Grand Haven draws crowds for two festivals

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — Hundreds of people were in Grand Haven Saturday to soak up the sun and have some fun at two festivals.

Both the Grand Haven Jeep Fest and the Kite Festival at Grand Haven were packed with people.

It was the third year of the Jeep Fest, and more than 350 different Jeeps were on display lining the streets near the waterfront. On the hoods of the cars, you could see dozens of little ducks. It’s called “ducking,” which means the person who put it there likes your car, according to Jeep owners.

Jeep owner Kelli Leep comes to the festival every year, and she said she always looks forward to it.

“You meet so many great people from all walks of life, and we’re all united under the Jeep Wave, and if you see another Jeeper on the road, everybody’s waving at each other, and you’re just trying to help each other have a great day,” Leep said.

The Jeep Fest went from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Down the road was the Kite Festival at Grand Haven, where people put out their beach towels and chairs and looked up to the sky.

Hundreds of kites filled the sky for the festival Saturday at the Grand Haven State Park. The event has been around for 35 years, and people were able to watch professional kite pilots take to the sky as well as bring their kites and enjoy the sunny day.

The kites went up into the air at 10 a.m. Saturday. Organizers said they couldn’t ask for better weather for the first day of the festival, and they were happy to see so many people come out to watch and fly kites as well.

“There’s something visual for everybody, and a lot of people haven’t seen the big show kites or the sport kite demonstrations, so it’s a fun new thing,” Eric Wolff, the festival’s co-organizer, said.

The last day of the Kite Festival at Grand Haven is Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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