The Story in Pictures
The festival joins a long-running regional identity. The towns of Saugatuck, Douglas and Fennville are collectively known as the Art Coast, a lakeshore enclave that has attracted painters, writers, sculptors and musicians for decades and helped establish a community of makers across galleries, studios and small businesses.
Visitors find more than tasting rooms and exhibits. Oval Beach remains the region’s signature outdoor attraction and is regularly cited among the country’s most beautiful beaches. For water views without the walk, the Star of Saugatuck offers a 90-minute sternwheel cruise down the Kalamazoo River and out onto Lake Michigan, and the historic Saugatuck Chain Ferry, in operation since 1838, still links downtown to Mount Baldhead Park and Oval Beach as the only chain-driven ferry left in the country.
Fennville’s Modales Wines, opened by Jim and Carol Gonzalez in 2019, markets itself as one of Michigan’s certified organic wineries and pours nearly two dozen bottles. Tastings typically include a rosé, a syrah and award-winning varietals such as Sauvignon Blanc and Grüner Veltliner, with local cheese spreads from Evergreen Lane Farm & Creamery available to pair.
The area’s arts infrastructure includes galleries such as J. Petter, Dune and Button Gallery, while the Saugatuck Center for the Arts stages rotating exhibits, concerts and author events, most recently showing Mother Lake by Bryanna Manning. In warmer months a weekly farmers market sets up in a downtown parking lot, linking producers directly with visitors and residents.
Downtown Saugatuck and neighboring Douglas also offer a compact retail and dining scene. Brass Anchor stocks women’s clothing and accessories, Leon Footwear sells handcrafted shoes, and The Book Nook specializes in beach-friendly reading. Lulu Cadieux occupies a former bank and pairs a carefully curated retail selection with a culinary learning center; owner Terry Walker runs onsite cooking classes and operates The Polo Shed, a private guest house that sleeps up to 12 and includes a chef’s kitchen and a grand piano.
Recent food-and-drink additions include Noble Twist Taphouse, a downtown pizzeria pouring house-made beer and spirits and serving New Haven, style pies, and long-running favorites such as Everyday People Café, known for regionally influenced dishes and house-made desserts. Pennyroyal Café and Provisions, opened by Chicago native Melissa Corey after she relocated to Saugatuck, focuses on seasonal, from-scratch dishes using Michigan farms.
With the festival scheduled for early November, after the peak summer crowds and as autumn colors and flavors arrive, Saugatuck’s arts, dining and shoreline attractions give travelers multiple reasons to visit this fall.
