America’s River Roots Festival is not only a celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary, but also of the Ohio River Valley and its food, music and culture.
Organizers want the festival to honor America’s river cities’ crucial role in the country’s history. They plan to make it one of the largest cultural events in Greater Cincinnati’s history. The event, which will take place from Oct. 8 through 12, will be held along the Ohio Riverfronts of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
On April 17, festival organizers and community stakeholders gathered at the Covington Business Council’s monthly luncheon to discuss the event’s potential economic and cultural impact on the region.
“It’s going to bring us all together to celebrate, so music, cuisine and culture,” said Kyla Woods, the festival’s communications director. “Those are our three pillars.”
Besides the United States’ semiquintennieal, the festival’s theme centers on the cultural symbols of America’s river cities. One such example is riverboats, a staple of Cincinnati’s economic and cultural heritage dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Riverboats served as a major mode of transportation for both goods and people during that time. To honor this legacy, America’s River Roots Festival is weaving riverboats into the event’s pageantry.
Nine of the country’s most prominent riverboats will dock along the banks of the Ohio River for the America’s River Roots Festival. Among the boats attending are the Belle of Memphis from Memphis the Steamboat; NATCHEZ from New Orleans; the Belle of Louisville and Mary M. Miller from Louisville; the Celebration Belle from Moline, Illinois; the Three Rivers Queen from Pittsburgh; the Anson & Betsey Northrup from Minneapolis–St. Paul, and Cincinnati’s own Belle of Cincinnati and River Queen. The Belle of Cincinnati and River Queen are operated by Newport-based BB Riverboats.
“It also will be the only time that the two last remaining steamboats in operation [Belle of Louisville and Steamboat Natchez] will be in the same place at the same time,” said Nancy Wilhoite, sales director of BB Riverboats.
The festival is taking inspiration from another famous regional event, the now-defunct Tall Stacks Music, Arts, and Heritage Festival, which was held intermittently from 1988 to 2009. Tall Stacks celebrated Cincinnati’s riverboat heritage, heavily incorporating the iconic boats into the event and its marketing.
“Well, we certainly didn’t want to just do Tall Stacks all over again, although the boats will be a part of it,” said festival co-chair Tim Fogarty. “What we decided we wanted to do was something that was world-class, something that would really showcase this region, something that can make a difference.”
Regarding music, Fogarty said he believes music will be the event’s biggest attraction, telling the audience that the planning committee is spending millions of dollars on musical acts.
“Our music venue is really the biggest pillar of this event,” Fogarty said. “That’s where we spend the most money.”
Currently, Woods mentioned that no musical acts have been officially revealed. Nevertheless, she hinted that some performers might be announced in May.
“So in May, we hope to be able to announce at least one or two of the acts that will be coming,” she said. “But please know we’re working really hard to get the exact right combination of artists to come for this event.”
The festival is divided into eight zones, each featuring its own stage. Six of the zones are along the Cincinnati riverfront, while two are in Northern Kentucky:
- Zone 1: Andrew J. Brady Music Center
- Zone 2: Freedom Center stage, located next to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
- Zone 3: Schmidlapp Garden
- Zone 4: Public Landing
- Zone 5: Yeatman’s Cove
- Zone 6: Sawyer’s Point
- Zone 7: Newport on the Levee
- Zone 8: Covington Landing
For food, the festival will offer attendees the opportunity to dine aboard famous riverboats with themed dining cruises. The Three Rivers Queen, Belle of Memphis and Celebration Belle will each have their own regionally inspired dishes. On land, festivalgoers can dine from a bevy of regional food vendors, participate in craft beer and bourbon tastings and witness food demonstrations from local chefs.
In terms of economic impact, Julie Kirkpatrick, CEO of meetNKY, Northern Kentucky’s tourism bureau, said she expected the event to attract thousands of out-of-town visitors.
“Ultimately, we always hope – in the visitor industry – it brings in thousands of people to come and spend their money here,” Kirkpatrick said. “But ultimately, we hope it brings people here to move here and settle and put roots down.”
Fogarty took it a step further, predicting that out-of-towners alone could generate up to $150 million of economic impact over the four-day weekend. He said the numerical data comes from an economic impact study conducted by Northern Kentucky University.
“We engaged NKU to do an economic impact study,” Fogarty said. “Now, assuming we’ll have 900,000 to a million people that will visit the river banks over the four-day event, and according to NKU, we can expect a third of them to be out-of-towners – the economic impact from out-of-towners alone will be $150 million for this region.”
