Perfect weather, big crowds for annual celebration of Annapolis River

The Annapolis River Festival has expanded over the years, but the river remains the centrepiece of the annual celebration in Bridgetown.

Perfect weather and a diverse and exciting agenda helped make the Annapolis River Festival a success, as hundreds of people filled the Bridgetown waterfront at Jubilee Park on July 11 for a day of recreation, education, and entertainment. The final attendance figure of 1,681 also reflected strong community support for protecting the Annapolis River and promoting a healthy watershed. Katie McLean, a volunteer with the Annapolis River Festival organizing committee, was busy all day helping things run smoothly.

Halfway through, she took a break. “We just finished our dragon boat races, which kind of started as the core of the event,” she said minutes after the Mighty Mudhens claimed victory in a time of 82.39 seconds. Bishop Farms was a fraction of a second behind, and Michelin’s team named Cry Me A River placed third in a hotly contested final.

Related COMMENTARY: The vital work of CARP Annapolis River Festival attracts hundreds to banks of historic waterway A hidden gem: Wetlands restoration project celebrated in Middleton The annual event was started by the Clean Annapolis River Project (CARP) and has become a favourite summer celebration that pays tribute to the waterway that was once the lifeblood of Annapolis County.

The dragon boat races are the main fundraiser for the event and help draw big crowds as the boats start at the bridge and take less than two minutes to pass the finish line. Everything else at Riverfest is free of charge except food. And there was plenty of food.

Other events included canoe, kayak, and SUP races, the first-ever rubber duck race fundraiser, heritage river tours, and the canoe obstacle course. Plus, there were numerous bands performing throughout the day. Skills Village

While there was plenty of activity on the water, McLean also lauded what was happening in the park. “What I’m most impressed by, and I think we can never lose, is the Skills Village,” she said. “That was something that the Annapolis Valley Folk School really brought with Maureen MacInnis in that kind of leadership role.

We have, I think, 13 different skills today and all the materials are free.” She said there were a number of traditional skills people could learn from experts in their particular field. “I think that’s been ... such a great addition to keep people busy on the land side because we got a lot of cool water stuff,” she said.

“But there’s just some really unique opportunities and I think it really showcases the community as well. There’s so many people with these skills, that they have to share, and they’re willing to share, and we can bring them all together.” Education Corner McLean also noted the popular Education Corner where kiosks were set up by a number of non-government organizations (NGOs) concerned with protecting the environment, protecting species at risk, and protecting habitat.

There were tables for ground search and rescue, and even drone searches for missing people. Annapolis County’s Canoe Annapolis County was popular, and a group dedicated to protecting the Cornwallis River watershed in Kings County was on hand. McLean said Education Corner has grown a lot over the past few years with CARP and other NGOs through the Kespukwitk Conservation Collaborative talking a lot about doing more shared outreach.

“We’re together and leverage each other’s networks,” she said. “And so this was the perfect opportunity. I think we have 17 different organizations represented today.

“The core of them is other environmental NGOs who might do work similar to CARP in a different region of the province, or do focus work on an area like invasive species, or there’s the community forest, or local community groups who are looking to extend their networks as well, but have some type of interest that aligns with CARP’s overall mission.” Acadia University student Alice Dineen represented the Jijuktu’kwejk Watershed Alliance in Kings County and handed out brochures with a vision statement that reads “A Swimmable, Drinkable, Fishable Jijuktu’kwejk River.”

Kids activities There were activities for people of all ages, including children. “We want to bring families, so you need to have free stuff for kids to do,” McLean explained. “So we kept the bouncy castle, we have the County of Annapolis running an obstacle course and like a very laissez-faire of free games.

We don’t want too much structure for the kids so they can just do what they want when they want to.” The Clarence 4-H Club was on hand with farm animals and demonstrations. McLean noted kids were also involved in the Skills Village where MacInnis was teaching fermentation of vegetables.

“We have fermented over 40 pounds of carrots already,” she said. “We’re out of carrots.” And that was the point.

People learning how to do things. It was all free and tables were busy from 11 a.m. until the festival was packing up at 5 p.m. “The Annapolis Valley Folk School is really about building community and trying to teach people how to live self-sustainably so that you can grow your vegetables and then ferment your vegetables and feed yourself,” MacInnis said, “or you can find things out and use them for your everyday life.” There was a lot to learn, from spinning wool, to weaving, print-making, knot tying, and peg weaving to produce small rugs.

“We had every single age,” MacInnis said. “I would say the youngest was probably about well, their mom was helping them, but she was about three. And we have had grandmas and grandpas here as well.”

About the river At the end of the day, the festival is all about the river for McLean. “I never want to let go of those events where people actually can physically connect with the river,” she said. “The dragon boats, the obstacle course, the sprint race, but I really like that we have the riverboat tours.”

She said people come to Riverfest specifically for the riverboat tours. “They don’t go to other events, but they come here specifically for the river tours where they get on a boat that a community member’s brought and sit and listen to like an interpretive tour,” she said. “So I think that’s a really cool opportunity for people who aren’t really wanting to get like physically in a canoe, out of a canoe and do something crazy like that, but still want a better understanding of what’s here.”

She likes the river to be the centrepiece of what’s bringing everyone here. Volunteer Tony Orlando has long been a riverboat tour mainstay, so to speak. “Four local boat owners generously volunteer their boats and time to drive the boat tours,” he said.

“We do three tours, each tour lasting about an hour. Altogether, we can take 39 passengers each tour.” He said guides dressed in Acadian costumes animate the tours and provide information about the Mi’kmaq, the Acadians, and the massacres of 1711 and 1757 at Bloody Creek, just downriver from Jubilee Park where Riverfest takes place.

“CARP’s efforts to work with local farmers to help improve the general well-being of the river, industries in Bridgetown from a bygone era, invasive species, cider and the importance of the apple industry reviving in our area, and eagles – we see two nests and adults in the air surveying the ‘hood’ – all this for free.” Protecting the river CARP’s goal is to work towards an ecologically healthy watershed. “And the projects shift over time, but they all focus on that greater watershed health,” McLean said.

“And that could mean an aquatic project, like fish habitat or water quality monitoring, or it could mean a terrestrial project, like working with agricultural landowners and farmers on practices that have indirect, or sometimes quite direct impacts, on things like water quality, biodiversity.” She said a lot of the work CARP staff members are currently doing is focused on fish habitat restoration. “It’s always a challenge to keep water quality monitoring going,” she said, but noted the Annapolis River Guardians program has been running since about 1992.

“It’s a long-term record that they don’t want a gap in data collection for,” she said. That goes back to CARP’s vision statement: “Ecologically healthy watersheds.” And it’s mission statement: “To enhance the ecological health of the Annapolis River watershed, for current and future generations, through science, leadership, and community engagement.”