New summer festival coming to Ft. Wayne

FORT WAYNE, IND. (WANE) - A brand new festival is coming to Fort Wayne this summer. It’s called the IPFW River Fest 2010, presented by Steel Dynamics, and is expected to celebrate one of the City's most prominent natural resources, the rivers.

The festival will take place in Fort Wayne, Saturday, June 26, 9:00 a.m. until midnight on the IPFW campus.

Events during River Fest include a 4K River Walk/Run which begins at 9:00 a.m. near the IPFW Venderly Bridge and continues along the St. Joseph River into Johnny Appleseed Park and finishes on the west side of the river at FamilyFest, another River Fest event on the IPFW campus.

Family Fest will take place at 10:00 a.m. and will include pontoon rides on the river, a ski show and other river entertainment, carnival games, river crafts and other hands-on games and learning activities about water, nature and the history of Fort Wayne's rivers.

From 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. RiverArt will be on display to showcase the best paintings, works on paper and mixed media by Northeast Indiana artists that represent the region's rivers and bridges.

Another event, ArtFest, will allow festival-goers to visit with regional fine artists and craftspeople who will display and sell unique and creative art and craft items including sculptures, paintings, jewelry, ceramics, glass, wood, stone and many other forms. ArtFest runs from 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Officials said the festival will also host 'Rockin' the River' from 4:00 p.m until midnight.

'Rockin' the River' will showcase local rock and soul bands with two stages set up along the east bank of the St. Joseph River, fireworks on a barge and cauldrons of fire in the river. Officials said this is Fort Wayne's first ever river concert and is a free event on the IPFW grounds.

The event also includes something unique to the city.

"A zip line we are bringing in will go from the east to the west over the river. One will be hoisted in a harness 50 feet up and will zip over the river -- a first for Fort Wayne," said Irene Walters, IPFW RiverFest Director.

The idea behind RiverFest 2010 is actually several years in the making. It started most notably in 2005, when city and county leaders traveled to Greenville, North Carolina to study that downtown’s resurgence.

"In 2006 we went to Providence, Rhode Island to see how they rediscovered their rivers, and in 2007, we went to Chattanooga to do the same thing. From each of these visits, we returned with hopes and aspirations of our own river front development," Wire said.

Dan Wire represents “Friends of the Rivers” and is just one of several groups making RiverFest 2010 happen.

WANE-TV NewsChannel 15 is proud to be a sponsor of the event, and will have more coverage leading up to the June event.

To read more about IPFW River Fest 2010, presented by Steel Dynamics visit http://ipfwriverfest.org/ .