HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – The Waterfront Film Festival is back and is coming home.
Officials of the program that spotlights independent motion pictures announced on Tuesday a new, permanent screening and event facility near downtown Holland. The renovated auto-body shop off of Columbia Avenue will be versatile, either as a 200-seat theater or as a workshop/education space, and will also house the festival’s offices.
After receiving a matching grant last year from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, festival staffers were hard at work revamping the industrial site, with large garage doors that will create “a unique indoor/outdoor gathering space,” according to a festival statement. A “Phase II” of an update to the building’s façade, along the landscaping for an outdoor seating and reception area, is also planned.
The Waterfront Film Festival is reorganizing itself from an annual four-day event into an individual screening operation at this new facility capable of offering year-round programs. The festival began in 1999 in Saugatuck, moved to South Haven in 2013 for two years and was a part of ArtPrize in Grand Rapids in 2015 before taking a hiatus last year.
A grand opening for the new festival home is scheduled for June 22, with online information here.
