Festival celebrates music, beer and Ada’s riverfront
ADA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Beginning Friday at 6 p.m., visitors to downtown Ada at Legacy Park can enjoy a beverage tent, food vendors and a free outdoor concert along the river as a part of the village’s “Beers at the Bridge” summer concert series.
“It is designed to be a celebration for the community,” Kevin Austin, director of the Ada Township Downtown Development Authority, said. “We’re trying to bring the community out and prop up and advocate for our local businesses.”
For 10 years, Beers at the Bridge has brought families to Ada’s historical village to enjoy regional bands and some local food and drink, including beverages from Ada businesses Gravel Bottom Craft Brewery and Railton Brewing Company.
Visitors and vendors attend the Beers at the Bridge music and beverage festival in downtown Ada at Legacy Park along the Thornapple River. (Courtesy Ada Township Downtown Development Authority)
Visitors and vendors attend the Beers at the Bridge music and beverage festival in downtown Ada at Legacy Park along the Thornapple River. (Courtesy Ada Township Downtown Development Authority)
Visitors and vendors attend the Beers at the Bridge music and beverage festival in downtown Ada at Legacy Park along the Thornapple River. (Courtesy Ada Township Downtown Development Authority)
“It says ‘Beers at the Bridge,’ but we do have cider options, we have some wine options,” Austin said. “We try to make sure people can find what they need.”
The event and others like it have moved around the village as its downtown area continues to develop and change, but — with recent renovations made at Legacy Park — Beers at the Bridge took a change of scenery.
“The event moved over to the beautiful, new Legacy Park which hugs the Thornapple River,” Austin said. “We have a great, new amphitheater there.”
FILE – The Thornapple River.
Visitors and vendors attend the Beers at the Bridge music and beverage festival in downtown Ada at Legacy Park along the Thornapple River. (Courtesy Ada Township Downtown Development Authority)
Visitors and vendors attend the Beers at the Bridge music and beverage festival in downtown Ada at Legacy Park along the Thornapple River. (Courtesy Ada Township Downtown Development Authority)
As attendees lounge on blankets or lawn chairs and enjoy music from Grand Rapids R&B band The Soul Syndicate, they can also explore Ada’s walkable and growing downtown restaurant and retail scene.
The more than 30 local and regional sponsors for Beers at the Bridge are just as invested as Austin in that developing small-town economy, as well as the attractions and events the improved Legacy Park and its lush, green space might bring to Ada.
“Now, as the sun starts to set a little bit earlier in August, we will get some shade cover,” Austin said. “It’s an excellent space.”
For kids and families, a bubble party and several lawn games will be available throughout the event.
Beers at the Bridge begins at 6 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. Drink tickets are $5.
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