{"id":131649,"date":"2026-06-03T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-river-fest-returns-saturday-with-music-river-parade-and-daylong-celebration\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:00:00","slug":"dolores-river-fest-returns-saturday-with-music-river-parade-and-daylong-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-river-fest-returns-saturday-with-music-river-parade-and-daylong-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores River Fest returns Saturday with music, river parade and daylong celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Rafters,
Rafters, paddleboarders and kayakers ride the waves during the Dolores River Festival parade in 2013. (Journal file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For 21 years, the Dolores River Festival has celebrated the river that winds through town not only providing natural, scenic awe but serving local farmers, boaters, anglers and local businesses.<\/p>\n

The annual Dolores River Festival returns this weekend at Joe Rowell Park in Dolores to celebrate the community\u2019s valuable resource. It will bring day and night entertainment, music, food, games and an afternoon parade to float down the water.<\/p>\n

In the past, the event has tallied crowds of about 1,500 visitors.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the main entrance gate near the baseball diamonds will open about 10 a.m., with the event set to finish around 10 p.m. Festivities include musical performances from eight bands with varied start times from 11 a.m. through 8:50 p.m. on two stages, the main stage and the river stage.<\/p>\n

Food and retail vendors will be available, as well as a kids play area. The event is serving beer, wine and margaritas.<\/p>\n

Scott Clow, board president of host and fiscal sponsor Greater Dolores Action, said while the event doesn\u2019t make much money, it has purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a celebration of the Dolores River and the way it brings everyone together, whether you are a business owner that gets water from the Dolores Project or a farmer who irrigates or a swimmer, fisher and boater \u2013 we all enjoy it in different ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Clow said hosting the event is always financially challenging, but it\u2019s the largest community enhancement initiative organized by Greater Dolores Action.<\/p>\n

Saturday tickets are $45 in advance or $50 per person at the gate. Children age 12 and younger enter for free.<\/p>\n

\"Children
Children limbo at the Dolores River Festival in 2016. The annual Dolores River Festival returns this weekend to Joe Rowell Park, with the gates opening at 10 a.m. Saturday. (Journal file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe Dolores River is a beautiful river that provides so much to us and the purpose is to share in the joy that it brings us,\u201d Clow said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very expensive event to produce. We don\u2019t make a lot of money on it, but what we do, it goes toward the mission of Greater Dolores Action.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, free raft rides were a crowd-pleaser. However, organizer and social media producer Susan Lisak said water levels on the river are too low this year, and it is not possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are skipping the raft rides for the second year in a row, but we are going to have the river parade at 4:45 p.m., from Riverside Park and to JRP (Joe Rowell Park),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Rafters,
Rafters, paddleboarders and kayakers ride the waves during a past Dolores River Festival parade. (Journal file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rafters
Rafters enjoy free raft rides during a Dolores River Fest. (Journal file))<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The parade involves decked-out boats and watercrafts floating in succession while captains and passengers dress in costumes. Anyone who wants to join the parade should meet at Riverside Park before 4:45 p.m., must sign a waiver, wear a life jacket and bring their own water craft, including any boat, paddle board, raft, kayak, canoe or tube.<\/p>\n

A pre-party event begins at 8 p.m. Friday at the Dolores River Brewery where the three-person band Felix y Los Gatos, led by Felix Gato Peralta, is playing. Day-of performances include the Peter Guiliani band; Yes, No, Maybe; Native Jazz Quartet; the 14ers; Felix y Los Gatos; Alex Dunn & the Deal; Sabotage; and Yope.<\/p>\n

Lisak said sign-ups for volunteers are still welcome, and it allows people to work and attend River Fest free. For more volunteer options, visit www.doloresriverfest.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do allow dogs as long as they are on a leash,\u201d Lisak said, adding that dogs must be well-behaved and water bowls and doggy bags will be provided.<\/p>\n

\"This
This year\u2019s flyer for Dolores River Fest. (Courtesy of Greater Dolores Action)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The layout of this year\u2019s Dolores River Fest festivities. (Courtesy of Greater Dolores Action)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Organizers offered a few tips for eventgoers. The bar will not provide disposable cups so attendees must buy a cup with alcoholic drinks or bring their own.<\/p>\n

They recommend attendees bring personal water bottles or past Riverfest cups, sunscreen, sunglasses, lawn chairs and a shade tent if available.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe short shade structures are welcome but not the big canopy pop-ups,\u201d Lisak said.<\/p>\n

For more information, email Lisak at producer@doloresriverfest.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

awatson@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Festival is in its 21st year; gates open 10 a.m. at Joe Rowell Park <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[1820,44,341,510,28,29,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-131649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-dh-trueanthem","tag-dolores","tag-dolores-river","tag-festive-event-including-carnival","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131649"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=131649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}