The Downtown Grand Haven waterfront will be bubbling with family friendly activities this September as the Grand Haven Area Convention and Visitors Bureau hosts the 12th Annual Grand Haven Salmon Festival — a multi-faceted festival that pays tribute to the area’s bountiful waterways as a natural resource, while coinciding with the region’s annual Salmon migration.
Grand Haven Salmon Festival, a three-day festival slated for September 18-20, 2015 in downtown Grand Haven. The event was designed to mark the passing of summer, promote the area as a unique fall tourist destination and celebrate the fall harvest season and salmon migration. The festival theme is arts, education and entertainment and assures the residents and visitors alike a unique opportunity to learn about the region’s natural assets, while experiencing the cultural appeal of the area through music, art, entertainment, history and education.
To further honor the environment, the Salmon Festival has a dedicated Green Team, in order to be more environmentally friendly. These efforts earned the festival the Best Green Practice Award at the Michigan Festivals and Events annual conference. “We are pleased with the amount of community and partner support we have received on our journey towards sustainability,” states festival and Visitors Bureau director Marci Cisneros. “Festivals and events are often major producers of waste, and although recycling is a great place to start, we wanted to take it a step further with a goal of zero waste. For example, last year we were able to refuse from 4,980lbs to 1,200lbs. We accomplished this by purchasing all compostable materials.”
The outdoor-waterfront festival features live jazz music; Michigan wine/beer tasting pavilion featuring Michigan’s top wineries and grape stomping; gourmet salmon cook-off contest; fall harvest beer & entertainment pavilion; naturalist themed art fair; salmon fishing contest with weigh-in/awards ceremony; mouth-watering food and beverage treats at the fish boil; hands-on children’s nature-themed arts & crafts activities; and educational, environment-focused exhibits, displays, workshops—and more!
The Salmon Festival was designed to promote the importance of Michigan’s coastal waterways while paying tribute to a unique aspect of West Michigan—the annual salmon migration. Festival attendees will experience hands-on learning, education and exhibits and enjoy a culturally rich weekend experience that includes arts, crafts, live music, wine, food and family fun.
