Ludington Area Festival of Lights
The Ludington Area Festival of Lights is a dazzling drive-thru light display that runs from Thanksgiving until the last weekend of December.
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Photo by ArtPrize
Each year, Downtown Grand Rapids plays host to perhaps the world’s largest art competition- ArtPrize. It generally takes place from mid-September to October with many West Michigan artists submitting pieces which are displayed throughout Grand Rapids, Michigan, at public parks, museums, galleries, restaurants, etc.
In 2023, ArtPrize offered $400,000 in prizes to participating artists. Prize money was broken into two categories: $200,000 for the public vote grand prize, and $200,000 for the juried prizes. ArtPrize 2.0 also says it’s offering $200,000 in juried prizes.
From it’s origins, it’s a city-wide art competition within a 3-square mile district in downtown Grand Rapids. It was open to any artist age 18 and up. During the first 11 days, visitors could view the entries and take note of the ones they wanted to vote for.
This was not to be a run-of-the-mill art competition. Some very creative minds back in 2009 invented ArtPrize, where any artist in the world could compete with no limitations. The venue would not be contained to one place- if a property owner in Grand Rapids wanted their storefront to become a “canvas,” it became one. And the public would vote to decide who would win the cash prizes.
So on September 23rd, 2009- 1,262 artists from 14 countries and 41 states entered their pieces for ArtPrize, and Grand Rapids wasn’t quite prepared for the 200,000 people that arrived for the two-week event. Over the past years, ArtPrize has featured thousands of artists artists, over $1.5 million prizes and brought over one million visitors to Grand Rapids.
In 2018, ArtPrize organizers announced that the event would occur every other year with a smaller, scaled-back event known as Project 1 held during the off years.
In 2022, the original organizers decided to turn all creative, technological, and communications platforms over to a new partnership between Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., the city of Grand Rapids, and Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University.
The Ludington Area Festival of Lights is a dazzling drive-thru light display that runs from Thanksgiving until the last weekend of December.
Come see thousands upon thousands of Christmas lights set up in nearly 50 holiday displays at Hopkins Park in Bear Lake.
Farm Markets & U-Pick farms offer locally grown and organic produce, flowers, plants, seeds, and more in West Michigan.
The Annual Show of the Western Michigan Old Engine Club is held the first weekend of August at Scottville’s Riverside Park.
The West Michigan area, with many small lakes and rivers to explore, is a popular location for paddle sports.
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes has miles of sand trails and hills, where hikers are rewarded at the end with spectacular views of Lake Michigan.
The historical Vogue Theatre in Manistee, renovated as a modern-day movie theater, shows current movies, classic films, and family movies.
The park remains open year-round for hiking, snowshoeing, activities to give those who love winter something fun to look forward to!
The Michigan Audubon Society Lake Bluff Center overlooks Lake Michigan near Manistee and features wildlife and a bird sanctuary.