Poudre RiverFest: A Decade of Celebrating and Protecting the River
What makes an event? Is it the music? The beer? The venue? Sure, an event can encompass all of those things, but what truly makes an event special?
According to Annemarie Fussell, Project Manager at Wildlands Restoration Volunteers and longtime volunteer with the Poudre RiverFest Organizing Committee, an event is something that brings people together around a shared passion. An event is more than a mere gathering or a fun evening out; it’s a chance to unite for a bigger purpose and contribute to something meaningful in your community.
Poudre RiverFest: A Unique Celebration
The Poudre RiverFest, an annual community festival in Fort Collins, exemplifies what makes an event special. “Poudre RiverFest is not just another beer and music festival in Colorado,” says Fussell. “It is something unique that brings people together through our common connection: the Cache la Poudre River.”
Started in 2014 after the devastating 2013 floods in Northern Colorado, Poudre RiverFest is a collaborative endeavor. Fort Collins nonprofits joined forces to organize an event that celebrates the Poudre River, educates the community about its importance and inspires action. Today, the Poudre RiverFest is a large festival hosting over 2,500 attendees for the one-day event filled with live music, food vendors, exhibitors and educational workshops, but it wasn’t always that way.
The first iteration of Poudre RiverFest began in 1994 as a river cleanup event organized by the Poudre River Trust and continued as an annual event until 1999. In 2014, five Fort Collins nonprofits resurrected the festival, turning it into an event where people could learn about the river, get their hands dirty and raise a glass to this national treasure.
Growing and Moving
From 2014 to 2017, the festival was held at Legacy Park, gaining momentum each year. In 2017, it moved to the Poudre River Oxbow near New Belgium Brewing, and by 2018, it settled on New Belgium grounds. This new location provided an authentic connection to Old Town Fort Collins and the river, fostering community and business support.
While the first four years of the event were fruitful in community engagement, the Organizing Committee realized that a critical component of the event was missing: a purposeful focus on the river.
In 2018, the Organizing Committee established guiding principles to focus the festival on the river. They introduced a vision to inspire stewardship towards a thriving river ecosystem and a mission to celebrate, educate and inspire action. The resulting core values included connecting all activities to the river, reinvesting profits in river-based restoration projects and maintaining a free, family-friendly event for years to come.
Adapting to Challenges
In 2019, the festival took a step back to refocus, hosting a mini festival to prioritize education and ecological restoration to give back to the Poudre River watershed, the livelihood of Fort Collins.
“We all have a part in the river, whether we think so or not. From recreational activities to drinking water to agriculture to using water in our homes, we all use the Poudre River to sustain our lifestyle,” Fussell added. “You don’t have to be a nature lover to love the river, it’s in our daily lives and it’s a part of us, giving us all a reason to love and celebrate the river.”
With renewed determination and a growing vision for the event, the Organizing Committee returned to planning a full-scale festival in 2020. However, due to the growing COVID-19 Pandemic, the event was moved online.
“Thanks to the continued support of funders and organizations like the Bohemian Foundation, the festival was able to transition into a completely remote environment with educational resources and live streamed music from local artists,” said Fussell. “While it was upsetting to cancel the event, this actually provided us with new challenges to connect with our community outside of the one-day festival, allowing us to expand our reach and mission further than we ever thought possible.”
In 2021, Poudre RiverFest offered a hybrid event with four days of online and in-person programming. By 2022, it returned to full capacity at New Belgium Brewing, welcoming over 2,000 attendees.
A Community United
Today, the Poudre RiverFest continues with vigor, creating a unique experience for community members.
“One of my favorite aspects of Poudre RiverFest is that groups, businesses and organizations who were involved in the event at the very beginning are still involved and come back year after year to show their support of the Poudre River and all that it offers our region.”
“That’s one thing about Fort Collins and our neighbors, if we have a shared mission, we are going to work together to collaborate and make something bigger and better than we could have done on our own. Poudre RiverFest is really a testament to that,” highlighted Fussell.
Making an Impact
2023 was monumental, with over 2,500 attendees flooding to the event and significant post-event ecological restoration projects. With funds saved over the last several years, the Organizing Committee worked with community volunteers to fulfill the Poudre RiverFest promise: take action to protect the river.
Funds from the Poudre RiverFest sponsored two ecological restoration projects within the Poudre River watershed. In September 2023, 15 volunteers gathered to collect Ponderosa Pine seeds, a native seed in the region, that will be used to grow trees for replanting in burn scars from the 2012 High Park or 2020 Cameron Peak Fire. These volunteers collected over eight bushels of pine cones, equating to nearly 5,000 seedlings to be replanted.
In October 2023, 25 volunteers gathered in Rustic, Colorado to plant 700 trees purchased with funds from Poudre RiverFest. These trees were planted near Pingrey Hill, a burn scar north of Rustic from the Cameron Peak Fire that drains directly into the Poudre River.
“What I loved most about these restoration projects was that we had volunteers from all along the Front Range. We know that people want to help even if it’s not their forest. We all come together to take care of our forests, to do the work for the future, to pass along the legacy of the river to others. Seeing these funds from the event come full circle was a really powerful moment for me,” said Fussell.
Looking Ahead
The future of Poudre RiverFest is bright. The festival aims to raise more funds for ecological restoration and continue evolving with the river.
“The river is always evolving and Poudre RiverFest aims to evolve right alongside it. As the river changes, our programming will change. The event is a dynamic festival just like the river is a dynamic force of nature, it’s going to evolve over time with our ecosystem and community,” Fussell adds. “Whatever changes may come our way, one thing will remain the same: our love and dedication to our river.”
Join the celebration in 2024 and beyond, and be part of something meaningful.
