Rhythm on the River (and the outcome of the all important duck races)

The last day of Rhythm on the River was today. We were able to spend a few hours checking things out at the festival, and I have to say it was fairly decent. I expected to see lots of kiddie types of activities (which there were), but there were plenty of things for the adults to take in as well. When we first arrived on site, we were looking for Bicycle Longmont's Valet Parking, and while we saw signs everywhere,

we couldn't actually find the corral. So, we opted for a tree instead. Which, was what many others chose to do as well. As a side note, we did later find the valet bike parking and were happy to see that it was being fairly well utilized.

There were all sorts of activities taking place. There were fun stops for kids to do various arts and crafts, face painting, tons of booths containing various wares and art, and of course the more "official" art tent. Though it was a warm afternoon, it was nice to see so many people (and bikes) out for the day.

Beyond lots of bicycles, there were bungee type activities, and a kayak area for the kids to paddle around in during the festivities.

It was really a very fun day...sadly, when it came time for the duck race that I'd been building up for so many days in my head, we were informed that they would be unable to utilize the river for the duck race.  Instead the corporate duck races would be held in one of the kayak pools, and the other duck race wouldn't be held at all, but rather the winner would be generated through a computer program. What?! Seriously, there were many of us who weren't pleased about this, but we were told that it had to do with the live ducks/fowl in the river and that it just wouldn't be possible. I had run into the "human duck" earlier in the day and couldn't help but feel bad that he was in such a hot suit for the day.

When the duck race changes were made, he was volunteered to be the one to get into the kayak pool and "churn the water" to create a kind of mini wave system to get the rubber ducks to move through the water.

The "duck race" (which oddly wasn't much of a race really) completed with the corporate winners being announced.

Despite the disappointment of not getting to see rubber ducks race down the St. Vrain, it was a good day. We even spotted waffle cakes... which we didn't try, but man, did they look interesting.

The day ended for us when we knew we'd simply had too much sun. Between biking over and then walking around in the sunshine, it was time to head home. All around, a very fun afternoon, and we'd definitely attend again. In the future though, I hope that the duck race will actually be a race and not a computer generated outcome or a strange, pseudo race in a small kayak pool. 

Still Rhythm on the River was a success, I think, and the people seemed to be enjoying themselves whether in the shade, or walking about the festivities.