Three Rivers Water Festival opens Thursday

Jef Rietsma
·2 min read
The Sizzler and several other rides were on-site Sunday and ready for set-up in time for the 2022 Three Rivers Water Festival. The three-day event opens Thursday.
The Sizzler and several other rides were on-site Sunday and ready for set-up in time for the 2022 Three Rivers Water Festival. The three-day event opens Thursday.

Three Rivers Water Festival, St. Joseph County’s first community festival of 2022, begins its three-day run this week.

Opening day is Thursday, featuring the street parade. Typically attracting about 100 entries and thousands of people, the parade starts at 7 p.m. and follows its traditional route down Michigan Avenue and Main Street. In case of inclement weather, the parade will take place Friday.

Several Water Festival staples return this year, including Ambassadors for Christ chicken and ribs barbecue, the woman’s club pie and coffee stand (now located at the farmers market) and the carnival midway.

Friday’s highlights include arts and crafts, the Lions Club “Ox Roast” (located off-site at 420 6th Ave.), bingo, monster truck rides and a movie in the park (“The Lion King,” 8 p.m. on the main stage near the fire station.

A new feature this year is “10-Minute Playfest." Three Rivers Community Players will feature an opportunity for festival-goers to try their hand at performing in front of an audience. Participants are asked to arrive at Three Rivers Community Players Theatre on the morning of the event and will have one day to put together their show, using scripts written by local playwrights. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Closing day is Saturday and features a jam-packed schedule. The classic car, truck and motorcycle show starts at 9 a.m. and concludes at 1 p.m. Meanwhile Hope United 5K run starts at 9 a.m. behind the fire station. A bicycle rodeo starts at 10 a.m. and takes place at the Three Rivers Elks on West Michigan Avenue. Also, 10 o’clock marks the start of Kids’ Zone. The free event runs until 2 p.m. at Scidmore Park. "Relay for Life Duck Race" takes place at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the first of four musical acts opens at noon at the Scidmore Park Pavilion, featuringThree Rivers German Band. Kalamazoo Concert Band will perform at 3 p.m. at Lafayette Park, then Three Rivers Community Schools jazz band will put on a show at 8 p.m. at Memory Isle Park Main Stage. It will yield the stage for Kitten and the Tonics, performing 9:15-10:15 p.m. An event-ending fireworks display starts at 10:20 p.m.

A detailed list of attractions is available the festival’s Facebook page, bit.ly/3b21kAR.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: News