On Friday, November 13, two unrelated crowds will head to Novi. One is going to Motor City Comic Con at Vibe Credit Union Showplace on Grand River Avenue. The other is going to the Universus World Championship, a trading card tournament at a shop on Twelve Mile Road that opens this week. The comic con has nothing to do with the card tournament. They simply share a weekend.
That overlap shows how Novi's November and December work this year. The season runs on two calendars that don't depend on each other. The Showplace books regional shows weekend by weekend, and each one brings visitors in for a few days. The Twelve Mile strip, covering Twelve Oaks Mall and Twelve Mile Crossing at Fountain Walk, is where the City of Novi holds its own holiday celebration. It's also where most of 2026's new businesses opened. If you know which side is busy on a given weekend, you know whether that Saturday is for staying close to home or for avoiding one end of town.
The Grand River side has a new name and a full calendar
The first thing that changed is the sign. The building at 46100 Grand River Ave. has been Vibe Credit Union Showplace since January 1, 2026. The Detroit News reported that Vibe Credit Union bought the naming rights for 25 years. Many people in town still say "the Suburban Collection," so expect to hear both names for a while.
The venue's own upcoming events page shows how busy it is this fall. Two shows overlap in early November, and one big show lands in December:
| Dates | Event at Vibe Credit Union Showplace |
|---|---|
| Thu–Sat, Nov 5–7 | Original Sewing & Quilt Expo |
| Fri–Sun, Nov 6–8 | Snowmobile Show |
| Fri–Sun, Nov 13–15 | Motor City Comic Con |
| Sat–Sun, Nov 28–29 | Gun & Knife Show |
| Fri–Sun, Dec 11–13 | Jurassic Quest |
| Sat, Dec 12 | The Michigan Makers Holiday Craft Market |
So the first two November weekends are booked back to back, and the Sewing & Quilt Expo and Snowmobile Show share Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7. Then December 12 puts a dinosaur exhibit and a holiday craft market under the same roof on the same Saturday.
Motor City Comic Con is the biggest of these. According to the official show guide, hours are noon to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Parking is first-come, first-served at $10 per vehicle per day, and on-site payment is cash only. The Detroit Free Press featured Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad in its September 25 preview. It also named Kyra Sedgwick, Martin Sheen, William Fichtner, Michael Cudlitz and Chad Michael Murray. The organizer says guest appearances can change. Advance adult tickets are $38 for Friday, $48 for Saturday and $105 for the whole weekend, plus processing fees. Children 5 and under get in free with a paid adult, and kids 6 to 12 get in free on Sunday.
For anyone in Novi, the Grand River calendar mostly tells you which weekends will have show traffic. Its draw is regional. The local story is on Twelve Mile.
The Twelve Mile side is where this year's new businesses opened
Twelve Oaks Mall has had a busy year. A Hometown Life report updated September 18 lists five 2026 additions, according to General Manager Scott Lofton:
- Platform, a men's streetwear brand that opened in September
- Body and Soul Medical and Holistic Spa, which offers laser treatments, skin rejuvenation and body contouring
- Overrated Korean Beauty, selling Korean beauty products and Asian-inspired lifestyle goods
- Exotic Snack Guys, an international snack and drink marketplace
- Ragstock, a long-running vintage and recycled clothing retailer
The same report says three tenants will fill the long-empty Sears space: Round1 Bowling and Arcade, the European clothing retailer Primark, and Dick's House of Sport, which includes indoor and outdoor athletic facilities. The city's development project tracker, updated September 15, lists Dick's House of Sport as under construction. No opening dates have been published for any of the three, so they won't be part of this holiday season.
Across Novi Road, Twelve Mile Crossing at Fountain Walk also added new tenants. 2D DIY Studio held its ribbon cutting on March 24, 2026, between Dick's Sporting Goods and Full Throttle Adrenaline Park. The center's directory lists Super Sushi as "Coming 2026" but gives no date.
