This year’s River Days Festival, which organizers say will be “the greatest ever,” is right around the corner.

The festival, which will be held along Front Street in the village of New Richmond from Aug. 17-19, includes amusement rides for kids and adults, games, merchant booths, a variety of food vendors, live music and a fireworks display.

“It’s a good community event for New Richmond that brings a lot of people out to see how nice the village really is,” Janet Manning, a member of New Richmond Riverfest, Inc., the committee that organizes the festival said; this is Manning’s second year serving on the committee.

New attractions this year include seaplane rides and three river focused displays and booths, including a traveling 2,200 gallon aquarium.

“We have a few new bands; we’re trying to change things around a little bit with the music to appeal to a broader audience, and we have the river displays added this year to tie in the river theme to River Days,” Manning said, adding, “I’m really excited about the music this year, and I hope that everybody who attends is excited about it too, because we have a lot of different bands than we have in the past.”

Musical acts will play oldies and classic rock at the bandstand at 116 Susanna Way as well as at Haussermann Park, located at 221 Front St., on Aug. 17 and 18 from 6 p.m. to midnight, and “Red, White & Blues-grass,” on Aug. 19 from 12-6 p.m.

New Richmond Riverfest, Inc. is an all-volunteer committee. It’s nine members strong and meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at village hall. The committee began planning for this year’s festival soon after last year’s ended.

The festival organization is a non-profit, and all the money raised from the festival goes back into the coffers to support the upcoming year’s event.

The three-day festival also encompasses satellite events, including the annual Scott McDowell Memorial 5K River Run and Walk, which will be held Aug. 18 at 9 a.m. and starts at the Market Street School Building at 212 Market St.

For more information about the run/walk, including information on how to register, visit the event’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/events/601923643501285/.

The weekend also features the 26th annual Cardboard Boat Regatta, which will be held Aug. 18 from 1-3 p.m. on the Ohio River.

This year, the regatta will honor Kyle Plush, the Seven Hills student who died after becoming trapped in his family’s van.

Plush raced in the regatta last year, and his sister has raced the past two years, according to Manning.

Members of the Cardboard Boat Museum, who organize the annual regatta, had an oar engraved for Plush, and they’ll present it to his family during the event; Plush’s former teammate and Plush’s sister are expected to race again this year.

Manning encouraged everyone, from near and far, to visit New Richmond for the festival.

“New Richmond is very welcoming, and we have many good musical acts this year that people want to see; the fireworks are always a crowdpleaser, and we do have the world’s only cardboard boat museum putting on a cardboard boat regatta,” she said. “Everybody can see that New Richmond survived the flood in February, and it’s a great place to visit any other time.”

To learn more about the River Days Festival, visit the webpage for the event at www.newrichmond.org/riverdays.

Organizers of this year’s River Days Festival, which takes place August 17-19, 2018, in the village of New Richmond, say it will be the “greatest ever.” The festival includes many attractions, including amusement rides for kids and adults, games, merchant booths, a variety of food vendors, live music and a fireworks display. This photo is from the 2016 event.
https://www.clermontsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_nr-river-days-2018-PIC.jpgOrganizers of this year’s River Days Festival, which takes place August 17-19, 2018, in the village of New Richmond, say it will be the “greatest ever.” The festival includes many attractions, including amusement rides for kids and adults, games, merchant booths, a variety of food vendors, live music and a fireworks display. This photo is from the 2016 event.

By Megan Alley