Dolores River Festival
Many Thanks!
Greater Dolores Action, the organizers of the Dolores River Festival, would like to thank the community for a great turn out for the 2009 Dolores River Festival. Nearly 2000 people filled Joe Rowell Park for a full day of live music, river activities, children's activities, eating, drinking, and general merriment.
We would also really like to thank the nearly 100 volunteers that helped from Thursday thru Sunday with festival set-up, admissions, vendors, music, activities, trash and recycling, parking, clean-up and more.
We are especially grateful for the support of our sponsors including the City of Cortez, Dolores Water Conservancy District, KSJD, Osprey and Verde PR. Thanks too to the Town of Dolores and to all of the local businesses that play a role in hosting the event.
We look forward to presenting the festival again in 2010 and using a portion of the proceeds to implement river enhancement and conservation projects.
The Dolores River Festival is a community celebration of the Dolores River and the many ways it connects us to each other, the environment, and our resources.
The Festival
This year the Dolores River Festival grows bigger and better with all day events in Joe Rowell Park. This community and family-oriented event features numerous vendors, events in and along our beautiful river, great food and drink and best of all superb music by national and local acts all afternoon and into the evening.
The River
The Dolores River is a tributary to the Colorado River. Its headwaters are high in the San Juan Mountains; it flows west then north joining the Colorado River at Dewey Bridge in Utah, near Moab. The Dolores is unique as a US river that flows north. Day trips boating on the river can be fun upstream of Town—including the legendary Stampede Hole for kayaking, and the Lower Dolores has one of the few multi-day raft trips available without permit requirements. Flows below Town on the Lower Dolores are controlled by McPhee Dam. McPhee Reservoir is the main source of water for municipal uses and irrigation in the region.
Most importantly, the river festival draws attention to the Dolores; the challenges it faces and the importance of preserving it. Greater Dolores Action earmarks all sponsorship donations for festival funding and for river-enhancing activities such as garbage and debris removal, habitat creation and education – keeping your generous donation in the community. Your support of the Dolores River Festival shows your commitment to the preservation of one of the West’s great and scenic rivers.
Photos Taken by Bill Hatcher
