Cherry Capital Comic Con brings fans to Acme for Memorial Day weekend

Cherry Capital Comic Con brought a Memorial Day weekend crowd to Grand Traverse Resort & Spa in Acme, turning one of Grand Traverse County’s best-known resort properties into a hub for comics, cosplay, gaming and pop culture. The convention ran May 22-24, with hours listed as Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The show billed itself as Northern Michigan’s largest comic book and pop entertainment expo, and its layout leaned hard into that identity. Panels, creator and vendor activity, photo opportunities, contests and other fan programming gave the weekend a broader reach than a standard collectibles market. The convention also kept its comic-book focus front and center, with comic books prioritized in exhibitor selection and an emphasis on giving attendees an intimate setting to meet creators.

That mix matters for Acme and the surrounding Traverse City area. A holiday-weekend convention at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa drives visitors into local hotels, restaurants and nearby businesses at one of the busiest travel stretches of the year. The resort promoted onsite lodging and a group rate for attendees, a sign that the show was meant to keep fans close to the venue and spending in the county rather than sending them elsewhere for overnight stays.

The event’s footprint has grown far beyond its start. The first Cherry Capital Comic Con launched in 2009 and drew about 700 people. Northern Express later reported that the convention’s biggest year topped 4,000 attendees, a jump that shows how a niche fandom gathering can evolve into a regional draw with real economic weight. For Grand Traverse County, that means a comic convention is not just a pop culture stop, but a recurring source of weekend traffic that benefits the hospitality sector and gives local residents an all-ages option close to home.

Organizers also built in programming beyond the main floor. The lineup included the Steve Dillon Memorial Drink and Draw, a Charity Art Auction, Comic Prom, cosplay contests, the iCon video game room and a Magic tournament final. Exhibitor applications for the 2026 show ran from Nov. 1, 2025, through Jan. 15, 2026.

Ticket policies also widened the audience. Kids 10 and under were admitted free with a paid adult single-day or weekend pass, and active-duty military personnel and veterans were invited to attend free with badge pickup at the ticket counter. That made the Acme convention less of a hard-core collector’s stop and more of a family-friendly holiday weekend outing with a clearly local footprint.