Meet Poudre RiverFest | Free, family-friendly festival in Fort Collins, Colorado

We had the good fortune of connecting with Poudre RiverFest and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Poudre RiverFest, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The Poudre RiverFest was founded out of desire to help the Fort Collins community and to improve the health of the Poudre River watershed and its surrounding natural areas. We knew this was a big project to take on, so we thought a festival would be the best way to connect our community while simultaneously raising funds for much-needed restoration projects. The Poudre RiverFest was born out of a collaborative endeavor that brought together like-minded organizations from our local conservation community to help organize and deliver the event. The current iteration of the Poudre RiverFest was first held in May of 2014 in the wake of the High Park Fire and the devastating floodwaters that followed. In the aftermath of these destructive events, a group of local nonprofits from the Fort Collins area decided to pool our resources and bring together our unique expertise to create a festival focused solely on the Cache la Poudre River where people could learn about the river, get their hands dirty and raise a glass to this natural treasure. Our organizing committee behind the Poudre RiverFest saw an opportunity to positively impact our community by providing a platform to celebrate the Poudre River, educate people about its importance and inspire them to action!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Poudre RiverFest is a free, family-friendly festival that celebrates the Poudre River, promotes restoration and educates people about our river corridor, an important natural resource in our community. The festival features activities for children and adults alike to explore the roles of the river and discover its importance in maintaining and sustaining our city. The Poudre RiverFest is designed to bring together our neighbors through live music, family-friendly educational activities, food trucks, New Belgium beer and more! We work hard to ensure that there’s something for everyone at the festival!
The Poudre RiverFest believes that educating our community about the importance of our natural resources is critical to the protection and preservation of our natural resources, so the festival is free to all attendees.

While the Poudre RiverFest has made great strides over the years, getting to the current iteration of the Poudre RiverFest was no easy feat. This event started from the ground up, fueled only by the passion and dedication of our organizing committee. From the very beginning, all of our committee members have volunteered much of their own time to make the event possible and for most of us, the Poudre RiverFest comes second to our full time positions with other local nonprofit groups. We have learned many lessons along the way – from the smallest details of event coordination to finding the best restoration projects to support our watershed – and we have all grown as professionals and community members right alongside the festival. Despite the long hours and hard work, the event is worth it every single year and we are always looking forward to what comes next! Most of all, we are thrilled to make an impact on our Fort Collins community and we are happy to see just how far the event has come since 2014. Last year, we held the biggest Poudre RiverFest yet and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Fort Collins has so much to offer! From museums to concert venues to parks and gardens to restaurants and bars, there is something truly magical about our community. One of the best ways to spend an afternoon is a bike ride, run or walk along the many trails surrounding Fort Collins. Our personal favorite is the Poudre River Trail as it takes you right alongside the Poudre River, it feels like you are truly immersed in the beautiful nature of Northern Colorado. Sneaking outside of town a bit, there are a handful of thrilling outdoor activities to do in and along the Cache la Poudre River watershed such as hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, rock climbing, camping and more! There’s always something to do and we can’t get enough of our great outdoors, rain or shine! Back in town, some of our go-to spots are located in the heart of Fort Collins. We love to walk around the historic center of Downtown Fort Collins, grab a beer at New Belgium and try some of the amazing eats around town – there’s too many good ones to name!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The Poudre RiverFest is a result of immense collaboration and dedication from numerous nonprofit organizations throughout the Fort Collins area. Most notably, this event would not be possible without the dedicated teams at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, National Association for Interpretation, Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area, City of Fort Collins Utilities and Wildlands Restoration Volunteers.

More specifically, this event would not be possible without the hard work from the members of our organizing committee: Tyler Cash, Megan Maiolo-Heath, Cory Dick, Kellie Gorman, Heather Manier, Beth Bullard and Annemarie Fussel. These committee members are indispensable to the operation that makes the Poudre RiverFest possible year after year and their efforts are critical to the success of the event and to helping fuel our connection with the Fort Collins community.

In addition, the Poudre RiverFest would like to recognize all sponsors, exhibitors, donors, volunteers and other groups that have participated in the Poudre RiverFest throughout the years. The continued support from our community is instrumental to the success and growth of the Poudre RiverFest and we are honored that we have such a dedicated group of people looking forward to celebrating the Poudre River with us each year.

Website: https://poudreriverfest.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poudreriverfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poudreriverfest

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBgXoXOxDNfemapMPSl_DeQ

Image Credits
Poudre RiverFest