41st Yampa River Fest

If you are going to be in Steamboat during the first weekend of June, you need to check out the Yampa River Festival! The flagship event of Friends of The Yampa, the Yampa River Festival is a true hometown celebration of our friend the Yampa River. This year, the 41st annual will be in person on June 4th and 5th!

With a gem as priceless as the Yampa River flowing through our backyard, it is important to show our respect. The annual Yampa River Festival, held each spring, is the premier opportunity to show our community respect for the river while enjoying spring flows.

The Yampa River flows through 270 miles of northwest Colorado before joining the Green River in Dinosaur National Park. With only a few small reservoirs in its upper stretches, the Yampa River flows mostly unimpeded. The wild nature of the Yampa River is unique among the Colorado River system that is otherwise controlled, managed and tapped to its limit.

Annually boaters and anglers descend on the Yampa River each spring to achieve greatness in their respective sports. Whether you kayak, raft, tube, canoe, SUP, packraft or float another craft, the Yampa River Festival has something for everyone. And if you aren’t inclined to jump on the water yourself, there are plenty of opportunities to spectate, have a cold beer, some great food and show your respect for the Yampa River at this year’s Yampa River Festival.

It is with great thanks to all the passionate and dedicated river enthusiasts, partners, and supporters that this event continues to be the gem that it is today. For 2021, the River Fest will still have COVID protocols with some limited access, reduced and managed spectators maintaining proper social distancing, reduced number of vendors, etc, all in an effort to do our part, and play within the State and County COVID rules.

While following all the latest safety guidelines, we hope that our river friends will join us to celebrate this year’s Yampa River Festival between June 4th and 5th, 2021. The main event is on Saturday, June 5th.

SEE YOU ON THE RIVER!

Date	Time	Event	Start Location	Event Sponsor	Arrival Time
6/4/2021	12-6 PM	Gear Swap at Backdoor Sports
6/4/2021	6:00 PM	Fish Creek Kayak Race	Mt. Werner Water	Smartwool	5:00 PM (Hard start at 6pm)
6/5/2021	9:00 AM	Kayak Slalom	Rich Weiss Park	Good Vibes	8:45 AM
6/5/2021	10:30 AM	Pack Raft Race	Charlie’s Hole	Backdoor Sports	10:10 AM
6/5/2021	11-1PM	SUP/Kayak Demos at Fetcher Pond	Fetcher Park
6/5/2021	11:00 AM	Open Class Downriver Kayak Race	Fetcher Park	Yampa River Fund	10:30 AM
6/5/2021	12:00 PM	SUP Downriver Race	Fetcher Park	Hala GearOnline	11:30 AM
6/5/2021	1:00 PM	Raft Race	Fetcher Park	Hala GearSpace	12:15 PM
6/5/2021	2:00 PM	Raft Rodeo Exhibition	Charlie’s Hole	No Sponsor	Be ready at start
6/5/2021	2:30 PM	SUP Cross	Charlie’s Hole	CKS Online	2:00 PM
6/5/2021	3:30 PM	Kayak Cross (heats of 3)	Charlie’s Hole	Grass Sticks	3:00 PM
6/5/2021	4:30 PM	Tube Rodeo	Charlie’s Hole	Hog Island	Be ready at start
6/5/2021	5:30 PM	Kayak Rodeo	Charlie’s Hole	Backdoor Sports	Be ready at start
6/5/2021	6:30 PM	AWARDS; Beer Service Ends	Charlie’s Hole
6/5/2021	7:00 PM	Event Ends and Breakdown	Charlie’s Hole