The Chamber of Commerce is disappointed to announce that this year’s Riverfest will be cancelled.
The purpose of the event is to promote the Willimantic River and to highlight the programs
and progress of the Willimantic Whitewater project.
This year, unfortunately, someone has dumped large chunks of cement in the area where
we built our ramp and kayakers will pull out of the river. The cost and time required for cleanup is beyond our
means with only one week to go before the event. This misfortune is not the image we wish
to present to the river’s guests and tourists and is also a serious safety concern.
Mr. Michael Haddad, in cooperation with the town of Windham, has generously agreed to hire large machine operators to remove the debris so that this unfortunate incident will not affect future activity on the river.
This, in conjunction with a lack of presence from the organizations this event was meant to promote, as well as a decrease in sponsorships, is what made our decision to postpone the event until a future date.
We strongly believe that the Willimantic River has a very important role to play for Windham
and the surrounding region and will do whatever we can to continue our promotion of
ongoing projects of conservation, preservation and promotion.
We appreciate the support from our many volunteers who agreed to work the event and we
are grateful to our sponsors, the Nathan Hale Inn & Conference Center and Quasipeak
Wireless for their generosity. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience and feel
free to enjoy the beauty and excitement of a trip down the Willimantic River on your own
or with your family and friends.