CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Along the Rivanna River this weekend, local organizations and attendees will come together to celebrate the river and the local environment as a whole.

Rivanna RiverFest will take place at the Rivanna River Company this Saturday from 2:30-9 p.m. The event, now in its sixth year, will feature fun, family-friendly activities from 2:30-6 p.m., followed by live music from the Richmond-based Kadencia Orchestra from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

“It’s my favorite time of year,” Rivanna Conversation Alliance Operations Coordinator Sophie Elliott told Cville Right Now.

Elliott said there will be at least “a couple of dozen organizations” at the event offering activities for all ages, including face painting, tubing down the river, nature walks and a casual 4-mile run.

“It’s really cool to just see the community come out and get to interact with these organizations who care about our enviroment so much and get to interact with the river, [which] is a huge part,” Elliott said.

The Rivanna River is the largest tributary of the upper James River, with its main-stem stretching for 50 miles in total length. The river run through Charlottesville and Albemarle County, and both localities are sponsors of RiverFest.

Laurel Williamson, Albemarle County’s watershed stewardship manager and a long-term RCA volunteer, told Cville Right Now about two-thirds of the county drains into the river.

“We are quite Rivanna-centric,” she said. “Of course, we do have some beautiful streams that are outside of that watershed as well. But, it is the main, big waterway we have in the county.”

Williamson will be there on Saturday, and said the festival has provided her with an “excellent” opportunity to do outreach with the community, informing them on her work both with the county and RCA. She said she typically doesn’t have the capacity to do outreach events on her own, and said her colleagues with the City of Charlottesville are in a similar situation.

“We have to work together, pretty much, in order to accomplish anything,” she said of the local organizations involved in stormwater management.

Elliott said the festival’s partner organizations are crucial, and the organizers begin meeting with its partners in January to come up with a general overview of what the event will look like that year. She added that beyond the festival’s sponsors also play a key role in ensuring all of the festival’s activites are free to the public.

The event is free and open to the public. Attendees will only be charged for any food or beverages they purchase from the participating vendors at the event. Outside food is permitted, but outside alcohol is not.

In their respective organization’s efforts to reach out to the community, both Williamson and Elliott said RiverFest has played a key role.

“I think it brings people to the river who just wouldn’t maybe even know it was there otherwise,” Williamson said.

Elliott said RCA estimated 1500-2000 people attended last year’s festival, calling the event “hugely impactful” to the organization outreach efforts. Ultimately, she said giving people a chance to access the Rivanna River has been “huge.”

“There can be a lot of barriers to access the Rivanna River,” she said. “In terms of physical access, being able to find a place to get in, and not everyone can afford an outfitted trip with canoes and kayaks. And so, to be able to tell people, ‘Come, we’ll get you in an inner-tube and send you down the river,’ is a really cool opportunity for people.”