A Year After Liquid Note Went Quiet, Where Does Downtown Otsego Go After the Creative Arts Festival?

The Creative Arts Festival took over downtown Otsego on Saturday, Sept. 26, for its 39th year. It ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and had more than 60 artisan and craft vendors, a car show, a motorcycle show, an antique tractor show and a 12:45 p.m. parade. Otsego Rotary ran the turtle races, and admission was free.

It was also the first festival since Liquid Note and Maude's Taphouse closed on the night of the 2025 festival. Put the two side by side and the attendance gap stands out. A single Saturday brings thousands of people downtown, while the stage next door, built for 1,200, was closed for lack of a crowd. That gap explains most of what the next few months of downtown Otsego look like.

The Saturday Crowd and the 1,200-Person Stage

Estimates for the 2025 festival vary. The Otsego-Plainwell Area Chamber of Commerce's own event listing put attendance around 4,000. WOOD TV reported the chamber expected between 7,000 and 10,000 visitors. Even the low figure is more than three times the outdoor venue's capacity, and the high figure is more than five times.

Liquid Note built its outdoor stage in 2023 and expanded it in 2024 to hold 1,200 people. That summer's Friday concerts were ticketed from $10 to $38. Saturday festival passes ran $24 to $45, and tickets could only be bought online. The Creative Arts Festival, by contrast, is free. Chamber executive director Miranda Beltran has said the focus is making it free for families.

Price does not explain all of it. Owner Mark McPherson told WOOD TV that even free outdoor concerts saw low attendance.

What the Owners Put on the Record

The McPhersons, Mark and his mother Linda, were unusually specific about what went wrong. Maude's Taphouse opened at 117 E. Allegan St. on March 14, 2014, with burgers, 41 taps and a 1940s theme. Liquid Note opened next door at 119 E. Allegan St. in 2019. The pandemic closed it a year later. After it reopened, a frozen sprinkler line flooded the building and shut it for a few more months.

Their closing statement, as quoted by Wilcox Newspapers, gave the bottom line in one sentence:

"The lack of revenue generated at events is simply no longer sustainable."

McPherson told Local Spins that the 2024 season had 26 events planned, eight of them festivals, all ticketed with reserved seating. He said many people did not like that setup. He was surprised, because the year before, people had asked to reserve tickets in advance. Ticket fees met resistance too, and production costs had risen.

The closing-night lineup on the festival stage was The Bronk Bros., Chick & The Boomers, Kitten & The Tonics, Timeless and Dan Agne, with live music running from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Calendar That's Left

The remaining fall dates are run by volunteer organizations and the city. None depends on one business selling tickets.

That table shows who holds the calendar now: the Chamber, Rotary, the Historical Society and the Otsego Arts Council. This year the Arts Council showed the work of about 10 local artists at the museum on festival day, with paintings, sculptures, ripped-paper art and photography, many pieces for sale. The slot opened up because Otsego Public Schools, which had shown student art at the museum since 2004, chose not to take part this year. One organization stepped back and another filled the space within a single season. The Arts Council says it will share its 2027 season plans with people who stop by.

The museum sits in the former waterworks building. Chair Lyneta Nowak has said Otsego once had seven paper-making companies, and the society sells photographic negatives from a studio that opened in the 1930s, some dating to 1937. For anyone who has been through the festival crowd without stepping inside, a quieter October Saturday is a different visit.

The Two Addresses on East Allegan

The buildings at 117 and 119 E. Allegan St. are the open question. No public announcement about a new use has turned up. McPherson said when he closed that he would like to see the building stay a music venue, and he described the acoustics as unlike any room he has been in for its intimate size. He also said he hoped the venues could reopen under new ownership, maybe with new names.

The McPhersons did not leave downtown. They said they would concentrate on Mac's Place, a restaurant at 113 N. Farmer St., which they planned to reopen in late September 2025. Current hours and menu are unconfirmed, so call before heading over.

Other longtime downtown names come up in local coverage. Judy's Restaurant, True Value and Amish Oak Treasures and More have been part of the downtown for years, and SKP Design celebrated its grand opening at 110 W. Allegan St. in the former Stout's Gear space in 2022. Our Table is at 108 E. Allegan St. Yelp's August 2026 list for the 49078 area also includes Casa Real, Taqueria San Francisco Bar & Grill, Brewster's Smokehouse, Salvino's, Tokyo Grill, Chui's Hong Kong Restaurant, BC Pizza and Empire Wok. That list covers the whole ZIP code, so check an address before assuming a place is downtown.

Practical Notes for the Next Few Weeks

• Trail for Treaters is on the City calendar for Friday, Oct. 30. Check the City of Otsego or Chamber pages for this year's hours.
• Otsego removed its downtown parking meters years ago. The City asks business owners and employees to leave Allegan Street and the municipal lots open for customers.
• The City's fall 2024 newsletter said overnight parking on public streets is prohibited from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. starting Nov. 1 and through April, for snow removal. That is the most recent printed version I found, so confirm it hasn't changed.
• Early voting at City Hall, 117 E. Orleans St., runs Oct. 24 to Nov. 1 for the Nov. 3 general election, per the City calendar.

If you've been around Otsego since Maude's opened in 2014, you know how much of downtown depends on who is willing to run the next event. Atwood Properties Group is a Southwest Michigan team with roots in this area, and if you're curious what your own place is worth, you can get your instant home valuation on our site.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.