Coast Guard Festival

Lucky to have been in Grand Haven for my first Coast Guard Festival. A more patriotic atmosphere you will have a hard time finding. The way the entire town shows their appreciation for the Coast Guard is inspiring. Flags on every home and business! Tour a ship, watch the helicopters, visit the museums, ride the rides, listen to bands and eat a ton of delicious food. Take a break from the crowds and walk along the boardwalk to the famous red lighthouse to watch the sunset. You will love every minute!

We love going to this festival. They always have great fireworks and water shows. The coast guard sign too is pretty cool. Nice view. The food trucks' selections and portions are kinda eh so I'd suggest not to come here starving unless you want to spend a ton of money and still not get full. There is a nice view though up in the deck, under the tree by the food trucks, with two picnic tables.

I can't believe I'm the first to review a festival that has been going on for 225 years. I don't feel qualified! My boyfriend and I literally stumbled upon it on the last day while going to Pronto Pup. It's like a huge fair and carnival with all the kind of food and fun rides you'd expect, but with huge boats everywhere and pretty sweet fireworks on the last Sat night (which is the day we went). We ate an elephant ear, fresh cut fries, ice cream from Kilwins and rode on the Ferris wheel. Fun times! We even took a shower in the shower portapotty before we hit the road; it was surprisingly clean, but the water was only intermittently hot. Luckily, it was hot outside. Anyway, I didn't see much that was coast guard-oriented, but everyone seemed to be having a great time. :D