With races, fireworks and live performances “powered” by the audience, the 16th Annual Regatta at Lake Arthur is being held at Moraine State Park Saturday and Sunday.
Holly Muchnok, the event director, described the regatta as a “celebration of playtime.”
She said the events will be held at the park’s South Shore, which isn’t as windy, so visitors have the opportunity to paddle board, dragon boat, kayak or canoe.
“We’re really going to take advantage of the weekend and really feature them independently of one another, and then a few of those boats will have races,” Muchnok said. “There are catamaran races, we’re going to have a stand-up paddle board race, we even have an eco-challenge which is sort of a land and lake race.”
Muchnok said 18 food vendors will be on site offering everything from tacos to vegan cuisine.
“If you want to come and just bring a lunch here or a blanket and watch what’s happening on the water, you certainly can do that,” Muchnok said. “We have a wonderful couple of activities, one is called SummersCool.”
SummersCool is exactly what it sounds like – summer school. But the classroom is a 20 by 60 foot tent, and the instructors will teach visitors different skills ranging from fly casting to windsurfing.
According to Muchnok, there will also be six live concerts – ranging from acoustic folk to country rock – and the main stage will be powered by Zero Fossil, which is a company that specializes in human and solar powered energy.
“To get sound and power to our stage, the audience will be able to help us,” Muchnok said. “So there are these cool little machines much like a bicycle that’s attached to our JuiceBox (power platform) and attendees can come, sit there, bike away, and it’s going to help power our main stage with fossil free energy.”
Other events include children’s storytelling, a classic car cruise and fireworks.
She said hundreds have already pre-registered for the activities, but they are also accepting walk-ups.
“If you didn’t find out about the regatta in advance, and you just happened upon it over the next couple days, you can still show up, walk up to the check-in desk and say, ‘Hey I’d really like to try something new,’” Muchnok said. “We’ll take a look at what’s still available, and we’ll put you in a dragon boat or a kayak or canoe, you can do a multitude of different activities.”
The list of activities is available on the Regatta’s website.
