Detroit's holiday season is shaped by one of America's oldest Thanksgiving parades, a tree-lighting downtown that anchors the city's revitalization, and the holiday programming at Greenfield Village, the Henry Ford's open-air history museum just outside the city. The combination of Motown musical heritage and Midwestern industrial history gives the season a distinctly Detroit character.

• America's Thanksgiving Parade: Detroit's parade is the second-oldest Thanksgiving Day parade in the United States, traveling Woodward Avenue downtown.
• Campus Martius Park: The downtown park hosts the city's official tree lighting and operates an outdoor ice rink throughout the season.
• Greenfield Village Holiday Nights: The Henry Ford's open-air museum in Dearborn lights its 19th-century buildings and runs Model T rides through historic streetscapes.
• Detroit-Style Holiday Eating: Coney dogs at the side-by-side American and Lafayette Coney Islands, square-cut Detroit-style pizza from Buddy's, and Polish pączki from Hamtramck anchor a winter food culture rooted in the city's immigrant and auto-era history.