SAVE THE DATE!
Waterfront Film Festival!
 | | Photo by Jamie Garvison. |
Now in its 16th year, Waterfront Film Festival celebrates independent film and filmmakers in a non-competitive environment. Located along the Michigan lakeshore, Waterfront Film Festival is one of the leading destination film festivals in the Midwest, regularly hosting Midwest premieres of Academy Award-winning and nominated documentaries. Recognized as a top five film festival, Waterfront Film Festival is a non-profit event committed to creating a "middle coast" venue for independent filmmakers while further enhancing the cultural draw of West Michigan.
Following an outpouring of community support and a successful inaugural year in South Haven, Waterfront Film Festival organizers are announcing the Festival will return in 2014 to the beachfront town for a 16th year of independent film on the waterfront.
Nearly 90 documentaries, dramas, comedies and film shorts showed on seven screens throughout the four days in South Haven. A record number of filmmakers were in town to talk about their films before and after the screenings, and many actors and filmmakers participated on Q&A panels.
"Through a partnership of financial donors, the City government, the South Haven Center for the Arts, Visitors Bureau and Chamber, Waterfront Film Festival will expand to be bigger and better in 2014," festival Co-founder Hopwood DePree said.
Organizers say the long-term goal for the festival's growth is to encompass more of the West Michigan region, eventually hosting screenings up and down the lakeshore.
Waterfront Film Festival Co-founder Dori DePree commended the South Haven community for its enthusiastic response to the festival and continued support.
"We are thrilled with the support of the residents, city officials and the mayor," she said. "Mayor Bob Burr was instrumental in bringing the festival to South Haven, and his enthusiasm to inject more art into the community is inspiring."
Visit www.waterfrontfilm.org for more information!
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Lodging Specials & Packages!
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Choose from one of our romantic bed & breakfasts, historic inns, family-owned hotels and resorts, or even rent a cozy cottage. Check out our fabulous Specials & Packages at
www.southhaven.org
for great savings!
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We Want to See Your South Haven/Van Buren County Video Footage!
Be sure to share your favorite vacation memories with us! Email your videos to relax@southhaven.org for a chance to see them featured on our YouTube Channel!
 | | Thanks Instagram friend @sherlockphoto for this shot! |
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Get SOCIAL with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, & YouTube for the latest details on events, activities, and exciting South Haven/Van Buren County news!
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Greetings!
Our Official 2014 Visitors Guides have arrived and, on May 12th, our 2014 "South Heaven" Reception and Tourism Awards Presentation will take place at the South Haven Yacht Club! We will remember the successes we've had over the past year, catch up with old friends, make new ones, and recognize this year's Tourism Award Winners! We can't wait to introduce you to them!
Both seem more fitting ways to celebrate a new year in Van Buren County. A year that seems to officially begin when we feel warm sunshine on our faces, smell the grill cooking, and revel in being lakeside with sand under our bare feet and festivities, such as the Waterfront Film Festival, to delight in!
Do you have your lodging booked for the upcoming activity-packed summer days? To request the Official 2014 Visitors Guide with a complete listing of lodging members, please contact us at 269.637.5252/800.SO.HAVEN or relax@southhaven.org. Here's a sneak peak of this year's cover! Photography by Joshua Nowicki.
Your friends, South Haven/Van Buren County Convention & Visitors Bureau
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Opening Celebration
at Fernwood 1891!
May 3, 5-9pm.
"Fernwood 1891," a new storefront in downtown Fennville, located at 120 E. Main Street, will be a couple of doors down from the Salt of the Earth restaurant!
"Fernwood 1891" will feature fine art, fine craft and artisan foods. This second location will graft the lifestyle of Khnemu Studio on Fernwood Farm into a downtown storefront, showcasing the local community and all it has to offer. Handmade coffee mugs, handmade wooden coffee spoons next to local coffee, and local spice mixes next to a handmade casserole dish and handmade woven towels. An eclectic mix of oil paintings, sculpture and functional items will be displayed in an old fashioned general store style.
