A Brief History

RiverFest has grown tremendously since its beginning 31 years ago.  In 1978, the 'River City Spring Festival' made its first appearance in Hubbard Park.  An imaginative group of University of Iowa students decided there was a need for a spring festival.  Under the supervision of the UI Associate Dean of Students, this group decided to denote the spring festival “RiverFest” to remind students and community members that the Iowa River was an integral part of life on campus.

In its beginning, RiverFest began as a small event that cost about $2500 and attracted a crowd of about 750 people. At its peak in the mid- and late 80’s, RiverFest was an 11-day celebration that cost up to $70,000 to produce.  Some previous daytime events included a carnival, KidsFest, performances by the Swing Dance Club, UI Dance Team, Cheerleading Squad, and Dance Marathon, Taste of Iowa City, a rock climbing wall by the Army ROTC, lawn game tournament, and student organization and business information booths.  The evening activities have included a Battle of the Bands and performances by many up-and-coming musical groups such as Euforchestra and Critical Hour.

Today, Riverfest is one of the largest and most successful student-organized events on campus.  It has expanded to meet the changing needs of students and the surrounding community. Now in its 31th year, RiverFest has refocused its efforts around the music. A weekend concert festival with great food, entertaining events, and (of course) quality music.