Come On Out on August 22nd for the 3rd Annual Pigeon RiverFest!
Grab your family, round up your friends, and join us for a day of river fun, community spirit, and good old-fashioned mountain memories! Best of all - It’s FREE!
What’s Happening at this year’s RiverFest!?
Back by popular demand is our Outrageous Team Tube Competition! Gather your team of four, dress up in your wildest, wackiest outfits, and float your way to glory as you compete for fabulous prizes and bragging rights.
The Family Water Play Zone is making a splash once again with a Giant Floating Trampoline, water games, toys, and plenty of ways to cool off on a summer day.
Think you've got what it takes to soak a local celebrity? Head over to our Celebrity Dunk Tank, where some of our favorite local heroes will be taking the plunge for a great cause!
New this year: The Public Parade of Tubes! Grab your own tube (or rent one on-site), decorate it, dress up as crazy as you'd like, and join your neighbors for a festive float down the river. The more creative, the better!
And that's just the beginning!
We're thrilled to welcome an incredible lineup of community partners bringing even more fun to RiverFest.
Waynesville Parks & Recreation will be rolling in with their Base Camp on the Go, packed with activities for all ages including giant Jenga, cornhole, ladder ball, giant bowling, Connect Four, four square, ring toss, volleyball, tetherball, balance challenges, and so much more.
Haywood Waterways Association will provide River Snorkeling, Haywood County Rec and Parks will hold River Stand Up Paddleboard demos and lessons. Canton kayakers will also be demonstrating and teaching Kayaking skills. Mountain Fly Outfitters will offer Fly Casting and Fly Tying lessons. It’s a one stop shop for all of the ways to enjoy our beautiful river.
There will be food trucks, outdoor recreation vendors and non-profit organizations. We will have a Free Shuttle Service from Cold Mountain Tubing to get you to all the fun. We’ll have an Award Ceremony and After Party at the Current Tavern.
Whether you're splashing, floating, playing, cheering, or simply soaking in the mountain-town charm, there's something for everyone at Pigeon RiverFest.
So pull up a lawn chair, bring your sunscreen, and come celebrate our beautiful river and the wonderful community that calls it home. We can't wait to see y'all there!
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Pigeon RiverFest Outrageous Team Tubing Event
Back by popular demand is the Outrageous Tube Team Competition. Local businesses and community organizations field 4 person teams that dress to excess, decorate their tubes and perform to impress our panel of judges. The competition has been intense, though the Riverview Farm and Garden team has been the reigning champion for the last two years. Will anyone, can anyone, challenge them this year?
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Last year we had the most tubers in the Pigeon that anyone had ever seen. This year we want to make it official with a Public Parade of Tubes! Costumes encouraged!! Dress as crazy as you want and join your neighbors in our beautiful river. Limit of 40 tubes available, so secure your tube rental by going to our Store and reserving it today!
Tickets are $25 and to rent tubes from 10 to 1. Tubes must be picked up between 10 and 11:30 at 621 Penland St. Canton NC. Parking is available at the softball field. Purchase of ticket not necessary if you bring your own tube.
To reserve your tube click here
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Maybe you’ve tried stand up paddleboarding on one of our local lakes or at the beach, but have you tried paddleboarding in a river? Maneuvering through the current, riding the ripples and avoiding the rocks is a different way to enjoy our beautiful river. Haywood County Recreation and Parks will join us at RiverFest with two expert paddleboard trainers who will demonstrate how to paddle the river and teach you to do it.
Training sessions are 30 minutes long and free of charge, but signup is required. Sign up for which time slot you’d like, here!
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Haywood Waterways Association has been working to keep our streams clean and healthy for almost 30 years. HWA will join RiverFest with a hands-on River Snorkeling exploration of the underwater life of our river. You’ll be provided with goggles, fins, nets and guides to view the unique river environment just below the surface.
Sessions are free of charge, but sign ups are required. Sign up for your 30 min time slot here!
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Kayaks are the perfect boats for paddling the Pigeon River. Their small size, shallow draft and maneuverability will get you through the tightest channels when the river is low, while they can shoot the trickiest rapids the Pigeon can throw at you. Some of Canton’s best Kayakers will be at RiverFest to demonstrate kayaking skills and teach you how to paddle.
Sign up for River Kayaking Here
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The Pigeon is one of the best fly fishing rivers in the Southeast, and one of the most beautiful. Mountain Fly Outfitters will bring their expert fishing guides to demonstrate fly casting and fly tying techniques, and teach you how to get across that “fine line between fly fishing and waving your rod like an idiot.”
Fly Tying and Fly Casting are 30 minute sessions and free of charge, but sign up is required.
Sign up for Fly Casting here!
Sign up for Fly Tying here!
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The Family Water Play Zone is in the river at the Current Tavern take out point. The Zone is a roped off area, staffed by volunteers, with all kinds of water fun for kids. We have a 15 foot floating trampoline, floats, tubes, toys and games. We require that parents stay in the water with children under 10 years old.
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This is a new addition to the RiverFest this year. Our school celebrities will take their seat in the dunk tank, the rest of us will try to dunk them by throwing baseballs at the tank target: 3 balls for $5. The school that raises the most money wins the Challenge and reigns as the Soggiest School for the year! The Soggiest School splits the Challenge proceeds with Pigeon River Garden Club.
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DJ for the day in the park:
- M&M Entertainment 10-5
The afterparty at The Current Tavern line up:
- Bridget Gossett opening at 5
- Red Clay Revival playing from 6-9
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The Waynesville Recreation and Parks Department has been offering the Base Camp On The Go program for a number of years. This is a mobile playground featuring games like balance beams, ladder ball, giant Jenga, four square, corn hole, giant bowling, connect four, ring toss, tic tac toe, tetherball, volleyball, and so much more! Base Camp On The Go will be set up in Canton Recreation Park in the field between the Pigeon River Public Orchard and the Memorial Stadium.
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The RiverFest day time activities will conclude at 4pm when the winners of the Outrageous Tube Competition receive fabulous prizes and the acclaim of RiverFest attendees at the Current Tavern take out point. But wait, there’s more! Please stay with us for the RiverFest After Party, hosted by our partners the Current Tavern. The After Party will have music from Red Clay Revival and other local musicians, food, drink and celebration through 9pm.
Activities!
Drawing will be held on August 22nd
Riverfest Schedule
Daytime Activities: 10am - 5pm
DJ in the park all day from 10 - 5 | M&M Entertainment
Vendor and Activity Setup: 8:00am - 9:30am
Vendor & Non Profit Booths: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Public Parade of Tubes: Pick up tubes between 10:00am - 11:30am (everyone off the river by 1pm)
Family Water Play Zone: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Base Camp On the Go: 10am - 4:00pm
Dunk Tank: 12:00 - 2:00pm
Fly Tying: 10am - 2:00pm
River Snorkeling: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Standup Paddleboarding: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Kayaking: 12:00pm - 2pm
Fly Casting: 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Outrageous Team Tubing: 3:00pm - 4:00pm (Check In 2:00pm; everyone off the river by 5:00pm)
Awards Ceremony and After Party at Current Tavern: 5pm - 9pm
Bridget Gossett playing at 5
Award Presentation
Red Clay Revival playing from 6-9
Meet Our Sponsors
Cruso Endowment
Cold Mountain Tubing
Wilson Ford
Canton Memories & Dreams
The Current Tavern
Canton Wendy’s
Champion Credit Union
