Grab your paddles: Animas River Days is ready to launch a jam-packed weekend of water recreation after missing a year because of the pandemic.
The river-running festival has taken over Santa Rita Park in Durango every year since 1983 – except 2020, when organizers were forced to cancel as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation. After months of planning during ever-changing public health restrictions, organizers are ready to hit the rapids.
“This year, we’re super excited. We’re looking forward to bringing the community back together after a trying year of uncertainty,” said Executive Director Ashleigh Tucker. “We’re excited to be kind of the first big event for Durango to get out and enjoy.”
In April, Animas River Days organizers knew the event would be able to take place, but they did not know what public health restrictions they would face. So, they planned for everything, Tucker said.
“With regulations changing by the day, it was pretty hard to figure out the plan,” she said. “We had plan A, B, C. Luckily, we can go with plan A, which is restriction-free.”
Recommendations include staying one kayak apart and bringing a mask, even if vaccinated, to be courteous to others.
The preliminary round of the freestyle whitewater kayaking national championship will be Friday, but the majority of events, including some of the more infamous festivities, will take place from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.
This year is likely the first time the U.S. Freestyle Championship has been held at the Durango Whitewater Park, Tucker said. She expected 75 to 100 competitors from all over the country, including professionals such as Emily Jackson, Paul Palmer and Nick Troutman.
The river was flowing at about 1,940 cubic feet per second Thursday, lower than its median flow of 2,790 cubic feet per second based on historical data.
“We’re excited to have it hit 2,000 cfs after a low snowpack,” Tucker said. The river’s flow was higher than 2,000 last weekend.
When people aren’t checking out food vendors or grabbing a drink from the beer garden, they can check out the slalom competitions Saturday: Canoes and rafts paddling downstream and upstream through gates.
Then, multiple kayakers will try to race through the gates at the same time during the boatercross competition.
“Four people going through a small gate is pretty hard to do. So that’s pretty exciting to watch,” Tucker said.
San Juan Basin Public Health and Animas Surgical Hospital are teaming up to offer vaccines from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Santa Rita Park. And adding to the festivities: Anyone who gets a vaccine also gets a free beer token from Ska Brewing Co., she said.
At 5 p.m. Saturday, competitors on pool toys will battle the rapids in the inflatable rodeo. Then, spectators can watch slews of river-runners in the annual river parade – many at varied levels of inebriation – make their way through the whitewater park.
The parade is not technically part of the festival. It’s more of a naturally occurring tradition, Tucker said.
Typically, the parade leaves the 32nd Street put-in around 5 p.m. Saturday. Attendees at Santa Rita Park are encouraged to wear any costume that celebrates “bringing our community back together,” the event’s theme.
The city of Durango and Ride Responsible are sponsoring free shuttles from the Durango Transit Center from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
Animas River Days also features a silent auction with a fundraising goal of $10,000, which wraps up at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Some of the bigger products, including a fishing raft package donated by Jacks Plastic Welding in Aztec, will be at the park Saturday, Tucker said.
Money raised in the auction will go toward event costs and donations to local nonprofits that help protect waterways, she said.
smullane@durangoherald.com
