CITY BEING READIED FOR RIVERFEST; WORKERS HIT STREETS DOWNTOWN SUNDAY

Volunteers hit the streets of downtown Cape Girardeau Sunday in preparation for this weekend's Riverfest celebration.

"We're cleaning the streets, sidewalks, cutting the weeds and picking up trash along the riverfront," said Riverfest general chairperson Evelyn LeGrand as she and others took a break Sunday afternoon.

Riverfest is scheduled Friday and Saturday on Cape Girardeau's riverfront. Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the 14th annual event.

LeGrand explained that the celebration has been expanded in the area of children's activities.

"There is more of a focus on children this year," LeGrand said. "The children's parade has gone over really well. People are calling us to see how they can get involved in it."

The children's parade, with a safety theme, is planned Saturday at 9 a.m. Other features at Riverfest include main-stage entertainers, a carnival, crafts, food stands and rides on the Spirit of St. Charles riverboat.

Other children's activities include craft-making, face-painting, a magic show, games and a turtle race. A kidss' cruise on the riverboat is scheduled Saturday after the parade.

Activities for all ages are offered because Riverfest has always been a family-oriented festival, LeGrand said.

"We want this to be a family activity, so we've expanded the carnival and some of the children's things. I think we have a lot to offer," she said.

Riverfest usually draws as many as 60,000 people over two days to downtown Cape Girardeau. For that reason, LeGrand said parking spaces in the downtown area will likely be hard to find.

"We're telling people to please use the shuttle buses," she said.

Shuttle buses will run continuously from pick-up points at the Show Me Center and West Park Mall, beginning at about 4 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday. The AAA Auto Club of Missouri will administer free auto service at shuttle stop locations.

"If someone leaves their lights on or has a flat tire, the AAA will be there to help them," she said.

The alcohol policy at Riverfest will be the same as last year, with drinking allowed only in designated "beer gardens."

Three beer gardens will be set up downtown, and IDs will be checked at the entrance to each area. The policy was both applauded and criticized last year, but overall, LeGrand said, the procedure was accepted.

"We had a real good response from the general public, but mixed reactions from beer drinkers themselves," she said.

Alcohol is not allowed outside the designated areas, which complies with the city's open-container law. It also helps keep the Riverfest grounds cleaner because beer cups are kept inside the gardens, she said.

"Some beer drinkers didn't mind, but others wanted to be able to roam around the grounds. In general, people who didn't drink liked it," she said.

Driving in the downtown area will be restricted in most places Thursday at midnight, with no parking allowed after that time. On Friday morning many of the concessions, the carnival and the craft-sellers will begin to set up along Water, Main and Spanish streets. Riverfest officially kicks off late Friday afternoon.

As always, the finale of Riverfest includes fireworks, this year scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Saturday. The show will be visible from most of the downtown area and will last about 30 minutes.

Friday, Dixiana, an up-and-coming country group, will perform at about 9 p.m. on the Riverfest main stage. The headline group on Saturday is Yesterday The Beatles, who will perform at about 9 p.m. and break for the fireworks. Local music groups, including the All-Star Blues Band, Bruce Zimmerman and the Downtown Blues Band and the Heartland Songwriters, will perform on the main stage at the base of the courthouse steps before the headline act both nights.

LeGrand said attendance at Riverfest depends on several factors, an important one being the weather. But she many people and businesses have been involved in planning the event.

"The only thing we can measure is a certain level of community enthusiasm, and this year it seems to be really high," she said.