroit Food Commons represents values Hospitality Included has always believed in: community investment, food sovereignty, and the idea that access and excellence belong together.

The 31,000-square-foot development houses the Detroit People’s Food Co-op, Kujichagulia Kitchens, and the Mama Imani Humphrey Banquet Hall.

He adds, "The 1st year was 2021, we missed 2024, due to funding. So, coming back in 2025. We were still finding the same hurdles. So we came up with the community ticketing model, where you can buy as many tickets as you'd like, but the tickets don't cover you or whoever you specifically want them to; they kind of go towards, you know, allowing the community entry. So, if you buy 20 tickets, the 1st 20 people to enter come in for free. And we run that from the day we release the promo until, you know, pretty much the day of the festival."

"So last year, you know, the number that we were trying to reach was 7000 tickets, um, and we didn't quite reach that, but we reached our goal. Um, financially, that would allow us to make it free. So, that's uh, that's kind of how we've been going about it, and we'll be reintroducing that this year. You can buy tickets on our website. We encourage people in the community to purchase as many tickets as they can to help support this model, but then we also ask that small businesses, large businesses buy them in bulk so that they can, you know, also give the community opportunity to attend the festival for free.

Bringing the Hospitality Included Festival here is both recognition and reinvestment. This festival belongs in the North End. "Food has always been one of the ways Detroit tells its story. This festival is about the people behind it — the cooks, bartenders, servers, farmers, and neighbors who make this city feel like home. Bringing the festival to the North End feels like we're honoring that history while building something for the future."

Some of the restaurants to be featured during the festival include: Baobab Fare, Mabel Gray, Vecino, Street Beet, MJ’s North End Ice Cream Parlor, Echelon Ann Arbor, Michigan & Trumbull, Bar Chenin, Cobra, and Pocket Change.

"What I love about Hospitality Included is that it brings everyone together, fine dining restaurants, pop-ups, food trucks, and everything in between," says Hamissi Mamba of Baobab Fare, adding, "For one evening, we are all in the same place, sharing the same energy and reminding people that hospitality is for everyone."

For visitors to Detroit in time for the festival, there's a strong allure. "I think there's food festivals everywhere, but it, you know, this is Detroit's. It's a full-day celebration of Detroit's food, culture, and community. You'll get to experience incredible restaurants and bars. Food, entrepreneurs, music, um, and cultural programming. So it's, you know, it's more than just a food festival. Um, honestly, it's kind of like the physical expression of everything that hospitality includes and stands for. Um, you know, Detroit already has amazing food and hospitality. Um, and this is kind of like, how do we make sure everyone experiences that? And that was, this was kind of like our answer."

"I've known Thor for many years and have always considered him to be a huge asset to the Detroit restaurant industry," says Sandy Levine of Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails, "The Hospitality Included festival is always a highlight of the summer; he has a knack for bringing together not only industry professionals, but people from all walks of life, all in the name of connecting through food, art, drinks, and music."

She adds, "The vibes are always just right, and each time you walk away feeling better than you did the day before. We're proud to have played a part in Hospitality Included each year, and will always support such a great event."

Jones adds, "Detroit is. It's one of the most diverse food cities in the country. Because it's a migration city. So, every neighborhood tells a story through food. The people who built this city, their traditions, their recipes, their cultures, um, you know, they bring those, you know, to their dining rooms and to their businesses. So when we are creating this festival, we're trying to have like a big melting pot of, you know, the different traditions, recipes, and cultures."