Top of the Park returns for another summer of fun

Top of the Park returns for another summer of fun

Gone are the rumors that the free festival would charge for admission.

By CHRISTOPHER POTTER

NEWS ARTS WRITER 

One of the best entertainment traditions in Ann Arbor is back for yet another summer run - and once again it doesn’t cost a cent to see it.

It’s called Top of the Park, the whoppingly successful arm of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. So successful, in fact, that the festival proper - soon to commence its 18th season at the University of Michigan’s Power Center - just wouldn’t be the same without it.

True enough, the festival’s not-for-free Power Center series (announced earlier this year) retains the “name performers” in this three-week celebration of performing arts of all varieties. But ask just about any festival-goer what makes this early-summer revel a truly celebratory rite, and most will tell you it’s those sultry, breezy evenings atop the parking structure adjacent to the Power Center. June 15 through July, the mini-park will offer food and drink from local emporiums, plus local, regional and national bands, and Hollywood movies from dusk til dark,

And yes, it’s still free as always. Gone are the onetime rumors the festival might have to start charging visitors $1.50 to offset rising costs. Thanks to escalating attendance at the festival’s paid events, plus a concerted T.O.P donation drive (take note of those pyramidshaped money-drop kiosks on the rooftop) Top of the Park should remain free to the people for years to come. Even Mother Nature seems to be a fast and true fan: The past several years have averaged just one T.O.P. rain-out per festival.

See FESTIVAL, Page F2

NEWS PHOTO. ELLI GURFINKEL

Fourteen-year-olds Kirstin Dahmer, center, and Sarah Fishstrom, both of Ann Arbor, dance to the Irish tunes of Binn Na Mara at last year's Top of the Park. See page F2 for a listing of this year's events.