This Saturday is the 12th annual Dolores River Festival. Tickets this year are $20, and kids 12 and under get in for free. Volunteer positions are open right now, and they are filling up quickly! Email volunteer@doloresriverfestival.com ASAP for a free T-shirt, admission, and more. As always there will be raft rides, a river dog contest, live music from a variety of artists, and many other fun activities to take part in. The festivities start at 10 a.m. If you're an early riser, the Dolores community-wide yard sale will begin in yards throughout town at 7:30 a.m.
Let the music begin
Live music at the River Festival will build up to the main show at 6:30 p.m. that evening, when Pimps of Joytime will perform.
If you don't get your fill of live talent on Saturday, the Black Lillies will be at the Dolores River Brewery on June 27 as they tour the U.S. Their current release, "Runaway Freeway Blues," has received many positive critiques. Vanity Fair spoke kindly of them; "With one foot planted firmly in Appalachian music culture and the other always expanding and evolving, the Black Lillies have created a unique sound embraced by fans old and young." Stop by and see them later this month.
It's Free Fishing Weekend
In addition to the River Festival, this is Colorado Free Fishing Weekend. Groundhog Lake is hosting the Kiwanis Club Youth Fishing Tournament this Saturday. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 9 a.m. The weigh-in starts at 1 p.m. Every entrant receives a goody bag. There will be prizes for the person who catches the largest fish, whoever catches the highest total weight of four fish combined, and the youngest participant with a catch. Participants 16 and under are welcome.
Pony gallops to the top
The 2015 Dolores Chamber Commerce Business of the Year says we're on a roll. The Pony Expresso added a new accomplishment to the list recently when TripAdvisor named them a 2015 winner of its excellence awards. Travelers on TripAdvisor left online reviews and voted for the local coffee shop, who both give and receive in the community. Last week, the Pony awarded Lupine Stephens for her Name That Pony! suggestion. She chose to call it "Lo'spresso, the Expresso Bandit: and received a $25 gift card to the shop.
Heading for green pastures
Sunday afternoon, a day after construction ended on Highway 184 by Skyline, a cattle drive was spotted moo-ing its way along the newly resurfaced highway and through town. Cows being moved up to mountain pastures means that summer is almost here, even as spring snowmelt fills the river.
Regan Umberger