The store front will include a small pottery studio area, where Dawn or one of her assistants will be working while keeping the shop open. She will be offering studio time and kiln space to potters who would like to work in the shop. Check out www.fernwood1891.com to learn more.
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Mysteries Beneath the Waves: Wrecks of the Sunset Coast Exhibit Opening at the Michigan Maritime Museum
Opening Reception: May 3, 5pm. Exhibit Hours: Daily beginning May 4, 10am-5pm.
Come discover what rescue crews from the United States Life Saving Service went through to save passengers and crew. Explore the science behind bodies of fresh water maintaining shipwrecks in exquisite shape. See for yourself evidence of the traumatic plane crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 2501, which resulted in the loss of many lives. Learn about scuba diving on shipwrecks through hands-on activities and programs.
This newest exhibition will be great for families, with hands-on activities for all ages. These will include virtually exploring a shipwreck, charting shipwrecks on Lake Michigan, and on special occasions, getting to be participate in a remotely operated vehicle dive. These are just a few of the interactive activities that will be included.
Several shipwrecks will be featured in this exhibit, including the Ann Arbor No. 5, the Verano, the Hennepin, and the Mystery Sloop. The other featured vessel will be the Rockaway, which the Michigan Maritime Museum assisted in researching. Please call 269.637.8078 for more information.
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Rebecca Loebe in Concert
at River Wind House!
May 6, 7-8:30pm.
Award winning singer/songwriter Rebecca Loebe is both candid and self-deprecating, attributes that shine through in her songwriting and laugh-out-loud storytelling. Since quitting her job as a full-time recording studio engineer, she has performed an average of 150 shows per year in listening rooms, festivals and theaters in over 30 states of the US and in Europe. Last spring she took a break from the road to appear as a contestant on Season 1 of NBC's "The Voice," with a performance of Nirvana's 'Come As You Are' that inspired Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine to offer her mentorship and charted on iTunes worldwide. An Atlanta native, Loebe now makes her home in Austin. She is touring nationally to support her 3rd full length release "Circus Heart," an album that mixes intimate folk with jubilant pop and has received rave reviews from all over the world.
$15 door | $10 advance & member. www.foundryhall.org
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Vintage Baseball Tournament
at Kid's Corner Field!
May 17, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm.
This will be a 3 way tournament between the South Haven Bark Peelers, Douglas Dutchers, & Kalamazoo Continentals! After the end of the Civil War, 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 different than what it is today. Because it was so difficult for teams to travel to another town to play, it was the responsibility of the host team to ensure that the visiting team was treated with great civility and friendship. The host teams took great pride in their ability to be good hosts for the visitors. This philosophy of being good hosts carried over into how the actual game was played. Players took great pride in being "gentlemanly". Please visit www.historyofsouthhaven.org for the South Haven Bark Peelers full schedule!
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South Haven Yacht Club Friday 5 Challenge & Steelheaders Pro-Am
May 16-18.
For the past 28 years, the best salmon and trout fishermen on Lake Michigan converge on South Haven, which was ranked as one the best small towns by Midwest Living and recognized as one of the best Yachting towns in the world by Yachting Magazine! A centrally located marina, short walks to shops and restaurants are well and good, but the superlative salmon fishing is the reason many look forward to the Steelheaders Tournament every year. This year finds the tournament returning with the ever popular Pro-Am format, a Saturday only amateur shoot-out, and a Second Chance tournament on Sunday.
Details are set for the 2014 Tournament! Get all the info here.
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Blessing of the Fleet & Public Sails on the Friends Good Will Begin at the Michigan Maritime Museum!
May 23, 5:30pm.
The Friends Good Will is blessed & begins another season of sailing! The ceremony will be followed by a Fish Fry this year! $5 for members and $10 for non-members!
The dramatic story of Friends Good Will speaks to the history of commerce in the early 1800's, as well as to her role in the War of 1812. Stand at her bow, feel the wind on your face, hear the crack of her billowing sails and her 6-pound pivot cannon. Do more than imagine how seamen felt as they set sail for uncharted courses - experience it for yourself.
- Educational Sails
- Passenger Sails
- Dockside boardings
- Charters
- Weddings
- Conferences
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