July 4 fun is here!

By Scott Sullivan
Editor
Holiday weekends in Saugatuck-Douglas mean serious fun. With July 4 falling on a Thursday this year, why not expand your fun two or three more days?
Saugatuck’s annual July 4 parade has returned post-Covid to smalltown epic proportions, packed with merry-making units starting 11 a.m. Thursday from the Saugatuck High School campus, marching down The Hill for a full promenade along downtown Butler Street, then back.
Paraders should muster at the school, 401 Butler St., around 10 a.m. for lineup. To sign up, scan the ad QVC Code elsewhere on this page or visit the Saugatuck-Douglas Area Convention & Visitors Bureau website at saugatuck.com.
Head post-parade to Saugatuck’s Coghlin Park for a Family Fun Party including a pie-eating contest with award from noon to 2 p.m. There will also be yard games, face painting and balloon twisting on the grass alongside the river.
Fireworks will be shot over Kalamazoo Lake on Friday the Fifth this year, which will:
1) Allow fireworks fanatics to catch a show elsewhere the night before,
2) Enjoy a mirrored spectacle over the water her Friday starting sometime after nine, and
3) Having Saturday to sleep in.
But not too late, as Sunday, July 6 will bring the Saugatuck-Douglas Art Club’s annual Waterfront Invitational Fine Arts Show from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Work from about 60 artists will be shown on the shady grass in downtown Saugatuck’s Village Square Park next to the city’s new playground. Show proceeds go SHS art student scholarships.
Wait, it’s not Saturday night even! For more fun and lakeshore getaways, visit saugatuckdouglas.com, click on Events and enjoy your pick.