The opening with the most direct link to this season is The Trading Post, a trading card store and lounge at 44375 W. Twelve Mile Rd., Suite G-155, next to Emagine. The Novi Chamber listing says it carries more than 16 card game lines, including Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, Disney Lorcana and One Piece. It has a 48-seat play space for weekly tournaments and an on-site content studio that local creators can rent. Grand opening weekend is October 16–18, with hours of 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.
November 13–15 is the weekend both sides fill up
Four weeks after opening, The Trading Post will host the Universus World Championship on November 13–15. The Chamber says the event will draw competitors from across the country. That's the same Friday-to-Sunday as Motor City Comic Con on Grand River.
On most fall weekends, one hub is busy and the other is a normal Saturday. This weekend, both draw out-of-town visitors at the same time, and both have gaming and pop culture audiences. Anyone planning a Friday night movie at Emagine or a Saturday errand near Grand River should expect company at both ends.
If you're going to the con, two details from the official guide help. Cash covers on-site parking, and you can buy parking ahead of time. Sunday is the shortest day, closing at 5 p.m., and it's also the day kids 6 to 12 get in free.
Light the Lights keeps the city's own celebration on Twelve Mile
The following Friday, the city's main holiday event lands on the Twelve Mile side too. The City of Novi's Light the Lights page puts the free celebration at Twelve Mile Crossing at Fountain Walk on Friday, November 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. Fireworks and the tree lighting are at 7 p.m. The evening also has visits with Santa, live music, character meet-and-greets, free train rides, a Letters to Santa station and a make-your-own stuffed animal station run by The Bear Factory, which costs extra.
That means the city's biggest holiday night is in the same parking lots as The Trading Post, Emagine and the Fountain Walk restaurants. Fountain Walk also scheduled its Halloween events there. Its homepage lists a sensory-friendly trick-or-treat on Sunday, October 25, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by general trick-or-treat from 1 to 4 p.m. Between late October and late November, most of Novi's community-scale events are on Twelve Mile.
One thing hasn't been posted yet. Twelve Oaks' hours page shows regular hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, with no holiday schedule yet. No 2026 Santa arrival date had been announced as of this writing.
The season, weekend by weekend
Here's the full calendar, labeled by which hub is busy:
- Oct 16–18: The Trading Post grand opening at Twelve Mile Crossing. Twelve Mile.
- Sun, Oct 25: Fountain Walk trick-or-treat, with the sensory-friendly session first. Twelve Mile.
- Nov 5–8: Sewing & Quilt Expo, then the Snowmobile Show, overlapping Friday and Saturday. Grand River.
- Nov 13–15: Motor City Comic Con and the Universus World Championship. Both.
- Fri, Nov 20: Light the Lights, with fireworks at 7 p.m. Twelve Mile.
- Nov 28–29: Gun & Knife Show at the Showplace. Grand River.
- Dec 11–13: Jurassic Quest, plus the Michigan Makers Holiday Craft Market on Saturday, December 12. Grand River.
Twelve Mile is busiest from mid-October through November 20. Grand River carries the early November weekends and most of December.
A quieter option that opened this month
Every busy weekend needs somewhere calm, and Novi got a new one on October 2. The city's project page for the ITC pathway and boardwalk says the new link is complete. It's a shared-use asphalt path from the existing ITC Trail south of 11 Mile Road, running east to Bosco Fields Park and Beck Road. It includes about 600 feet of 14-foot-wide boardwalk. The project cost $230,000 in federal funding through SEMCOG. The city says the contractor will keep checking on the grass restoration.
A walk on the boardwalk before the November 13 crowds arrive is an easy way to see something new in Novi this fall.
Living in Novi means knowing which weekends belong to the Showplace and which belong to Twelve Mile. Those same local details matter if you're thinking about a home in town, whether that's a quiet street near Bosco Fields or a short walk to the Light the Lights fireworks. If you'd like to know what your Novi home is worth before the holidays, Jay Gingell is happy to help. Let's connect. Request a free home valuation.
