Two day music and community event kicks off festival season

There are now five major community events this summer, if you also count a concert series in Central Park which will be entering it’s second year. Tomorrow (June 13) and Sunday the Marquette Waterfront Festival will commence, featuring two days of music, food and popular events with a decidedly Near East Side flair.

It begins Saturday morning with the Dandelion Dash (registration at 7:15 race at 8:30), a multi-distance run culminating in a 100 yard dash (9:15 a.m.) by the smallest of dandelions. The official festival starts at noon with El Clan Destino taking the music stage.

On Sunday at 10:30 the “Fools Flotilla” organized by the River Alliance will parade down the river featuring the Forward Marching Band. Anyone who wants to participate in this river parade with a New Orleans flair should meet at the Tenny Boat Launch on the river at 9:30 a.m.

The other river activity is more serious, The Yahara River Canoe race at noon Sunday and is open humans of all ages and human powered craft. Contact John Haugen-Wente (241-0619) to enter. Food and drink from local vendors will be available including the Wil-Mar food stand offering standard festival fair of brats, pizza and soft drinks.

The entire event raises money for the Marquette Neighborhood Association to fund it’s operations that support the neighborhood. The event was started by Bob Queen several decades ago to help fight the possible closure of Marquette elementary school and has evolved into a major community gathering.

The music at the event is a major draw. You can read more about the acts featured this weekend on stage including descriptive bios of each act and the two day music schedule here.