Spokane RiverFest
Celebrating the Spokane River as the Heart of Our Community!
Music and speakers from 9 AM to 5 PM include live
local music by Loren Swan (9:00), Sidetrack (11:30), and A Wing And A Prayer
(3:00), and remarks beginning at 10:00 by representatives the City of Spokane as
well as comments on the Great Spokane River Gorge Project.
Spend the day enjoying the beautiful park and the festival atmosphere by
visiting educational displays and opportunities provided by conservation groups
and recreational activities and outdoor gear demonstrations put on by area
recreation clubs and organizations and retailers. A wide variety of food
vendors will also be available. For
information about setting up a display for your outdoor oriented club,
organization or business at RiverFest, contact Melanie Johnson at 456-2446.
Want to give something back to your public parklands
along the Spokane River? Sign
up to help with a service project pulling non-native weeds and picking up trash
along the confluence of Latah Creek and the Spokane River or working on trail
improvements in the Great Spokane River Gorge.
To participate in a service project, e-mail dknowles@ecosystem.org
, call 747-1663, or just meet at the park with your work gloves by 10:45 and
sign up at the service project information table.
Attend RiverFest on foot, bike, or bus and receive a free, generously donated REI bike cage water bottle or other giveaways. The Spokane Bicycle Club will lead a ride to RiverFest—meet at 9 AM at City Mission Park (Mission and Perry) or visit www.spokanebicycleclub.org for details. The Spokane Bicycle Club, along with Spokane Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), will also host a secure bike corral to keep your bicycle safe at the event. Spokane C.O.P.S. volunteers will be on hand offering safety fingerprinting for children and security registration of your bike and helmet as well. The park is along Latah Creek near the confluence of the Spokane River and below the junction of Interstate 90 and Highway 195. MAPQUEST Link:
Parking for your vehicle is extremely limited. To catch an STA bus to the event, check the schedule for Bus #20 North Loop at http://www.spokanetransit.com/spokanetransit/ or call 328-RIDE. Please consider parking at the arena or at Spokane Falls Community College, and catch a bus to the event!
Outdoor Recreation Activities and Demonstrations will include kayak and bicycle demonstrations, guided Fish Lake Trail hikes lead by Inland Northwest Trails Coalition, free fly fishing demonstrations for native Spokane River trout put on by the Sierra Club, and a “passport” guide to help you tour the recreational and cultural sites of planned Great Gorge Project features, including the Whitewater Play Park, Centennial Trail, North Point Overlook, and other features (visit http://www.friendsofthefalls.org/indexgorge.asp for more information about the Great Spokane River Gorge Project). To sign up for any of these activities, visit the activities information table under the covered picnic area at RiverFest.
Spokane RiverFest Sponsors
Spokane RiverFest is being organized by the Inland Northwest Trails Coalition and Friends of the Falls to celebrate the Spokane River as the center of our community and to highlight the Great Spokane River Gorge Project and generate public interest and support for this visionary project. Inland Northwest Trails Coalition is a non-motorized trails group that formed in 2004 to protect and promote the Inland Northwest’s trails, waterways, and recreational destinations. The Great Spokane River Gorge Project is a collaborative effort led by the Friends of the Falls to protect and restore Spokane Falls and the Spokane River gorge below the falls. Thanks also to the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department for their cooperation and support.
A very special thanks goes to New Priorities Foundation for their financial support of Spokane RiverFest. The following community organizations and businesses have also helped make Spokane RiverFest possible: the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, Friends of Centennial Trail, Friends of the Falls, I Love the Spokane River Campaign, Inland Northwest Trails Coalition, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, Out There Monthly, REI, Inc, Sierra Club, Spokane Bicycle Club, Spokane Canoe and Kayak Club, Spokane C.O.P.S., Spokane Mountaineers, Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, and The Lands Council. For more information about Spokane RiverFest, contact David Bauermeister, (509)459-4108, Kaye Turner (509)624-7188, Steve Faust (509)981-6296 or Derrick Knowles, (509)747-1663, or visit www.spokaneriverfest.com
“The Spokane River in
the middle of this city is the best kept urban secret in the United States
today."-- former
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt
