Thousands fill downtown Muskegon for Lakeshore Art Festival

MUSKEGON, MI – More than 200 vendors displaying fine arts and specialty crafts lined the streets of downtown Muskegon on a sunny Saturday, June 28, for the annual Lakeshore Art Festival.

The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 28 and 29, transforming the city’s downtown from Hackley Park to Western Avenue into a colorful display of unique fine art acrylics, oil paintings, photographs, home décor, jewelry, clothing, distinctive pet supplies, metal artwork and more.

It is free to attend.

Muskegon has been hosting an art festival in the downtown area for more than 60 years, initially known as Art in the Park, according to the event’s website.

Organizers try to mix things up every year to keep the festival interesting for repeat attendees. One thing that changes annually is an art piece that the public is invited to contribute to, said Olivia Johnson, the festival’s marketing coordinator.

“They’ve done handprints, footprints. I think a couple of years ago they did some painting rocks,” she said.

This year, organizers introduced a “paint by numbers” mural that visitors can contribute to. It’s located at the corner of Western Avenue and Third Street.

“It’s really fun, people can come in and add their little brush strokes,” Johnson said.

The art will then be displayed in one of the local buildings after the festival.

Visitors can also vote for their favorite vendor in the “People’s Choice Award” on Saturday by going to the event’s website and entering their favorite booth number. Winners will be announced Sunday.

Between 18,000 and 25,000 people usually attend the festival, said Teairra Clark, the festival’s co-director. “It’s a beautiful weekend, so it’ll probably be on the higher end” this year, she said.

The art and craft vendors are selected out of more than 500 applicants by a blind jury, Clark said.

Visitors can also explore an artisan food market, visit with more than 20 authors in the “Authors’ Alley” and have fun with take-home activities for children and families in the “Children’s Lane.”

Live music will be performed on two stages throughout the festival, featuring Third Class Flynn, Mona Shores Fiddlers, Prim Pawlak Stage DJ and others.

Food favorites including lemonade, ice cream, gyros and sandwiches are available near a music stage on Third Street.

Most vendors are from the Midwest, but some have come from as far as Georgia, Florida and California, Johnson said.

Among those joining the festival was Alex Evans, 30, who attended with Branden Maue, 31, and Hanna Evans, 25, from Whitehall.

“We like to look through the weekend events and see what’s going on,” Alex Evans said. “The art fair is one of our favorites, it’s always great.”

Evans said she goes to a lot of art fairs and has been coming to the Lakeshore Art Festival off and on for 10 to 15 years.

“I feel like this one especially has so many different options. Some art fairs are a little bit smaller, and this one you always know is going to be big,” Evans said.

Lynn Anderson, 60, and Lisa Pelfresne, 59, visited the fair from Norton Shores and North Muskegon, as they have done for at least 30 years.

“We love the art in the park, you see some of the best art here,” Pelfresne said. “You inevitably always run into people that you know, or you haven’t seen in a while.”

Anderson likes to find unique things to decorate her home with — and was successful on Saturday.

“I really think that this helps downtown Muskegon,” Anderson said. “I like to see all of this growth and all of these people. Because we need this down here.”