Thousands of people are expected to descend on New Westminster’s waterfront for RiverFest 2017.
RiverFest returns to Westminster Quay on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. The festival includes entertainment, including a performance by Bobs and LoLo, food trucks, interactive activities, children’s activities, an artisan market, presentations, the Lucille Johnstone workboat parade and more.
“We are really looking forward to this year’s festival, which attracts close to 10,000 visitors annually to the Westminster Quay,” said Stephen Bruyneel, executive director of Fraser River Discovery Centre. “The combination of first-class entertainment, new food options and our new exhibit will mean there is something for the whole family to enjoy.”
As part of this year’s festival, Fraser River Discovery Centre is launching its new working river exhibit, Journey Through the Working River. RiverFest is held annually in conjunction with B.C. Rivers Day.
“The goal of the new exhibit is to personalize the mighty Fraser for all who visit the centre,” Bruyneel said in a press release. “At the end of the exhibit, visitors will be able to reflect on what they have learned and ‘create their own river’ based on their economic, environmental and socio-cultural priorities.”
That’s reflective of the purpose of RiverFest, which aims to celebrate the environmental, economic and socio-cultural importance of the Fraser River.
One of the festival’s highlights is a performance by popular children’s entertainers, Bobs and LoLo. The Juno-nominated act combines art, education and love of nature, something organizers feel is a perfect fit with Fraser River Discovery Centre.
RiverFest is also participating in Tourism New Westminster’s Feast on the Fraser event and providing more dining options than in past years. In addition to the restaurants in River Market, festival-goers will be able to dine at well-known food trucks like Hurricane Potato and at a non-profit charity barbecue.
“We have received lots of feedback over the years that food is a key attraction for families and visitors of all ages, which is why we have added some new options,” Bruyneel explained. “With so much to choose from, there will be no reason to go home hungry.”
RiverFest 2017, presented by the Port of Vancouver, also features a Fraser River industry tour that includes a boat ride and a 45-minute visit to Fraser Surrey Docks, where visitors can meet staff and see the dock operations up close. Unfortunately, all spaces were filled soon after the tour information was posted online.
Catch the new exhibit at Fraser River Discovery Centre:
Here are a few highlights of the new Journey Through the Working River exhibit:
* The $2.25-million educational exhibit aims to tell the economic story of the living, working Fraser River through the Fraser River Discovery Centre’s sustainability lens.
* The project has been in the works for four years and has been supported by 11 partners – BNSF Railway, Chevron Canada, the City of New Westminster, Fortis B.C., Fraser River Pile and Dredge, Fraser Surrey Docks, Kinder Morgan Canada, Port of Vancouver, Saam Smit Towing, Seaspan and the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation.
* Visitors will take a self-guided tour of the working river, starting in a real shipping container and proceeding through six other stations, getting information along the way. The exhibit will emphasize the challenges of balancing the environmental, socio-cultural and economic uses of the river.
For more information on RiverFest, go to www.fraser\riverdiscovery.org.
