Muskegon’s Lakeside district raises profile with fall festival

The Lakeside Business District in Muskegon will hold its first-ever Lakeside Fall Festival on Oct. 7, with hayrides, street performers and other activities. 

The goal is to introduce more people to the business district along the south shore of Muskegon Lake. It sits three miles from downtown Muskegon and two miles from Pere Marquette Beach on Lake Michigan on Lakeshore Drive. It is home to 46 businesses, from retail and services to restaurants and beverages. With the redevelopment of downtown and the residential developments near the beach, it is in a prominent location.

Lakeside Fall Festival is designed to build brand awareness and refocus the region on the district since the upgrade of Lakeshore Drive in 2019 and the end of the COVID pandemic, says Marge Smith, of the Lakeside District Association and owner of Marge’s Outstanding Meat and Snacks. She opened her second location at 1925 Lakeshore Dr., joining other new businesses that have come into the district in recent years. 

Fall Festival is being produced by the Lakeside District Association and Lakeside Business Improvement District with the support of the city of Muskegon.

Variety of activities, food

The festival will begin with a “flash mob” presented by Water’s Edge Fitness shortly after 11 a.m. 

The day will include hayrides, street performers, a children’s obstacle course, games for kids and adults, a fall photo booth in the Lakeside Pocket Park, a West Michigan Lake Hawks three-on-three basketball tournament, and tours of Tiny Digs Lakeshore. The band Kindred will provide music at the Marine Tap Room, and festival visitors can enjoy the Lakeside Social District.

The Lakeside Business District will be decked out for the fall season as 24 businesses and organizations will compete in a scarecrow contest, with patrons asked to judge. There will be cider and donuts, face-painting and chalk to decorate the sidewalks.

Culinary options include food tents with soup from Lake Bluff Grille, brats and hot dogs from MOMS, pizza slices from Rolling Stone Pizza, Los Burritos at Ghezzi Market, special menu items at Marine Tap Room and Greek Shore, and a bloody mary bar at Wonderland Distillery.

The Lakeside Business District will donate a portion of sales to three local non-profits – the S.S. Milwaukee Clipper, the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, which owns the Muskegon lighthouses, and Heaven Can Wait Animal Haven. The donations are part of Lakeside Gives.

“We want people to visit us on Oct. 7 and leave with a fabulous impression of Lakeside,” says Louise Hopson, owner of Art Cats Gallery. “And then return.”