New Buffalo City Beach, New Buffalo, Michigan
Located in southwestern Michigan near the Indiana border (called the "Michiana" region), New Buffalo is a popular resort town. It has a very nice city beach on the Lake Michigan shoreline. For those who like access to a major city, New Buffalo is also close to the Chicago metropolitan area.
The New Buffalo City Beach (New Buffalo, Michigan) is a great beach for families. There is a fee for parking, but this is the cleanest public Great Lakes beach that we've experienced. There are indeed lifeguards at this beach. To get there, head toward the northern end of Whittaker Street and cross the Galien River Bridge: http://www.cityofnewbuffalo.org/citybeach.asp.
The City of New Buffalo hosted this fireworks festival on the Fourth of July weekend in 2010. There are a lot of fun events all year long in New Buffalo: http://www.newbuffalo.com/events-calendar.shtml.
This fireworks festival, July Fourth weekend 2010, began at sunset. Sunsets in western Michigan occur very late in the evening, sometimes as late as 9:30 pm. It doesn't get completely dark until 10 pm.
This fireworks photo was taken right next to the New Buffalo City Beach lighthouse. This beach was created with a lot of civic involvement in the mid-1970s.