New Location, Same Great Festival: Macatawa Water Festival 2025

By Lexie Kasper, ODC Network

One of the best summer events in Holland, the Macatawa Water Festival, is going to be in a new location this year! On July 12th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., you can find all of the fun and engaging education you’ve come to expect (still free to attend), but now at Kollen Park. More than 20 local community partners will offer ways to explore the wonders of the Macatawa Watershed through kayaking, rain barrel workshops, a children’s bike course, live animals, games, and art activities. While you enjoy the activities, you’ll be learning about the watershed, celebrating the outdoors, and taking home valuable knowledge on how you can enhance and protect this shared resource.

Here’s a peek at a few of the water activities and educational experiences designed to engage all ages in learning about restoring and preserving our watershed: 

• Herrick District Library will be helping families make a “Lake in a Bottle” 
• The Center for Lakes and Streams (MSU) will have an Interactive Water Stewardship Booth with games on a variety of topics
• The Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) will have activities centered around the theme “Freshwater Science Fun”
• CultureWorks will have another great interactive artwork station
• Friends of Ottawa County Parks will have activities themed around “Nature Exploration”
• Strong Towns Holland will be presenting sustainability trivia
• Schreur Printing & Mailing will have a craft where visitors will write a message on paper embedded with seeds that will grow into flowers
• Saugatuck Center for the Arts will have water-focused artworks with watercolors
• Holland Board of Public Works will have games to learn how to conserve water
• BAM! will have water bottle bowling
• Aqua-Tots Swim School will have a duck pond game with prizes

ODC Network will provide kayaks for participants to use on Lake Macatawa as long as conditions are safe. Velo City will have bikes and helmets to teach kids bike skills and trail stewardship as they bike around the park. Additionally, there will be two hands-on Rain Barrel Workshops at the Kollen Park Pavilion at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. These workshops will help participants build rain barrels while learning how to use them to decrease stormwater runoff on their property. There will be a limited number of barrels, so register online here: 10:30 a.m. workshop, 11:30 a.m. workshop. Registration closes at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, July 7th. 

The festival will happen rain or shine, so visitors are encouraged to dress for the weather. New this year, there will be food available for purchase from local food trucks, and Big Lake Brewing will be giving away Hop Water! Visitors should bring reusable water bottles and use water refill stations to help cut down on the amount of waste generated by this event.

 This event would not be possible without all of the event sponsors and community partners.

Thank you to TC Energy and Big Lake Brewing, the Festival Education Sponsors!

 Lexie Kasper is the Conservation Outreach Coordinator for ODC Network.