LEWISTON — The third annual Riverfest will kick off Friday with a full schedule of activities for two days along the Androscoggin River.
Events will begin at Simard-Payne Memorial Park with a kickball tournament at 9 a.m. There will also be a food truck festival, local market and beer garden. Live music from local bands are scheduled to start at 4 p.m., and the Franco Center plans an open house starting at 10 a.m.
Canoe rentals will be available starting at 11 a.m.
The Riverfest Regatta races will kick off Saturday at 8 a.m. The local market, food trucks and beer garden will be open Saturday as well, along with waterfront activities and canoe rentals starting at noon.
The Great Falls Flotilla is a new activity for Saturday. People will paddle from the park to the Great Falls and back. Groups of family and friends can dress in costumes and participate in canoes, kayaks and paddle boards. There will be prizes for costumes, having a large group and other categories.
Grace Tetrealt, left, and Caitlin Sweeny make the sharp turn at the bottom of the 2022 Riverfest Regatta on the Androscoggin River in Lewiston. The course is particularly narrow for a rowing regatta, making the turn at the end exciting and unique in the rowing community. The third annual race will be held Saturday. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal file
Riverfest started as a rowing regatta in 2021 and expanded to two days the following year, with the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce taking over most of the organization, according to Amy Smith.
The festival is a way to celebrate the river and the ways people use it for recreation, chamber President Shanna Cox said. It gives people a chance to have fun close to home and support local businesses.
The event is family-friendly but there is “a little something for everybody,” she said.
There were 500 to 800 people at last year’s event, according to Cox. Her hope is to grow it each year.
“It’s just a really relaxed vibe that people can enjoy down by the river,” she said.
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