Riverfest filled with live music and camping this past weekend
RIDGWAYyear’s This Riverfest hosted by Lazy River Canoe Rental was jam packed with local artists as well as talented bands from the tri-state area. Family and friends set up shop along the scenic Clarion River to camp, canoe and kayak throughout the weekend. Some of the bluegrass bands that were featured were The Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers and the Hillbilly Gypsies, who hail from Morgantown, West Virginia.
The Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers are musicians from areas of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. Additionally, the Sweaty Already string band from the western part of the state played to cap off a diverse music lineup for the event. Tim McClain of Lazy River Canoe shared that this occasion was held in honor of Tom Dickinson, who passed away this past November. Dickinson previously worked at the canoe rental shop. While traveling around to different bluegrass festivals, McClain got the idea of hosting these bluegrass families to Ridgway after the height of the COVID pandemic subsided. “We decided eventually to have our little camping experience with these families, and it went from that to having our own little music festival,” McClain said. The organizers of this year’s event were McClain and his wife, Amanda, Greg White, and the staff at Lazy River Canoe. McClain wanted to give a special thanks to Quattrone Masonry for allowing the use of the field to accommodate the campers and musicians free of charge, along with the Ridgway Borough for permitting the event to take place.