America’s River Roots Festival is underway in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
The five-day event is kicking off America’s 250th anniversary celebration and showcasing the culture of the country’s river cities through music performances, food vendors, and 10 riverboats.
On Wednesday morning, the Cincinnati riverfront was filled with festival-goers excited to see the docked boats.
Elementary schooler Eddo Burkey was there with his parents, Mary and Dan.
“I really like things that have steam, and they were from a long time ago,” Eddo Burkey said.
The family is from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, and enjoys visiting the model steamboat at the Cincinnati Museum Center. They said they were impressed by the number of riverboats at the festival.
“It's a pretty cool thing to have so many of them here at once,” Mary Burkey said.
America’s River Roots volunteer Jeff Cook has a similar interest in steamboats. He went to nearly every Tall Stacks festival and remembers some of the boats that came to Cincinnati in the past.
“The big ones, like the Delta Queen, Delta Queen’s in dry dock; Mississippi Queen went out of business. American Queen's not coming here,” Cook said. “The big boats, I guess they can't make it financially so they've kind of dropped out of it.”
He says he's looking forward to taking a cruise on the Celebration Belle, which came to Cincinnati from Moline, Illinois.
Other boats came from cities including Louisville, St. Paul, and New Orleans.
Riverboats like the ones docked along the Ohio River played a major role in river cities’ development centuries ago.
Ruth Anne Wolfe and a group of friends gave a nod to that history by wearing Regency-era dresses from the time when riverboats started being built.
Wolfe says the group is from the Flying Cloud Academy of Vintage Dance. During a cruise on the Steamboat Natchez, they did some historic dancing.
“We had to time travel a little bit because they were doing '20s and '30s and '40s music. And of course, we were in 1800. But, luckily, we were able to transport ourselves forward in time to do the correct steps. Somehow we just knew what to do to the New Orleans jazz,” Wolfe said.
The festival runs through Sunday.
Where is America’s River Roots?
America's River Roots Festival is located along the riverfront in Cincinnati and Newport.
In Cincinnati, activities will take place at the Freedom Center, Schmidlapp Gardens, Yeatman's Cove, Public Landing and Purple People Bridge, according to the festival’s website.
In Newport, activities will take place in Newport Festival Park and Ovation.
Where can I park?
America’s River Roots recommends these spots on its website.
Cincinnati
- The Banks, 150 E. Freedom Way, Cincinnati, OH 45202
- 171 Joe Nuxhall Way, Cincinnati, OH 45202
- East Riverfront Garage, Cincinnati, OH 45202
- 443 E. Pete Rose Way, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Newport
- Ovation, 200 W. 3rd St. Newport, KY 41071
- Newport on the Levee, 1 Levee Way, Newport, KY 41071
- 200 W. 3rd St., Newport, KY 41071
The Cincinnati Metro and Northern Kentucky TANK systems will be running throughout the festival with pick-up and drop-off locations nearby.
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