11/18/2025
Good morning Jeep Fest Fam!
Jasmine here - Hope everyone's Tuesday is off to a good start!
I am by nature 100% a people pleaser, to an absolute fault. If there were 1000 people that were invited to Jeep Fest and 999 of them said "yes, this is awesome, we will be there", I will chase down that 1 last person and do everything I could to make it right and/or convince them that they should come, whatever it took. Because the thought of that 1 person being upset with me would literally consume my every thought going forward.
Well, I am learning that planning a public event, this is just not humanly possible. No matter how hard we try, we cannot make everyone happy. This is very evident by the comments that we have had so far on our announcement posts.
I felt the need to hop on right away to explain our decisions and reasonings because it appears that some people think that we just changed everything on a whim, with no thought or planning whatsoever.
1. We HAD to make this change. This was our ONLY option, and frankly, is an awesome option. We no longer have space for an obstacle course downtown (we are not able to rent the church parking lot because they do not want to rent it out anymore, and Chinook Pier, where it was last year, will be under construction this summer). There are no other spaces downtown for an obstacle course, and the course has become a huge part of Jeep Fest. We don't want to sacrafice that just to keep Jeep Fest downtown. Harbor Island allows an incredible space for an even better obstacle course this year!
2. Jeep Fest has grown exponentially. We have outgrown the downtown space. We don't want to turn people away from attending Jeep Fest simply because we are all out of space.
3. Construction downtown GH beginning. You may or may not be aware but there is a huge project that will be beginning downtown, in addition to the Chinook Pier project. On Washington and 3rd, they are going to demo a large building and begin construction on a large hotel. This severely limits space downtown during construction and we don't want to lose parking spots on Washington St.
4. For those that said this will severely hurt the downtown businesses... We have had several meetings with different boards/departments/people in the downtown area. Yes, this is a big change. But they are all very excited about this change too! We are offering a free shuttle for people that register and park on harbor island. The shuttle will be looping all day, both days, between Harbor Island and downtown. On Friday and Saturday, Sidewalk Sales will also be happening downtown so this will be an awesome addition! Downtown is very excited about this change, we can assure you. We will be doing Goosechase again so this again just incentivizes everyone to be sure to spend some time downtown during Jeep Fest.
5. Kickoff Party. The paragraph before also ties into this one. We want to support the downtown businesses as much as possible. While also giving kickoff party attendees options. So by attending the kick off party downtown, you can grab food from wherever you'd like, grab a drink or two from anywhere you'd like (this is also a social district this time of the year), the first block of Washington will have tables and games as well. We will have live music and a centrally located space where announcements will be made (those details have not been planned yet). It'll give more people the opportunity to attend the kick off party, it will give the downtown restaurants all of our business (no food trucks downtown this year) and we can get a head start on our goosechase and shopping too! It's a win win for everyone.
6. There will be several food trucks on Harbor Island. We don't want to compete with downtown restaurants so food trucks will be available for those that want to eat out on the island. Otherwise, you can take the shuttle into town and eat at one of the delicious establishments downtown!
7. You DO NOT have to attend all 3 days! This is a really nice perk to having a multiple day event. You can come to any day, or all 3. One registration covers parking on Harbor Island, entrance and the shuttle for both Friday and Saturday. We don't like people feeling like they're trapped, so you can come and go as you please.
8. We know that this is close to other Jeep events. And we are sorry about that. We are just grateful to be able to have Jeep Fest in a warm and beautiful time in Grand Haven. If we went later in the calendar year, we risk interference with school, sports, etc. Earlier in the year is just busy busy busy too. Not everyone is able to attend week long Jeep events out of state, so we are hoping that this provides a Jeep event that is doable and accessible for everyone.
9. Harbor Island is still downtown Grand Haven! There will be tons of parking right on the island and again, shuttles for those that want to go downtown. Or you can drive yourselves downtown too. You do not have to stay on the island all day, every day.
I'm sure I will think of more bullet points and will add those to another post later if I have to. If you all knew that amount of time and thought and meetings and phone calls, more meetings, texts, more time, emails, communication etc that went into making these changes and decisions, maybe things would make a bit more sense. Jason and I work full time at regular jobs, so all of the work that we do for Jeep Fest is done in our free time. Jeep Fest is not our full time job, but we take everything extremely seriously. Every decision is meticulously thought out, communicated with everyone else involved and stressed over. We do not take things lightly and everything is done with intention.
I truly hope that this long post has maybe answered some questions, or at least helped to make sense of things for you. Please remember too that we do all of this work ultimately for the Ed & Nancy Hanenburg Children's Advocacy Center, for the children and families affected by abuse. We will do everything in our power to be there for this incredible organization and truly appreciate keeping this event about those individuals - the families affected as well as the incredibly amazing people that work here, serving Ottawa County.
Please reach out to us directly with any questions.
And to the 999 of you that are supportive and positive and excited about this, we do this event for YOU (in addition to the advocacy center). We cannot thank you enough for your unending support and encouragement. You guys make Jeep Fest the awesome event that it is!! Thank you all, SO MUCH!!!
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