Riverfest takes advantage of cooler temps
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Volunteers are busy cleaning up Riverside Park from this year’s Riverfest celebration.
It takes about one and a half days to finish the process of clearing the park.
The extreme heat let up for the last day of La Crosse’s Riverfest, but the sizzling temps took a toll.
Organizers say they had low turnout for this years fest because of the weather.
Official attendance numbers are not yet available but organizers are reporting a 40 percent decrease in revenue.
Buttons were dropped to the pre-fest price of $5 on Saturday, to encourage more people to come out.
Organizers say they hope people remember to support the businesses and volunteer groups that took a hit financially because of the low attendance numbers.
15444258“There’s a lot of community groups down here, a lot of food vendors that sat down here that were hot hot hot. They also saw a decrease in their income. A lot of restaurants, a lot of people contributed, so look through our brochure and support the organizations that helped us support Riverfest so that we can bring five days of family fun to Riverside Park for our community,” said Riverfest President Elect Tammy Klein.
Organizers say they canceled the jump rope show and a few hypnosis shows because of the heat.
They also moved the senior breakfast back a day and brought in extra fans.
People at the fest on Saturday said they wish the heat had let up sooner.
“We would have been here at least one other day but we decided to wait one more day,” said Tom Schmidt of La Crosse.
“We wanted to get out to Riverfest. Unfortunately the weather hasn’t been complying so it’s nice to get out when the weather’s cool enough for it,” said Jared Kindschy of La Crosse.
Organizers will begin planning for next year’s Riverfest in September.
They will have sponsorship packages for sale in November, some starting at $75.
