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The Daily Iowan -Iowa City, Iowa - Monday, April 22, 1991- Page 3C
12th annual Riverfest celebrates· springtime
Iowa River becomes
campus focal point
By Chris Pothoven
The Daily Iowan
What is now probably considered Iowa
City's biggest event certainly didn't
out that way.
Riverfest, a week-long celebraspring
which draws thousands of
people to Iowa City and the UI, began
in 1979 as an informal three-day event
which attracted only a few hundred
students and community members.
According to 1991 Riverfest Director
Chris McCullough, the first festival was
the brainchild of three or four UI
students who were playing frisbee along
the banks of the Iowa River. These
students decided it would be nice to
hold a festival in celebration of spring,
he said.
But Ray Muston, associate dean of
students during the first Riverfest,
offered a slightly different version of the
celebration's birth.
"It began with the consideration that
there was no spring event comparable
to Homecoming," he said, adding that
the organizers also saw the event as a
way to welcome the new season.
"We thought it'd been a long winter,
and we needed a coming out celebration
in the spring," Muston said.
The main push for focusing the event
on the Iowa River came from then-UI
President Willard Boyd, who was very
outspoken about the concept of the river
joining the two sides of the campus,
rather than separating them, Muston
said.
"We looked at the river as a focal point
of the campus," he added.
Compared with today's event, the first
River City Spring Festival, as it was
cslled then, was a small affair. Funded
entirely by the Student Senate, it cost
just under $2,500.
Opening ceremonies of the first celebration
were held on the Pentacrest, concurrent
with Parent's Weekend. The
event included some already-existing
Iowa City and UI attractions, but most
of the entertainment came from students,
McCullough said.
"A lot of the stuff they did was just
performances by UI student groups," he
said, such as the UI dance company and
the Highlanders group. McCullough
added the f1l8t International Food Tent
was held at the 1979 festival.
One goal of the original committee was
to create a greater sense of university
involvement with the Iowa City community,
Muston said. And, although the
River City Spring Festival attracted
only around 200 people, he said he
could remember many families strolling
along the banks of the Iowa River and
children getting their faces painted.
Muston said the smaI1scope of the 1979
festival didn't stop the organizers from
planning future events.
"They didn't get discouraged," he said.
"The students involved were creative
and had a lot of enthusiasm."
This creativity and enthusiasm paid off,
as Riverfesi has grown over the years to
encompass more and more activities,
days and people.
In 1980, the festival increased to four
days. It was not until 1984, however,
that Riverfest saw one of its biggest
jumps, expanding from a weekend festivity
to a weeklong celebration o(
spring. It has also become separate
.from Parent's Weekend, gaining an
'" ......... .
Two unidentified UI students celebrate the arrival of spring
with a Jump from a bridge spanning the Iowa River.
R I U f H f f S T
1 g g 1
identity of its own.
The addition of new events has heightened
the popularity of Riverfest. The
RiverRun began in 1980 and in its first
year was made up of a five-mile race
and a 10-mile face. This year's events
included a one-mile fun run, five- and
10-kilometer runs, a foot race and
wheelchair events, with about 1,000
people participating.
The Battle of the Bands, which McCullough
said fU'st began about five or six
years ago, is also considered an impor-
. ,. .,. ,.
tant part of Riverfest. This event has
grown in popularity and importance,
with this year's winner receiving a free
full-length demo tape, a guitar and
$400.
Other popular Riverfest attractions
which have been added throughout the
years include the Old Capitol Criterium
The Daily Iowan I Randy Bardy
Bridge-Jumping, like Rlverfest, II jUlt one of the ways UI
students celebrate this time of the year.
T-shirts, McCullough said.
And finally, the amount of people
involved in Riverfest has grown,
including both those working behind
and enjoying the scenes.
In its first year, the organizers of the
River City Spring Festival amounted to
only a handful of students. Today there
"We like to provide a type of relaxing
celebration that anyone can get involved with -
a fun atmosphere for the arrival of spring
showcasing a wide variety of events."
bike race, Taste ofIowa City, brown bag
lunches with live entertainment, the
RiverBank Art Fair, concerts and lectures.
This year's celebrities - Dave
Barry, Whitney Houston and former
President Jimmy Carter - are just a
few of the many famous people the
Riverfest committee has brought to
Iowa City for the celebration over the
years.
Increased popularity and revenues
resulted when Riverfest introduced
Eliot the Duck as the official Riverfest
mascot in 1987, said McCullough.
Eliot's arrival, on T-shirts and logos of
the event, increased funding for the
festival.
"Ever since then, our T-shirt sales have
taken off," he said. "That's given us a
lot more money."
Costs of this year's celebration will be
around $75,000, and about half of that
amount will be fmanced by sales of the
-.
Chrll McCullough
Rlverfest executive director
fire a total of 120 members, a
L 7-member executive council, and 12
planning and support committees.
The number of people attending the
festival has increased greatly, too, rising
from around 200 in 1979 to an
expected 8,000 to 12,000 this year.
Although the celebration itself may
have changed over its 13 years of
existence, the basic idea hasn't.
"We like to provide a type of relaxing
celebration that anyone can get
involved with - a fun atmosphere for
the arrival of spring showcasing a wide
variety of events," McCullough said.
Nevertheless, it's still an event which
has become larger than any of the
organizers ever imagined, said Muston.
"We thought that someday there would
be hundreds or maybe even a thousand
people here," he said. "It certainly
surpassed our dreams. It really has
turned out to be a special event."
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