Asheville RiverFest 2019
By Whitley Albury
The French Broad River in Asheville has turned into a summer icon. Any given day, you’ll cross over on 240 (or one of the secret back bridges that aren’t jammed up by lost tourists) and see at least 30 tubes, floats, kayaks, anything that floats. Which, funnily enough, is what kicks off RiverFest 2019.
RiverFest is an annual one day festival in Asheville that acts as a benefit for RiverLink. RiverLink’s goal is to protect the French Broad watershed, after years of severe pollution (seriously, the river literally caught on fire once). While RiverFest itself is free, the proceeds from the festival go to RiverLink, helping them with their mission.
Know how I mentioned “anything that floats”? The kickoff of the festival is a river parade, where, you guessed it, teams make floats that go by during the fest. Floats can be elaborate, they can be recycled materials (we’re all about upcycling here), they just need to legitimately float to be in the parade. It’s also worth it just to see how wild some of these floats get. The best one gets an award at intermission. (It’ll be hard to top a mama duck floatie followed by duckling tubes.)
In true Asheville fashion, it’s not a festival without music. Alarm Clock Conspiracy kick off the music portion at 1. They’re best described as indie meets alt-country, with infectious harmonies that’ll have you dancing around on the lawn of New Belgium before you even realize it. If Americana is more your style, no worries! Ashley Heath and Her Heathens are up next. Girl can sang. She was voted as #1 Songwriter, Acoustic/Folk, and Americana Country Artist last year in Mountain Xpress. She’s toured Europe. She’s a badass.
For more femme-fronted goodness, stick around for Lyric. She’s another BAMF singer-songwriter-musician. Her vibe is a gorgeous blend of funk, soul, r&b, and hip-hop, with soaring vocals. She’s also won several Mountain Xpress awards, so. It’s a general consensus that she’s good. To wrap up the day, you’ve got Coconut Cake: Congolese independence rumba rock. We like eclectic here. Michael Libramento of Hiss Golden Messenger leads the band in their tribute to Congolese dance bands. The music selection this year is diverse enough for everyone to find something they love, but not so divisive to make people want to leave when someone else takes the stage.
You already know beer will be handy (come on, it’s AVL and at New Belgium), but there’s plenty of nonalcoholic options as well, since you’ll be toasty in the mid-July sun. You’ll have a variety of food trucks to choose from, you can bring your littles and your fuzzy buddies. Be prepared to have to hike a bit from a parking lot, as there’s limited on site parking, but it’ll definitely be less than a mile. It’s a full day of free family fun.
What: RiverFest 2019
Where: New Belgium Brewing, Asheville, NC
When: July 20th, from ~12 to 7:30 pm
Cost: Free AF
Who: Alarm Clock Conspiracy, Ashley Heath and Her Heathens, Lyric, and Coconut Cake
