PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Felicia Fairchild,
                     Executive Director,
                     Saugatuck-Douglas Convention & Visitors Bureau
                     (269) 857-1701 or (269) 857-5985

SAUGATUCK-DOUGLAS HALLOWEEN HARVEST FESTIVAL

OCTOBER 25, 2008

Greetings!

Come celebrate with "ghosts, goblins, ghouls" in Michigan's premier beachtown...yes we are having a fall festival! Located on the South Eastern shore of Lake Michigan. An easy drive from Chicago, Detroit, South Bend, Indianapolis, Toledo, Fort Wayne and Milwaukee. Ghosts, Goblins, Witches, Warlocks, monsters, mummies, werewolves - curious creatures of all sorts, shapes and sizes! - will materialize in Saugatuck and Douglas on Saturday, October 25, 2008, for the 21st Annual Halloween Harvest Festival. Their revelries will take place thanks in part to a new co-sponsorship between Huntington Bank and the Saugatuck-Douglas Convention and Visitors Bureau.

According to Mike Lindley, Huntington Bank's Senior Vice-President of Marketing, "We are delighted to be co-sponsoring the Halloween Harvest Festival in co-operation with the Saugatuck-Douglas CVB." He added, "This festival has become an annual tradition with local families and out-of-town visitors over the past 20 years and we are happy to be a part of it."

The day-long Halloween HarvestFest features an arts-and-crafts fair, costume judging with prizes, parades, a dramatic reading of Washington Irving's classic tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" - with a fearsome foray by the gigantic Headless Horseman himself right on cue! There will also be food booths that will offer a variety of delicacies including cinnamon roasted nuts, Kettlecorn, gourmet dips and dressing mixes. In addition, the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance will conduct a bake sale.

Festivities will kick off at 10 AM with the opening of the arts-and-crafts fair at Village Square in downtown Saugatuck. The fair wraps up at 6 PM. Fine and traditional media will include sculptural glass, innovative jewelry, stoneware, pottery, fiber, wood and watercolors. There will even be a booth where children and their parents will be able to fashion their own unique puppets. Live entertainment featuring local talent will start at 11 AM in Saugatuck's Village Square.

Throughout the day the multi-talented artists of Ms. Art's Studio, Holland, will be painting faces with very elaborate designs and helping children and their parents to decorate pumpkins with glitter, sparkles and colorful artwork. Their caricature artist will be on hand as well to create comical portraits right on the spot and ready for framing!

At 2 PM children can express themselves in the medium of chalk - provided free on site! - by drawing their own spooky images on the sidewalk in front of Saugatuck Drug Store. Also, throughout the day children will be able to chat live on site with the Great Pumpkin in front of the playground at Village Square.

The highlight of all festivities will be the Halloween Costume Family Parade. Participants will gather at 3 PM at the corner of Mason and Griffith Streets for a pre-parade party hosted by the White House Gallery and Bistro there. Free cider and doughnuts will be served as parade participants line up. The parade itself will launch at 4 PM and proceed north on Butler Street to the tennis courts at Village Square.

At the parade's conclusion, participants and others are invited to pull up a hay bale and take a seat at the tennis courts for the annual dramatic reading of Washington Irving's classic tale, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by local actor Steve Williford. Special visual and sound effects will be provided by The Village Puppeteers - Michael Schwabe and Lawrence Basgall - to enhance the drama of the story.

The Halloween Harvest Festival's extravaganza will conclude with yet another parade and party, this time strictly for adults - the Downtown Douglas Parade followed by the Dunes Resort's Halloween Party with DJ Mark Vallese and karaoke in the cabaret (333 Blue Star Highway, Douglas). Parade participants will assemble at Beery Field in Douglas at 9:30 PM. The parade will kick off at 10 PM and march west on Center Street. Afterward, costumed revelers can party at a number of other bars and restaurants in the area which host Halloween and costume parties throughout the night.

Additional activities will include The Red Barn Playhouse's "Halloween Spooktacular", a unique theatrical experience performed Thursdays through Saturdays, October 16 through 18 and 23 through 25, at the playhouse, 3657 63rd Street/Blue Star Highway, Saugatuck, starting at 8 PM each night. Admission is $5. Phone (269) 857-5300 for further information.

At Crane's Orchard's Haunted Corn Maze and 3D Special Effects Barn (6054 124th Avenue, Fennville) the thrills start at dark and continue through 10 PM on Fridays and Saturdays, October 17 and 18, 24 and 25 and Friday the 31st. This event is not recommended for children 10 and under. Admission costs $14. Phone (269) 561-8651 for information, directions or weather-related cancellation updates.

The "Scare Factor" is high at the Felt Estate (6597 138th Avenue, Laketown Township) in the stable house where ghosts, goblins, witches and a mad scientist strike terror into the hearts of even the most fearless. "Not for sissies," advises event organizer Patty Meyer. "Be afraid. Be very afraid." Thursdays through Saturdays, October 16 through 18, 23 through 25 and Thursday and Friday, October 30 and 31 from 7 to 11 PM. Admission costs $13/adults and $6/children. Phone (616) 335-3050 for further information.

Contact CVB Event Coordinator Kathy O'Reilly at (269) 857-1701 or email staff@saugatuck.com for further HarvestFest information. For information on Saugatuck-Douglas and area lodging please visit  saugatuck.com
 

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