Labor Day

Take the kids to see 20+ giant animatronic bugs, birds and butterflies at John Ball Zoo – their The Power Of Pollinators exhibit is included with a daily Zoo ticket. Open all weekend.

Fridays and Saturdays are Glow Nights at TreeRunner Adventure Park. Climb through the park’s aerial forest while surrounded by vibrant colors and a festive atmosphere. The theme for Aug. 29-30 is “Country Hoedown.”

It’s the last weekend to explore Alma’s Way: Welcome to My Neighborhood, an immersive Grand Rapids Children’s Museum exhibit based on the PBS KIDS show. The Museum is open from 11am-4pm Friday and Saturday.

Friday is day one of the GrandCon Gaming Convention, which fills DeVos Place with all manner of gaming, cosplaying, merchandise and more. It extends through Sunday.

A longer weekend means more time to earn some cool swag:

• Check in to eight breweries on the Beer City Ale Trail to become a Beer City Brewsader and get a FREE t-shirt.
• Order from the Flights of Flavor menu at participating restaurants to earn points toward fun merchandise or charitable giving.

The first crop of apples is just starting to show up at local family farm markets – get your pick of them and the late summer harvest of other fruits and vegetables.

This is a great weekend to visit the city’s cultural attractions. Get Attraction Pass GR to save big on admission to six museums, John Ball Zoo and The Comedy Project comedy-and-cocktail theater. Choose a one-day or three-day pass, both available in adult, child and senior versions. Highlights include:

• The last days (Aug. 29-30) to see SHARKS, the blockbuster exhibition that’s been drawing crowds to the Grand Rapids Public Museum all summer.

• David Hockney: Perspective Should Be Reversed and Pablo Picasso: Relentless Innovation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, open Fri-Sun.

• Casting Light: Photographs of the Vietnam War at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Open all weekend long.

• The aforementioned Alma’s Way at the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum and The Power of Pollinators at John Ball Zoo.

Cosplay as Shrek or fairytale characters and attend SHREK XXL RAVE, an 18+ dance festival featuring remixes of songs from the SHREK movie franchise.

It’s a great day for a self-guided mural tour – check out these Center City, Heartside, Southtown, Uptown, and West Side routes. See how GR artists turn mundane objects into objects of beauty on the Rad Women Electrical Box and Painted Ticket Booths tours. 

Revisit past ArtPrize entries permanently installed around downtown GR before the advent of ArtPrize 2025 (Sept. 18-Oct. 4).

If art’s not your thing, check out Tours Around Michigan for guided city, ghost, riverfront, distillery and historic home tours on Sunday.

Take one more bite (or lick) out of summer – check out locals’ favorite burger joints, hot dog spots, ice cream parlors and frozen yogurt shops.

Let someone else labor over your Labor Day weekend meals – search 1,000+ restaurants by cuisine and neighborhood to plan your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Want to dine al fresco? Check out this list of outdoor dining spaces.

Like every week, Woody’s Press Box in Wyoming’s Spectrum Entertainment Complex hosts Sunday Night Funnies featuring stand-up comedians from across the Midwest. The Complex also offers bowling, golf simulators, a restaurant and sports bar.  

Step back in time with a grand Honor Parade, reminiscent of the celebration 80 years ago at the end of WWII. The Greatest Generation Celebration starts with era-authentic civilian vehicles, military equipment, veterans, Rosie the Riveters, Scouts and more marching on the streets of downtown GR, and concludes with a breathtaking Wings of Honor flyover, featuring historical WWII aircraft from across Michigan.

Go ahead, get in another beach (or golf or biking or hiking) day. Millennium Park offers a six-acre beach, boat rental, 18 miles of paved trails and a splashpad named one of America’s 10 best – and it’s just five minutes from downtown GR. Dozens of other trails, 30+ golf courses and 20+ Lake Michigan beaches are a short drive away.

Raise a glass to the end of summer at a local brewery, cidery, cocktail lounge, distillery or wine bar.

Shop end-of-summer sales and browse new fall merchandise – Breton Village Shopping Center, Rivertown Crossings Mall, Woodland Mall, Tanger Outlet Mall and hundreds of individual stores are open today.

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and John Ball Zoo are open today, as are these family fun spots:  GameTime Family Fun Park, Altitude Trampoline Park, Blandford Nature Center, Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park, Celebration Cinema! Studio Park, Craig’s Cruisers, Deer Tracks Junction Adventure Park & Site 57 Safari, Grand Rapids Escape Room, The Great Escape Room, Great Lakes Glow Golf, Main Event, Rebounderz, Sky Zone Trampoline Park and Soar N Bounce Trampoline and Adventure Park.