Officials with the Parkersburg Paddlefest and Riverfest have announced both events will be cancelled due to impending weather this weekend.

“It is with deep regret that we announce the cancellation of the Riverfest and Paddlefest events scheduled to take place at Point Park this Friday and Saturday (September 14-16),” said Mark Lewis, Greater Parkersburg CVB President.

Scot Heckert from Riverfest and Mark Lewis representing Paddlefest conferred this morning and agreed that given the current river levels and flow projections over the next several days, and the additional potential impacts of the hurricane expected to come ashore in the Carolinas later this week, cancelling the events was the wisest course of action.

“This situation is one of the great challenges in putting together an event that is weather, and in this case, water level dependent,” said Lewis. “It is always a difficult decision to cancel events that you have worked so hard to organize, but Scot and I both agree that the safety of our participants and spectators is our primary concern.”

The 5th Annual Paddlefest Weekend was slated to take place September 14-16 at Point Park (Friday and Saturday) and North Bend State Park Lake (Sunday). All scheduled Paddlefest activities have been cancelled. There are no plans at this time to reschedule the event this year. Lewis indicated Paddlefest Weekend is being planned for next year on Sept. 13-15, 2019.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, the 2nd Annual Riverfest has also been canceled at Point Park. The event worked to attract a group of iconic Sternwheelers to Point Park for well-loved local food and music. At this time there are no plans to reschedule this event in 2018. Instead organizers will look to begin planning for 2019.

For Riverfest: Scot Heckert

For Paddlefest: Mark Lewis (304) 488-7201

Please direct any questions to mlewis@parkersburgcvb.org or call the Greater Parkersburg Convention & Visitors Bureau office at 304-428-1130.
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