Festing Down by the River

I have to admit weather may have prevented us from partaking in Riverfest activities the last couple of years but this year we truly got good use out of our Riverfest buttons as the weather couldn't have been more cooperative. I was also super glad to have a small car to park considering all the downtown construction.
Awnings also have been added over the picnic tables in the Food Area which at least provide some greatly appreciated shade. And speaking of food as there have been complaints re:variety this year there were more vendors. Prices are still a bit steep but they gotcha captive. What can you do? 
 I'll confess to devouring an entire order of Rocky's famous fried cheese curds for lunch one day (I know I'll have to pay for that next week in exercise), drank 4 cups of lemonade, and enjoyed an order of brisket burnt ends ...
besides ogling other folks strawberry shortcake and some amazing ginormous icees. If that lust counts for calories I'm in big trouble...

ginormous icee

It'd be great if there was more 'affordable' kid rides and activities so more families could enjoy everything with a family pass. This year I did notice a nice addition of a small playground for younger kids by the free family stage. 

There was a lot of entertainment during the four days of Riverfest.  During Thursday, Friday and Saturday I enjoyed our city's clown magician entertaining families of all ages, pole vaulters on a barge on the Mississippi and lumberjack competitions. 

2015 Commodore Steve Doll

The 2015  Commodore Steve Doll and his crew were on hand daily to pin special pins on attendees during the entire Riverfest and try as I did to get a special button the Commodore always seemed to be pinning everybody else. I certainly wasn't going to knock the little girls out of the way.

And then there was the music...

On Thursday we heard the Executives and Sucker Punch Sally. 

The Executives entertained us with 50-60's tunes

Sucker Punch Sally from Winona,MN 

 from Decorah, Iowa, the Homestead Act  on Friday midday.

And on Saturday, Riverfest's last evening after biking and having a picnic dinner in Riverside Int'l Gardens we enjoyed some oldies with Studebaker 7  

Rocking out on guitar

Studebaker 7

The Not Guilty Band knows how to entertain

BUT we really spent the majority of the early evening with The Not Guilty Band from Minneapolis with a lot of clapping 'n moving to their wonderful sound. Their audience grew and grew as their sets continued.

Unfortunately we had to leave before the Remainders played and the fireworks since we needed daylight to take the marsh bike trail  back to where we parked the car... but for our last moments down by the Mississippi River Mother Nature (and those Canadian fires) treated us to a gorgeous sunset. And BTW we heard we also missed the mayfly explosion. 

La Crosse's Riverfest may not be as large as Milwaukee's Summerfest but it is just the right size and a great way to spend some summer days festing down by the river with our community.

You Tube Link: The Not Guilty Band 

So fun!