HF festival 07

Hidalgo Falls River Festival

April 14-15, 2007
Hidalgo Falls on the Brazos River
Near Navasota, Texas

The sixth annual Hidalgo Falls River Festival will be held on Saturday-Sunday, April 14-15, 2007 at the TRPA Hidalgo Falls property on the Brazos River near Navasota. The festival, which is the year’s major fund-raising event to maintain paddlers’ access to the rapid, attracted more than 250 paddlers and spectators last year. Dealer reps and outfitters will have boats and gear available for demos on moving water, and (based on past years) many boaters will come as early as Friday to enjoy the nice play levels on the river and to camp in the upstream and downstream campgrounds.

Events will include a 28-mile downriver race from Koppe Bridge Landing south of College Station to Hidalgo on Saturday morning, a "Boatercross" head-to-head elimination race through the rapids late Saturday afternoon, and a concert by Austin-based Wideopen Records recording artist David Garza on Saturday night (with an auction during intermission). On Sunday there will be a whitewater giant slalom race through the islands in the Falls, a whitewater rodeo, and a more leisurely 3.5-mile float trip from Hidalgo to Hwy 105. During the downriver race on Saturday, festival goers can demo different kinds of boats, watch paddling videos, and play in the rapids. The festival admision is $12 for the entire weekend; children under 12 are admitted free. Registration for the TCRA downriver race on Saturday costs $20 before March 23; after that date registration is $25. The registration fee includes admission to the festival site, camping, opportunities to try out different boats and gear, and the concert on Saturday night. Saturday’s downriver racers will be treated to a “hospitality” hour as they await the results of the race.

For a map of the giant slalom race, click here.

Directions to Hidalgo Falls: http://philosophy.tamu.edu/~sdaniel/location.html

To get into the TRPA property, you normally have to meet someone at the locked gate or be certified (and thus get the gate combination). For the festival, we will meet visitors at the gate when they arrive.

Here are some pictures (courtesy: Andrew Stone and Skip Morris) from last year's festival:


Lower (Main) Campground


Lower Campground	Vendors	Upper Put-In near the Slide


Morning Mist on the Rapid	On the upstream wave


View of rapid from upstream near the Slide	View of rapid from downstream


Upstream rapid surf: even at low water, there is stuff to play on


Saturday Night Concert Audience	Concert and Auction Saturday Night


Saturday Night Concert by DubTex, accompanied by showing of Texas Whitewater on screen	Sunday Gear Auction

All proceeds benefit the Hidalgo Falls Improvements Fund.

Sponsors:

SouthWest PaddleSports
Texas Canoe Racing Association
Texas Rivers Protection Association

Special thanks: Riverfest logo by Ben McCue

For pictures of the first festival in 2001, click here.

For pictures of the 2004 festival, click here.

For information on the 2007 festival, contact the following people:

Saturday downriver race: Charles Lewis (calewis@valornet.com)
Sunday float trip: James Williams 979-776-5530 (no email)
Slalom race and whitewater rodeo: Bruce Litton (b.litton@earthlink.net)
Exhibits, demos, and classes: James Graham (james@paddlesports.com)
Overall coordination: Steve Daniel (sdaniel@philosophy.tamu.edu)

Information about the location of Hidalgo Falls, TRPA ownership, pictures, etc. can be found at the Hidalgo Falls website:

http://philosophy.tamu.edu/~sdaniel/hidalgo.html

Free primitive camping is available at the TRPA property (limited toilet and water facilities available). For information on Navasota motels, contact Steve Daniel.