Grand Haven Picnic on the Pier

Community: City of Grand Haven
Population: 10,000+

In August of 2018, the City of Grand Haven organized a Picnic on the Pier event. In searching for new and innovative ways to creatively engage people with one another as well as their public assets, the city saw an opportunity.

As a lakeshore community, we are blessed with tremendous public assets. Little work was required to make an exceptionally successful event. With a small donation, the City rented and carted 30 tables and a couple hundred chairs to the pier. With no expenditures to recoup, the picnic was a completely free event for all. Participants were only asked to bring their own food and drink for the evening. This concept proved wildly successful. Not only did over 300 individuals attend from all different areas of the state and country, but local restaurants benefited as well. Families brought takeout from over 20 different local restaurants to the picnic.


Replicability:

The very basis of the idea of Picnic on the Pier was to create an event that required minimal maintenance and had complete replicability. No money was spent by the City of Grand Haven in organizing this event. With a small donation from an outside company, the City was able to cover the only cost to the event (tables and chairs). Advertising and setup were grass roots efforts, with no additional money being spent on either. The City advertised only through social media and physical handouts and utilized volunteers for setup. The event received a significant following from the simple online advertising effort and is only expected to grow in popularity. By taking advantage of existing public infrastructure, volunteers, and not using any City funds, this type of project is incredibly simple to replicate for any group or unit of local government.

Creativity and Originality:

The simplicity, scale, and location of this event make it authentic and original. Other than commercialized piers like that of Chicago’s Navy Pier, you would be hard pressed to find examples of events similar to Picnic on the Pier in the United States nonetheless the State of Michigan. The idea of this project was to create an event that is free, accessible, and challenges the idea of how people typically engage with public spaces. Picnic on the Pier accomplished this on a very manageable scale.

Community Impact:

The most incredible achievement of this project was getting hundreds of individuals from all different backgrounds to sit and enjoy a meal with one another. The pier is an incredible focal point of the Grand Haven community. Drawing in hundreds of people to join for a meal, engaging with each other and this significant community asset, was a great feat. This event created a tremendous sense of pride and unity within the community. This event also served a wide array of people. Picnic on the Pier, being a free and accessible event, was entirely inclusive. These factors allowed all demographics to benefit and participate.

Back to Main Entry Page>

 

Share this page!

Facebooktwitterlinkedin

 

Project Multimedia: