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Downtown Tampa's RiverFest becomes coming-out party for expanded Riverwalk

 
Stephanie Corn, left, and Jazlynn Ceballos, both 13, play String Theory’s Fin Harp, a sonic sculpture, during RiverFest on Saturday. Parks and other venues along Tampa’s expanded Riverwalk were full of activity. Today, there’s even more.
Stephanie Corn, left, and Jazlynn Ceballos, both 13, play String Theory’s Fin Harp, a sonic sculpture, during RiverFest on Saturday. Parks and other venues along Tampa’s expanded Riverwalk were full of activity. Today, there’s even more.
Published May 3, 2015

TAMPA

If the RiverFest celebration Saturday was a coming out party for downtown Tampa's expanded Riverwalk, then the Cannella Elementary rock band stole the show.

Clad in Converse and sequined aviators, the kids drew a crowd of rowdy spectators as they belted radio hits and jammed to a song one member penned about her very curly hair.

The band, which is still working on a name, was among the dozens of vendors and booths that set up camp along the Hillsborough River for the city's first RiverFest, a two-day event highlighting the 1.8-mile Riverwalk path that opened in March. Completing the scenic stretch took four decades, six mayors and millions of dollars.

On most weekends, people flood the area on bikes and inline skates. Dogs romp in the six waterfront parks and kids swing on playgrounds. Saturday was no different, but the fun was highlighted with the second annual Mayor's Mac n' Cheese throwdown, a jazz festival in Waterworks Park and a children's carnival outfitted with carousels and cotton candy.

"Tampa has been needing to make use of their waterfront for a while now," said Charles Edwards, 49, as he watched his 11-year-old son spin on a ride called Roundup.

Edwards, his wife and their three young children arrived by boat and began the day on the Riverwalk's south end, working their way north. Others, like Sue Tilley and Joe Ryan, started near the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts and trickled south.

It was a trek, they said, to walk from one end to the other and back again, but they praised the Riverwalk's cleanliness and abundance of park benches and shady trees.

"There's plenty of places to sit down and get some rest," Ryan, 71, said.

For Coleen Hart, 36, the Riverwalk is an excellent space for her to socialize her 4-year-old pit bull mix Leyla, a rescue dog that she and her husband are working with in obedience school.

"I think it's wonderful, especially because you have the water and the places to bike and walk your dog," she said. "I should come down here more."

It wasn't just revelers who took advantage of the day's activities. Wikid Watermelon, a business that carves custom kegs out of watermelons, set up in a shaded area and passed out juice samples. On display in their tent was a carved-up melon that said "RiverFest" and another that read "Go Bolts!"

Steve Stallone, Wikid Watermelon owner, said RiverFest was a great opportunity for his start-up business to get exposure, especially because the celebration drew such a diverse crowd.

As nearby cities like St. Petersburg have prioritized cultivating their waterfront parks and downtown green spaces, Tampa has had a slower start. Chicago native Michael Stack, 33, said he thinks the approval of an open-container liquor policy along Riverwalk in November was a smart move — and a good draw for young people.

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Stack has lived in the city for a couple of years and said he wishes Tampa were more advanced in terms of public transportation.

But having Riverwalk, he said, is a good start.

"It is nice that Tampa is doing a lot more and using this space more often," he said. "There is always something to do."

Contact Katie Mettler at kmettler@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @kemettler.