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Save the Date!
50th Annual National Blueberry Festival
August 8-11!
After the forests were cleared and lumber shipped to ports like Milwaukee and Chicago to build their cities, another industry took over in South Haven- agriculture. Due to the temperate lake breezes, it was discovered by world-renowned horticulturists like Liberty Hyde Bailey, a South Haven native, that this area was perfect for growing fruit, particularly blueberries, peaches and grapes. South Haven is proud to be known as the "Blueberry Capital of the World" because Michigan, and particularly Van Buren County, ranks as the nation's leading producer of the crop.
The 50th Anniversary Celebration of the National Blueberry Festival will be August 8-11, 2013. This four-day festival will be held in various locations in and out of doors in the Lake Michigan Beachtown community of South Haven, Michigan. Many events take place overlooking South Haven's picturesque harbor, our 110 year old Lighthouse and Lake Michigan.
This is a very family-friendly event with activities for all ages to enjoy! Plus, most all events are free and open to the public.
Top events are a Kids' blueberry pie eating contest on Friday,
top-tier free evening entertainment throughout the festival, blueberry pancake breakfasts, Saturday and Sunday, Blueberry Festival Parade on Saturday, Arts and Crafts Fair on Saturday and Sunday, Downtown Sidewalk Sales, Blueberry Festival Cook Off, 5K Run/Walk on Saturday and Rotary Club Fly-in, Classic Car Show and Pancake Breakfast at South Haven Regional Airport.
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 | | Photo submitted by Craig Gardiner. |
 | | Photo submitted by Jordan Foudray. |
To request an Official Visitors Guide with a complete listing of lodging members contact us at 269.637.5252/1.800.SO.HAVEN.
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 Are you on Instagram? WE ARE! Take your own favorite photos of the South Haven Area & give us permission to repost using #SouthHaven! |
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Greetings!
Over the decades, South Haven's natural beauty has proven a magnet for artists of all types and cultural enthusiasts. The community provides fertile ground for talent with a host of venues dedicated to visual and performing arts, such as Foundry Hall and Listiak Auditorium, located in South Haven High School. Both venues, as well as the AV Auditorium at the high school, the Michigan Theater, & the South Beach, will be hosting Waterfront Film Festival movie viewings this June 13-16!
From its stages and galleries, South Haven's range of cultural venues is an open field for creativity and expression unlocking grand journeys into the human spirit.
For assistance in planning your vacation, the staff of the South Haven Convention & Visitors Bureau is here seven days a week to offer recommendations for lodging, dining, shopping and things to see and do while visiting. Please phone 1.800.SOHAVEN or visit www.southhaven.org.
South Haven/Van Buren County Convention & Visitors Bureau
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June 13-16, Times Vary.
Filmgoers, actors, producers and directors share the excitement as outstanding independent films from all over the United States are screened in casual, intimate settings. Entertainment professionals from Los Angeles, New York and Michigan created the Waterfront Film Festival in 1999 to provide a "middle coast" venue for independent filmmakers eager to show their work to sophisticated audiences. The festival has succeeded with growing support and recognition each year, and enthusiastic reviews from attendees. We invite you to participate! www.waterfrontfilm.org
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Star of the Lake Exhibit at the
Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum
June 1-August 31, Thursday-Sunday 9am-4pm.
Some 150 years ago, a revolutionary change was sweeping over the small frontier settlement of South Haven. The forests were opening, and logging was giving way to agriculture. At the heart of that shift was Liberty Hyde Bailey, Sr., a settler from Vermont who became the quiet founder of the community we know today. Father to the famed poet-horticulturist of the same name, Bailey began the first serious experiment in commercial fruit farming in South Haven, but he is perhaps less well-remembered today for his equally important role as a social backbone for the whole community. In 1864, he founded and named the Star of the Lake Masonic Lodge, the longest-lived social organization in South Haven and still active to this day, and one hundred years ago this year, at the end of his life, ground was broken for the current lodge building on Center Street. In partnership with the Lodge, we celebrate this centennial with our second annual special exhibit at the Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum. Join us as we enter the life of L. H. Bailey, pioneer farmer and Masonic Grand Master, and walk into South Haven's dark, wooded beginnings, a world of quiet frontiersmen and the place they gathered to relax, to socialize, and to plan the future of a town we now call home.
www.libertyhydebailey.org
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Book Signing with Wendy Anderson Halperin at Black River Books
June 15, 1-3pm.
"Peace," the new book by Wendy Anderson Halperin, South Haven's own, is now available at Black River Books. Wendy quotes Gandhi, "If we are to teach real peace in this world, if we are to wage a real war against war, we shall have to start with the children." Wendy states that her book is designed to be an effort in that direction. It includes her wonderful art work as well as that of children. www.blackriverbooks.net
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Vintage Baseball Games at Kid's Corner Field
After the end of the Civil War (1865), town teams would offer challenges to each other. Back in those days for one team to travel to a neighboring town was a real effort as roads were not well developed and the main mode of transportation was horse drawn wagons. The whole philosophy of being a host team in a baseball game in the 1860's was completely 180 degrees from what it is today. Because it was so difficult for teams to travel to another town to play baseball, it was the responsibility of the host team to ensure that the visiting team was treated with great civility and friendship. Host teams went out of their way to find accommodations and provide sumptuous meals for the visiting teams.
This philosophy of being good hosts carried over into how the actual game was played. Players took great pride in being "gentlemanly". www.historyofsouthhaven.org
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Harborfest 2013
This quaint town's maritime history is celebrated with free live music all weekend featuring all Local and Regional professionals, a Crafts Fair, Pancake Breakfasts, Dragon Boat Races, & the 32nd Classic Boat Show! www.southhavenharborfest.com
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Lipbone Redding in Concert
at Foundry Hall
 June 28, 7:30-9pm. Inventive singer, songwriter, guitarist, voice-instrumentalist and former subway musician, Lipbone Redding revs up the party with an engaging, entertaining show for all ages and musical tastes. There is truly 'something for everyone' in the music and performances.Soulful and rhythmic, with a distinctive pick-less picking style, Lipbone digs deeply into his surprising musical roots. His unique style is informed by everything from 20's Jazz, Ska, Latin, Indian Classical, 70's Soul, even Disco, and of course, years on the road as a perpetual traveler. www.foundryhall.org |
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